458 FELIS. 



respond nearest with the skull of a young, but adult, Lion or Lioness 

 from Africa, No. 112, c. 



Two of the canines from N. Hill Tor are a pair from the same 

 individual, which must have been young, though adult, as the crown 

 bears no mark of wear, either on the side or the apex. The right 

 canine is the more perfect in the fang portion, while the left is the most 

 perfect as regards the crown portion, half the shell of the fang in the 

 latter being removed longitudinally. The principal points deserving 

 notice about the fossil are the following : — 



1. The posterior vertical cutting edge is very salient, forming a 

 sharp keel. 



2. The anterior mesial vertical ridge is very pronounced, termi- 

 nating below in a gibbous bulb or prominence, near the termination of 

 the shell of enamel ; both the ridge and the bulb are more pronounced 

 than in either the Tiger or Lion. 



3. The outer vertical fissure is solitary, both in the fossil and in the 

 Lion ; but in the fossil it has a much longer stretch. In the Lion the 

 fissure does not occupy one-third of the length of the crown, while in 

 the fossil it occupies more than one-half (nearly three-fourths) ; the 

 form, size, and contour of the crown of the canine of the Lion (112, c) 

 and of the fossil are very much alike, the proportions, if anything, being 

 larger in the recent animal. 



The third canine from N. Hill Tor is a left lower, evidently of a 

 very old animal, as the point, anterior surface, and part of the inner 

 side, are far advanced in wear; in form and proportions it agrees 

 closely with the young Lion, but it is shorter in the crown and longer 

 in the fang ; and the convex contour of united fang and crown is dis- 

 posed in a curve of less convexity in the fossil ; the bottom part of the 

 fang is completely closed up, while in the young Lion it is still open. 



The young fossil canines are very much of the same age and size "as 

 those of the young Tiger (114, c c). 



