■FALCONER — MASTODON AND ELEPnANT. 271 



to place this important point beyond question, permitted it to be 

 sawn up, and the condition of the interior was equally conclusive of 

 its fossil nature. The longitudinal section is represented by fig. 7 h 

 of pi. 14 of the ' Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis :' and if it is compared 

 with fig. 5 ft of pi. 2 of the same work, representing a vertical 

 section of a penultimate lower molar of the existing African Elephant, 

 it will be seen that there is the closest general resemblance between 

 the two, in all that relates to the relative proportions of the- alter- 

 nate layers of ivoiy, enamel, and cement, and in the cuneiform cha- 

 racter of the ridges. If the comparison is extended to the sections of 

 the teeth of the Mammoth and of the existing Indian Elephant, figs. 1 

 and 2 a, pi. 1, of the same series, the diff'erence from them is equally 

 apparent. The specimen consists of the part of the tooth extending 

 from the sinus between the first and second fangs to the last ridge. 

 The anterior portion supported by the first fang, and which in the Afri- 

 can Elephant consists of the front talon and the two foremost ridges, 

 is wanting. The fragment exhibits the disks of eight worn ridges 

 finely preserved. The three anterior disks are worn low; the next 

 four are successively less and less abraded ; the last ridge shows only 

 the tips of two digitations, with a considerable interval between 

 them. There is no distinct hind talon. The disks of wear present 

 an unmistakeable resemblance to those of the existing African Ele- 

 phant, in breadth, lozenge-shaped outline, and mesial expansion ; 

 but when examined in detail, there are obvious points of distinction. 

 In the living species the lozenges are more strictly rhomb-shaped ; 

 the salient edge of enamel is distinctly crimped ; the lateral termi- 

 nations of the rhombs are flattened ; and the mesial angles of the 

 contiguous disks are either more approximated or overlap each other 

 laterally. In E. (Loxodon) priscus, the disks are rounded at their 

 lateral terminations, and broader. Although the mesial expansion 

 is quite as great as in the African Elephant, it is less sudden, and in 

 the general outline there is a tendency to a reniform or obsolete 

 creseentic shape, the anterior enamel boundary of each disk being 

 somewhat concave, and the posterior convex. The horns of the 

 crescents are bent abruptly forwards. This is best seen in the fourth, 

 fifth, and sixth disks ; the first three, being more worn, show this 

 peculiarity less distinctively. Another obvious character is that the 

 enamel plates are thicker, and present a less degree of crimping, than 

 in the African Elephant. 



When viewed laterally, the resemblance to the existing species is 

 as marked as in the crown-aspect. The ridges are ahke broad 

 in both, and the fangs are similarly disposed, those which support 

 the five posterior ridges being confluent into a common yhell. (Com- 

 pare figs. 7 a and 5 a of pi. 14, ' Eaun. Antiq. Sival.') The vertical 

 height of the seventh ridge, although but slightly worn, does not 

 exceed 2g inches, while the greatest width of the crown is 3 inches. 

 The flexuous bend of the enamel plates vertically, at the posterior 

 end as seen in the section, is not a distinctive peculiarity, since it is 

 met with in inferior molars both of the Indian Elephant and of 

 E. (^Eiieleph.') antiquus. 



VOL, XXI. PART I, tr 



