FAtCOIfEE MASTODON AND ELEPHANT. 285 



main ridges in a length of 11 inches, being an average of about 

 0*85 inch to each ; and, taking the talons into account as distinct 

 ridges, there would still be an average of about 0*75 inch to each 

 ridge. The relatively low elevation of the ridges, and the very 

 great width of the crown, are also remarkable. 



The last molars present in the crania above referred to differ in 

 no respect from the one just described, more than is necessarily 

 dependent on their more advanced state of detrition. The lower 

 down they are ground, the wider is the expansion of each disk, and 

 the more approximated are the enamel plates of the contiguous 

 ridges. In all of them the enamel plates are thick, deeply chan- 

 nelled on the outer surface, but hardly ever plaited, the inner edge 

 being even or disposed in easy flexures. 



A very fine illustration of the characters of the palate and 

 two last tnie molars on either side is presented by the Monte 

 Pulgnasco specimen discovered by Cortesi, and figured by him in 

 the ' Saggi Geologici,' tab. 1. fig. 1. It was found at no great 

 distance from the classic cranium of Monte Zago, upon which 

 Cuvier founded his lihinoceros leptorhinus, as an extinct species 

 devoid of &\\j bony partition between the nostrils. Both speci- 

 mens are now preserved in the Natural History Museum of 

 Milan, and, by the permission of Dr. Emilio Cornalia, I had an 

 opportunity of examining them minutely. The precise identifica- 

 tion of both is of considerable importance in the general argument 

 of the Mammalian Fauna of the Pliocene Period in Europe. The 

 skull of the Ehinoceros is exactly as Cuvier in the first instance, 

 and Dr. Cornalia subsequently described it, ^. e. without a trace of 

 an external nasal septum. The mutilated cranium of the Elephant 

 is a superb fragment, comprising the maxillaries and palate, with 

 the penultimate and last true molars of E. meridionalis. The pen- 

 ultimate is nearly worn out, the disks of the last four ridges being 

 confluent in the middle, but separated laterally by a " Dedalsean " 

 channel-macha3ris, showing the thick unplaited laminae charac- 

 teristic of the species. The last molar presents from twelve to 

 thirteen principal ridges, with front and back talons. Five of these 

 ridges are worn, the rest are intact and enveloped by cement. The 

 crown is very broad ; the thick digitations have their apices worn 

 off into circular disks, exactly as in the Val d'Arno specimens, and 

 the ridges are low relatively to the width of the crown. The op- 

 posite lines of teeth converge in front. The figure of this specimen, 

 given by Cortesi, is very imperfect in execution, and inexact. 

 Fig. 2 of the same plate, a supposed representation of the lower 

 jaw, is made up of two fragments of opposite sides joined by their 

 anterior ends, and therefore highly deceptive. The tusks of this 

 cranium are of enormoixs dimensions, and yield an oval section 

 with diameters of 9g by 7| inches. Other bones of the same 

 skeleton are preserved in the Milan Collection, one of them being a 

 sacrum of immense size. 



c. Lower MUl'-molars. — The antepenultimate and penultimate 

 milk-molars, beautifully preserved, are present in a fine specimen of 



