FALCONER MASTODON AND ELEPHANT. 297 



Faun. Antiq. Sival. pi. 13 B. figs. 1-8). The original of Nesti's 

 figure yields all these distinctive marks of Mastodon in a very pro- 

 nounced manner, and it is demonstrable that the beak is incompa- 

 tible with the ascertained direction of the incisive bones and tusks 

 of the upper jaw in E. meridionalis. 



Of the numerous rami of the lower jaw, young and old, of this 

 species in the Florentine Museum, the most perfect is an entire 

 mandible attached to the cranium no. 8 of the above enumeration. 

 The^'e are other specimens of a much larger size. On the compa- 

 rison of several, the foUovdng characters were yielded : — 



1. The teeth of the opposite sides converge in front, instead of 

 being nearly parallel, or but little inclined, as in E. primigenius. 



Much stress was laid upon this character by Cuvier in his descrip- 

 tion of the Mammoth ; but it is assuredly neither absolute nor con- 

 stant. In proof of this I may refer to figs. 1, 2, and 3 of pi. 13 A, 

 ' Fauna Antiq. Sival.,' or to fig. 1 of pi. 1 of Fossil Eemains in the 

 ' Voyage of the Blossom,' in all of which the opposite Unes of molars 

 are more or less convergent. 



2. The length of the alveolar margin, from the anterior edge of 

 the ascending ramus to the commencement of the diasteme, and the 

 entire length of the horizontal ramus, both absolutely and relatively 

 to the breadth of the ascending ramus, are greater in E. meridionalis 

 than in E. primigenius. 



3. In the Mammoth the rami meet in front by a very obtuse and 

 rounded curve, from which a short, deflected, and contracted beak is 

 suddenly given ofi" ; in E. meridionalis they unite by the curve of a 

 flattened ellipse, and the symphysial beak is given ofi" by a broader 

 base and less suddenly. 



This obtuse and rounded outline in the Mammoth was much in- 

 sisted upon by Cuvier. It is constant and very distinctive of the 

 species. The figures above cited may be referred to. 



4. In E. primigenius the horizontal ramus attains a great eleva- 

 tion in front, from which the diastemal ridges descend nearly verti- 

 cally, or vsdth an abrupt inclination, into the short beak; in E. meri- 

 dionalis the ramus is longer, and proportionally less elevated in 

 front, and the diastemal margins slope gradually into the symphysial 

 beak from a broader base ; the apophysis is produced more in front, 

 and is larger in all its dimensions than in E. primigenius. The sym- 

 physis is in consequence longer in E. meridionalis. In the perfect 

 mandible of no. 8, the distance from the posterior surface of the 

 symphysis to the apex of the beak-apophysis measures 6^ inches. 



5. Viewed sidewise, when the lower jaw of the last specimen is 

 placed so as to rest on the posterior part of the ramus and on the 

 symphysis (exclusive of the beak), the inferior margin presents a 

 well-marked concave arc, and the beak is produced forwards, and 

 downwards for a considerable extent below the plane upon which 

 the symphysis rests. It attenuates to a fine emarginatc point. This 

 concavity of the lower border, and gradual slope of the diastemal 

 ridges into the beak, are well seen in the young lower jaw which 

 yielded the description of the earliest milk-molars. The latter cha- 



