1857.] FALCONER MASTODON. 325 



to M. tapiroides ; five are doubtful, either from inexact knowledge 

 as to their origin, or from their undecided character ; and all the rest, 

 being 1 1 in the aggregate, are from Italy, with the exception of one 

 specimen from Trevoux in France. It is curious to observe the 

 different views that have been taken of them. De Blainville* limits 

 the South American remains to a single species, while Laurillard and 

 Gervais range them under two well-defined forms. De Blainville and 

 Owen agree with Cuvier in referring the so-called narrow-toothed re- 

 mains from Simorre, Italy, Auvergne, and Eppelsheim also, to a^ single 

 species. Laurillard, devoted as he was to the traditions of his great 

 leader, was compelled by the evidence to admit two species, namely 

 M. angustidens, under which title he included the Italian, Auvergne, 

 and part of the Eppelsheim remains, — and M. longirostrisy under 

 which he ranged both the principal part of Kaup's Eppelsheim species, 

 and the whole of the Simorre remains f. Misled by the undue 

 importance which he attached to the presence of mandibular incisors 

 common to the two forms, he sunk the characters presented by the 

 molars, and confounded ternary-ridged and quaternary-ridged forms 

 under the same name, although it is distinctly evident that he was 

 aware that two of the European species severally possessed 3 and 

 4 ridges to their intermediate molars, and that the ternary formula 

 was common to the Mastodons of North America and of Simorre. 

 In 1 828, four years before the demise of Cuvier, Croizet and Jobert|: 

 proposed the name of M. Arvernensis for the Auvergne remains, as di- 

 stinct from M. angiistidens, and soon afterwards Dr. Kaup§ published 

 his magnificent series of the Eppelsheim form as equally distinct, 

 under the designation oiM. longirostris, which has been regarded by 

 Herman von Meyer to be identical with M. Arvernensis i| . Lartet^ 

 had accurately determined the milk- and permanent dentition (so far as 

 the true molars are concerned) of the Simorre form as far back as 1847. 

 He assigned three ridges to the last milk-molar and to the ante-penul- 

 timate and penultimate true molars in bothjaws,and inhis 'Notice,'** 

 published in 1 85 1, he proposes to distinguish it by the name oi Masto- 

 don Simorrense, retaining the designation of Mastodon angustidens for 

 the.Italian and Auvergne remains, characterized by four ridges in the 

 penultimate true molar, instead of three. Lartet at the same time ff 

 proposed the name of Mastodon Gaujaci for a supposed small form 

 from the same Miocene deposit at Lombez. Laurillard considered 

 it as furnishing a confirmation of the conjectural species named 

 Mastodon minutus by Cuvier ;1;;|;. 



Gervais followed Laurillard in considering the Simorre M. 

 (Trilojih.) angustidens and M. {Tetraloph.) longirostris as be- 



* Osteographie : Des Elephants. 



f Dictionnaire Universel d'Histoire Naturelle, torn. viii. p. 29. 



I Recherches sur les Ossements fossiles du Departement du Puy-de-D6me, 

 p. 133. 



§ Ossements Fossiles de Darmstadt, part iv. 



II Nova Acta Acad. Nat. Cur. vol. xvii. p. 113. 



•[[ Dictionnaire Universelle d'Histoire Naturelle, torn. viii. p. 29. 



** Notice sur la Colline de Sansan, p. 24. ft Op. cit. p. 27^ 



IJ: Dictionnaire Universel d'Histoire Naturelle, tom. viii. p. 31. 



2 a2 



