part 3] LCESS, ETC. OF THE DURHAM COAST. 201 



XIII. Description of the Bones of JSlephas. 

 By Charles William Andrews, D.Sc, F.R.S., F.G.S. 



I have examined the bones sent to me by Dr. Trechmann, and 

 find that they are parts of a rib and an atlas vertebra of an 

 Elephant. Comparison shows that the atlas is not that of JEflephas 

 primigenius, but that it approaches very nearly to specimens of 

 the atlas of JE. meridionalis, with which I have been able to 

 compare it. The material is not good enough for absolute cer- 

 tainty in determination, but I do not think that there is much 

 doubt. 



XIV. Description of the Rodent Teeth. 

 By Martin A. C. Hinton. 



These specimens are an incisor and an anterior cheek-tooth (m. 1 

 of ordinary numeration), both of the left upper jaw ; they probably 

 come from one animal, and are accompanied by some minute frag- 

 ments of the premaxillae and maxillae. The cheek-tooth is obviously 

 young, since its worn surface shows thin enamel and continent 

 dentinal spaces ; an examination of the pulp-cavities shows that 

 the dentinal spaces would be closed by the re-entrant enamel folds 

 in more adult stages of wear. In size both teeth agree perfectly 

 with those of the species of Mimomys which occur in the Upper 

 Freshwater Bed of West Runton (Norfolk). Further, the crown 

 pattern of the cheek-tooth shows certain minute features, of an 

 ephemeral kind, similar to those that I have observed in corre- 

 spondingly young teeth of Mimomys. The tooth shows no sign 

 of rooting, and rooted molars are, of course, the most striking- 

 characteristic of Mimomys — when adult ; but similarly young 

 teeth of Mimomys from West Runton are wholly without signs of 

 rooting also. 



The Durham material is insufficient for me to say positively that 

 it should be referred to Mimomys ; but had I found it at West 

 Runton or in the High-Terrace Drift of the Thames I should have 

 had no hesitation in determining it as the remains of a young 

 individual of that genus. It is to be hoped that further search 

 will be made in County Durham ; for these specimens lead me 

 to believe that somebody has a very good chance of making an 

 important discovery there. 



Discission. 



Dr. C. W. And hews remarked that he had carefully examined 

 the fragments of the atlas vertebra of an elephant and thai. 

 although the specimen was very imperfect, it was possible to 

 be almost certain that it did not belong to JElephas primigenius, 

 and that it was much more like the atlas of K. meridionalis than 

 that of E. antiquus. The cervine astragali mentioned by the 



Q. J. G. S. No. 299. q 



