1857.] FALCONER MASTODON AND ELEPHANT. 83 



popotamus and Rhinoceros. Near Chartres, in France, E. (Loxo- 

 dori) meridionalis accompanies H. major and Rhinoceros leptorhinus. 

 The above-mentioned are necessarily the leading mammalian forms 

 of the older Pliocene period. North of the Alps pliocene deposits 

 similar to those of Italy occur in some parts of Switzerland, but they 

 are soon overlaid towards the north by a distinct mass of erratic drift 

 of a different age and with different mammalian remains. In the 

 fluviatile "Loess" or "Lehm" of the valley of the Rhine, and in 

 the Glacial Drift of the plains of Northern Germany, these post-plio- 

 cene deposits contain remains of the true Mammoth, with the ticho- 

 rhine Rhinoceros, the Musk-buffalo, &c, which thus constitute the 

 leading types of the post-pliocene mammalian fauna. 



On the eastern coast of England, the Crag-deposits (the Red 

 . and Norwich Crags) yield the pliocene 31. (Teiralophodon) arvemen- 

 sis, E. (Loxodon) meridionalis, and E. (Euelephas) antiquus; and the 

 so-called Elephant-beds at Cromer, Mundesley, and Hasborough fur- 

 nish E. (Lox.) meridionalis and E. (Euel.) antiquus, with Rhin. lep- 

 torhinus and Hip. major. These characteristically pliocene fossils, 

 however, are occasionally intermingled with the remains of the post- 

 pliocene E. {Euelephas) primigenius, the latter fossils having been 

 derived from the overlying and later drift-beds, which have thus 

 proved a fertile source of the confusion and ambiguity already referred 

 to. To some extent, similar conditions exist at Bracklesham Bay and 

 Pagham Harbour, where molars of E. primigenius are found in the 

 upper gravels, whilst remains of E. antiquus abound in the older mud- 

 deposit, lately described in the Society's Journal by Mr. Godwin- 

 Austen. 



Dr. Falconer then considered the fluviatile deposits of the Valley 

 of the Thames, in relation to their Elephantine remains ; especially 

 at Grays Thurrock and Brentford. At the former place the author 

 recognizes the true pliocene assemblage of E. (Loxodon) priscus, E. 

 (Euelephas) antiquus, Hippopotamus major, and Rhinoceros leptorhi- 

 nus; but the group of mammals found at Brentford, according to the 

 published determinations, indicate the close proximity of both the 

 pliocene and post-pliocene faunae at different levels of the same 

 section. The Grays Thurrock deposits, and the lower beds at Brent- 

 ford were inferred to be of an earlier age than any part of the 

 Boulder-Clay or Till. 



The grouping of the E. primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Bu- 

 balus moschatus, &c, in the newer gravels of England and elsewhere 

 was next dwelt upon, as affording an additional clue to the tracing of 

 the several characteristic mammalian faunas over the European area. 



To the possible objection of there being too many large Probos- 

 cideans grouped in one fauna, the author replied that the bones of 

 Elephantine animals of three distinct species actually occur together 

 in one stratum in Italy, and that six species are found in deposits of 

 one age in the Sivalik hills. 



Dr. Falconer concludes that the same mammalian fauna existed 

 throughout the period during which both the Crag and the fluviatile 

 beds of the Thames Valley were being deposited ; and that a chro- 



G 2 



