276 Capt. Cautley on the Sevdlik Hills. 



by no means scarce. There appears, however, to be a local disposition in the 

 deposits of these remains. In some places the hippopotamus, elephant, mas- 

 todon, crocodile, tortoise, &c., are found in abundance, with the remains of 

 ruminants; in others the hippopotamus and the water reptiles are almost 

 totally absent, and only the remains of ruminants and carnivora occur; all 

 tending to prove that these animals were destroyed on the site of their habi- 

 tats ; and that this former world was not more mysterious than the present ; 

 that there were vast tracts of marsh and river, with their attendant hippopo- 

 tami and crocodiles in the waters, and elephants and mastodons in the 

 neighbourhood ; and that there were other tracts free from water and marsh, 

 and frequented by their natural inhabitants, ruminants, carnivora, &c. 



Dr. Falconer, in a note read at a meeting of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta*, 

 suggested the identity of this deposit with that near Prome, some of the fos- 

 sils from which have been so beautifully lithographed in the Society's Trans- 

 actionsf. The mastodons in the Sevalik strata are in great abundance ; and 

 as we have perfect skulls, we are enabled to form some opinion of the denti- 

 tion and the change of teeth. Three of these skulls, now in my cabinet, have 

 the front tooth worn, and the rear one coming into use ; the whole line of 

 teeth stretching on a surface of 19 inches, and forming an arc of 90°. The 

 front tooth I cannot distinguish from that of the M. Latidens figured in the 

 Geological Transactions ; and the rear one, in the same animal, bears such 

 perfect resemblance to the M. Elephanto'ides, that I cannot help risking the 

 conjecture that the M. Latidens and the M. Elephanto'ides are one and the 

 same animal ; the specimens, from which the specific characters were taken, 

 having been detached teeth. 



Bringing this forward in the way of suggestion may be of use, in ultimately 

 leading to truth. The question, however, must be determined by a strict ex- 

 amination of specimens ; and having advanced the above supposition, I will 

 take care that the means shall be provided:]:. 



* Journal Asiatic Society, vol. iv. p, 58; date of communication, 3rd January 1835. 



f Geological Transactions, 2nd Series, vol. iii. p. 377 et seq. ; pi. 36 to 43. 



X The rear or newly-formed teeth of every species of mastodon resemble those of the elephant, 

 so far as relates to the integrity of the apices or summits of their transverse ridges ; and they 

 might therefore be mistaken for those of the M. Elephanto'ides ; but the observations which led 

 to the conclusion, that the Ava specimens of mastodon belonged to two distinct species, were 

 not made on detached teeth. A repeated examination of the jaws and teeth described by Mr. 

 Clift, and the knowledge that his opinion was formed from considering the size and number 

 of the transverse ridges in relation to the length and breadth of the teeth, have tended to confirm 

 my belief in the establishment of two species, which I must retain until further and more 

 definite evidence to the contrary is adduced. — Referee. 



