H. Woodward — On the Mammoth. 543 



calculated to conduce to tlieir formidable character, but the reverse. 

 The horns of the goat, sheep, and ox, the incisive teeth in rodents, 

 the tusks of the wild boar, &c., may be cited as examples in which 

 the continued growth of these structures is often deleterious to the 

 animal. 



What I am most desirous to point out is, that in all the Siberian 

 remains of the Mammoth I have seen, and in the figures given in 

 *' Cuvier's Ossemens Fossiles" (4th Edition, Plate 15), there is a con- 

 stant uniformity and agreement as to the curvature of the alveoli, 

 with our Ilford specimen. 



If we compare the skull of the mammoth with that of the recent 

 Indian elephant, we find the alveoli in the former (Plate XXII., Fig. 

 1) diverge near the nasal aperture (leaving a deep and somewhat 

 elliptical cavity, broadest near its upper portion, between them) ; 

 whilst they converge as they extend forward, until, in fact, they 

 commence as separate and distinct prolongations of the incisive 

 alveoli, when they again diverge to admit of the passage of the 

 trunk ; in the latter the alveoli converge at their upper part, and 

 steadily diverge outwards to their extremities. 



In Mephas Ganesa (probably one of the largest of all the fossil 

 elephants, and certainly possessing the largest tusks,) brought by 

 Colonel Baker from the Siwalik Hills in India, and exhibited next 

 to the Ilford specimen in the Museum Gallery, the concavity be- 

 tween the alveoli is broadest at the lower part of the premaxillary 

 bonesf becomiDg narrower upwards until, near the nasal orifice, the 

 alveoli are in contact. See PI. XXII., Fig. 2, which represents the 

 alveolar portion of this fine skull. 



In "Cavier's Ossemens Fossiles " already referred to (PL 15), two 

 figures are given of two skulls from Siberia ; one an upper view, 

 the other an under, or palatal aspect. These have a precisely 

 similar curve to the alveoli, as depicted in Plate XXII., Fig. 1. 



Any tusk having the alveolar end preserved, can be determined 

 with great certainty as to which side of the head it should be 

 referred, by carefully noticing its curvature. 



In calling attention to the fine series of Elephantine remains 

 chiefly from Britain, India, and Siberia, preserved in the National 

 Museum, we cannot fail to recall the loss of that great and able 

 naturalist, Dr. Hugh Falconer, whose work especially lay among 

 these fossils, and whose labours and those of Sir Proby T. Cautley, 

 in the Siwalik hills, have tended in so great a degree to enhance the 

 excellence of this portion of the Museum. 



Nor among the names of still active collectors of these remains 

 must we forget to mention the Eev. John Gunn, F.G.S., whose 

 elephantine series from the Forest-bed of the Norfolk Coast now en- 

 riches the Norwich Museum; and Antonio Brad}^, Esq., whose col- 

 lection (made with unsparing liberality to the workmen of the Ilford 

 pits, and with every specimen rendered both as durable and as per- 

 fect as possible by the skill of Mr. W. Davies) we may hope some 

 day to see adorn a public museum of a more or less national character. 



