ELEPHAS PRIMIGENIUS.— MILK MOLARS. 83 



incisor of the Mammoth than that of any other known species, and seemingly on that 

 account there is reason to admit the pecuHarity as a character of the species. The tusks 

 of E. meridionalis, and as far as is known of U. antiquus, diO not appear to have exceeded 

 the gentle curve of the recent Elephants. I repeat, however, a statement made previously, 

 that, considering the vast quantities of teeth of E. antiquus discovered in British strata, 

 no entire tusk different in curvature from that of the Mammoth has, as far as I know, 

 turned up. 



Exceptions occasionally occur at llford and elsewhere of nearly straight tusks ; in propor- 

 tion, however, to the numbers of molars of E. antiquus there are not only few remains of 

 tusks, but these when at all entire show the arcuation of that of the Mammoth ; the only 

 instance I know of to the contrary is that referred to by Ealconer, from Bracklesham 

 Bay.^ There is also a probability that the defensor may not have been developed to 

 the same extent in the latter species, just as in the Cingalese as compared with Continental 

 varieties of E. Jsiaticiis. 



2. MILK MOLARS. 



The Pre-ante-penultimate or First Milk Molar (?). 



The existence rarely of a tooth so named in the mandible of the African Elephant 

 rests, as far as known to me, on one instance. The specimen is No. 708'' of the Osteo- 

 logical Collection, British Museum ; it comprehends an entire skull, which is stated to 

 have been taken from a skin ])rocured in Paris. The skin has been stuffed, and is placed 

 in the Zoological Gallery along with other Mammals. I have before alluded to the tooth 

 in question," and both De Blainville and Dr. Ealconer^ have given illustrations of the 

 mandible, and Mr. Busk has also noticed it.* It is much to be regretted that neither 

 De Blainville nor Falconer, who had opportunities of examining the mandible soon after 

 its extraction from the skull, have furnished precise details beyond figures. As the 

 specimen now stands it is extremely difficult to understand how the three teeth fitted 

 into the space they now occupy in the left ramus. A large portion of the inner wall of 

 the horizontal ramus has been cut away, and the septum between the penultimate and 

 ante-penultimate has been also removed, whilst the first and second molars are jammed 

 so close together that absolutely their fangs cross one another, so as to make it clear that 



^ See my 'Monograph on E. antiquus,^ 



2 " Dentition of jE. antiquus," 'Monograph,' p. 11, and "Dentition of the Maltese Elephants," 

 'Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond.,' vol. ix, p. 10. 



2 ' Osteographie,' pi. xiv, fig. 4 ; ' Faun. Antiqua Sival.,' pi. xiv, fig. 4; and ' Pal. Mem.' (Falconer), 

 vol. ii, pp. 69 and 441, and Corrigenda. 



* ' Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond.,' vol. vi, p. 287. 



