132 BRITISH FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 



the other short-crowned Elephants. It is, moreover, nearly parallel with the molars m 

 the Mammoth and Asiatic Elephant, whereas, according to Falconer, tliis arch in E. 

 meridionals inclines to that of the molars, at an angle of about 35°.^ The enclosure 

 formed by the zygomatic arcade, as viewed from below, is circular in the African and 

 ovoid in the Mammoth (PI. VII, fig. 1 aY and Asiatic. 



The outline of the temporal fossa of course varies with the height of the dome. The 

 antero-posterior extent, in relation to the vertical height, increasing progressively in 

 different species, as stated by Falconer; in other words, the relative differences between 

 the two measurements become less as the crown decreases. Consequently there 

 must be wide differences in the outline of the temporal fossaa of the Mammoth and 

 U. meridionalis. In E. Namadicus the contour is like that of the latter, the two 

 measurements being nearly equal, whilst that of the Mammoth is rather peculiar (PL 

 VII, fig. 1) as compared with other Elephants, being narrower and converging more to 

 an apex at its upper and posterior angle. This feature is observed in other crania 

 besides the above, but is not quite so pronounced,^ which inclines me to believe that the 

 compression of the occiput after death has exaggerated the character in the Ilford skull. 



The occipital of the Mammoth (PI. VI) is very large, and although the bosses on 

 either side and deep centre for the ligament are not pronounced in the Ilford specimen, 

 owing, doubtless in part, to injury and pressure, both are well shown in the Brussels 

 skull, the hollow forming a pit large enough to hold the clenched fist. No doubt these 

 characters were subject to variations, as observed in crania of the recent species.* 



^^\\Q parallelism of the molars in either jaw (PI. VII, fig. 1 «), as compared with that 

 in the living Elephants, was considered to be diagnostic of the Mammoth by Cuvier, but 

 as Falconer truly observes, the character is not constant. The latter moreover states 

 that they invariably converge in young and old of E. meridionalis : ^ indeed such is the 

 case, more or less, in all members of the genus. 



Little appears to be known of the hasal aspect of the skull of the Mammoth in 

 consequence, most probably, of the imperfect condition of the parts in the majority of 

 specimens. In the Ilford skull the supports are in the way, irrespective of mutilations ; 

 the artist, however, has managed to afford a truthful representation of the chief parts in 

 PI. VII, fig. 1 a. As before stated, the alveolus of the right tusk has been restored in 

 the drawing from that of the opposite side, and the left zygoma is also made up from the 

 left, which is entire; there are besides restorations of the vault in places, but taken 



1 Op. cit., p. 125. 



2 This is the only part in my friend Mr. Griesbach's otherwise excellent illustration that is not quite 

 true to nature. The outline of the arcade should have been more oval. 



3 Compare the above with pi. viii, fig. 1, and pi. xiv, fig. 2, of the ' Ossemens Fossiles,' which are 

 indistinguishable in the contour of the temporal fossa from that of the cast in the Museum of the Royal 

 College of Surgeons. 



* ' Ossemens Fossiles,' pi. viii, fig. 1. 

 ^ 'Pal. Mem.,' vol. ii, p. 127. 



