﻿ELEPHAS ANTIQUUS — MILK MOLARS. 



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label attached to the specimen. The tooth is not entire, there having been a loss of 

 posterior ridges, leaving eight in a space of three inches. The worn crown is eminently 

 characteristic of the species. This may be the " last upper milk molar " discovered by 

 Falconer in the cave of Maccagnone, and which he failed to distinguish from the existing 

 Indian Elephant 1 at the time, although it is clear from the label that he subsequently 

 had cause to withdraw his previous decision. A third milk molar upper jaw, holding 

 a? 10 a? in 0*118 m. or about 4'8 inches, is described and figured by Belgrand 2 as that 

 of E. primigenius. It is from the gravel pits of Mentreuil, near Paris, where remains of 

 E. antiquus have been found, including the humerus and teeth I shall refer to in the 

 sequel. The author considers this milk tooth to belong to the Mammoth ; but, as far as 

 the figure and descriptions extend, it seems to me unquestionably that of E. antiquus. 



A highly instructive instance of the last milk molar from the Maccagnone cave is 

 represented by Baron Anca in the ' Bulletins of the Geological Society of France.' 5 

 I examined the above and other specimens in Anca's collections from the Palermo 

 caves in 1863. Dr. Falconer, however, in his paper on the ' Natural History Review '* 

 seems to have considered the tooth in question, like the above, " undistinguishable from 

 the existing Indian Elephant ;" whilst Lartet, who had also seen it in Anca's possession, 

 was of opinion that it belonged to the last of the milk series of E. antiquus, and I arrived 

 at the same opinion from an independent examination of the specimen. It is fairly repre- 

 sented in the plate referred to below. The crimping of the machaerides in the specimen 

 is, however, more pronounced than in the plate. The central expansion, angulations, 

 ridge formula, and general character of the crown are undistinguishable from British 

 specimens. It holds x 10 x in 4" 8 inches. 



Another specimen of apparently a well-worn last upper milk tooth, holding seven 

 plates and a heel in 3 inches, and a third, also imperfect, were shown to me by Baron 

 Anca. The latter specimen was nearly entire, and contained 10 x in 5 inches. Here, 

 again, the crowns presented unmistakable characters of E. antiquus. 



I am particular in noting these facts, more especially for the reason that teeth have 

 been found in deposits in the basin of Palermo with such pronounced mesial expansions 

 of their disks and other characters as to lead to the opinion that they belong to 

 E. Africanus ; whilst another set from the caves in the same neighbourhood display 

 peculiarities not referable to either, and more in common with the crown of the Asiatic 

 Elephant or its fossil ally the E. Armeniacus. 



Affinities. — The last milk molar of E. Namadicus is shown in plate 12 c, figs. 2 

 and 3, of the ' Fauna A. Sivalensis,' and holds 11 ridges in 5*5 inches. It is impossible to 

 distinguish the above from lower third milk molars of E. antiquus. 



1 ' Pal. Mem.,' vol. ii, p. 250. 



2 ' Basin de Paris, Texte,' p. 1/5, and pi. xvii. 



3 Second series, vol. xviii, pi. xi, fig. 8, and at p. (5S4. 

 1 January, 18C3, and ' Pal. Mem.,' vol. ii, p. 250. 



