160 BRITISH FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 



length of 5 inches, whereas the above specimens referred to E. meridionalis from the 

 pre-glacial deposits of Norfolk are as much as 10 inches in length. 



Cuneiforms — The ulnar surface of this bone is concave in the Mammoth and Asiatic 

 about the middle, and the same obtains likewise in several colossal specimens referable to 

 E. meridionalis, or else large individuals of E. antiquus in the Gunn Collection. This 

 central depression is absent in the cuneiforme of 708 h, African, in the British Museum, 

 in which there is a depression at the anterior apex not observable in any of the above. 



The bone is relatively thicker at the external margin of the pisiform facet in the 

 Asiatic and Mammoth generally than in the African specimen, and the same is apparent 

 in the enormous bones from the Norfolk coast ; the character, however, is not invariably 

 pronounced. The length of the cuneiforme in the Mammoth seldom exceeds 5^ inches, 

 whilst, as will appear in the sequel, the same bone in E. meridionalis and in E. antiquus 

 attained far greater proportions. 



The pisiforme is not preserved in any collection of the British fossil Elephants 

 examined by me. 



Trapezium. — This element of the carpus, like the trapezoid, if the specimens figured 

 on Pis. XIX and XXI are typical of the species, would seem to present some valuable 

 diagnostic characters. The following are in the British Museum : 



1. The specimen (PI. XIX, fig. 8), No. 36,611, left foot, referred to E. primigenius, 

 is from Maidstone, Kent. The length is 2'5, and maximum breadth 2*8 inches, girth 

 7 inches. In the Asiatic the first two proportions stand as 23 to 3 inches. The bone 

 is relatively longer, but the contour is not very different ; the same may be said of the 

 African Elephant. 



2. No. 20,821 (fig. 9) is a right trapezium of E. antiquus from Grays, Essex, where 

 remains of this species are plentiful. It is 4 inches in length, with a maximum breadth 

 of 4 inches and girth of 104 inches, 



3. No. 33,418 (fig. 10), a right trapezium of either E. meridionalis or E. antiquus, is 

 in the Layton Collection from the East Coast. The bone is dark-coloured, and may, 

 on that account, have been derived from the Forest-Bed Series. The length is 3" 5 inches 

 breadth 3*8 inches, girth 9*4 inches. The specimen is decidedly small for E. meridionalis ; 

 but unless the bone is subject to much variability in the configuration as well as 

 dimensions, it seems quite distinct from the other two, which also present individual 

 peculiarities. These discrepancies are well shown in the figures, and refer to the 

 following points : 



1. General outline. The contour of the inner border of the bone from Maidstone 

 (fig. 8) rises from the metacarpal surface at an angle of about 45°, and declines suddenly 

 at the summit, whilst its outer border is slightly concave, and its breadth exceeds the 

 length. 



The outline of the Grays specimen (fig. 9) shows a remarkable concavity of the 



