1G2 BRITISH FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 



The maximum length in the Mammoth seldom exceeds 5^ inches, whereas in E. 

 antiquum it is 6*8 inches ; and several still larger specimens are represented in the British 

 Museum, Gunn Collection, and that of A. Savin, Esq., of Cromer, all of which ma} r 

 probably belong to E. meridionalis or E. antiquus. 



Metacarpals. 



First digit. — The first metacarpal of the Mammoth does not seem to present any 

 character different from that of the Asiatic, which, however, as far as the afore-noticed 

 single instance of the African is concerned, may be distinguished by the upper and lower 

 surfaces of the shaft in the two former being not so broad and flattened as in the latter. 

 This bone and its homologne of the hind foot are seemingly shorter in the African than 

 in the Mammoth and Asiatic Elephant, and there is apparently a few differences in the 

 contours of the distal articulating surface in the Mammoth and Asiatic as compared with 

 the African species and E. meridionalis, which are more alike. 



A colossal bone of this member of the manus, 4J inches in length, found on the 

 beach at Cromer, is in the Gunn Collection. This specimen in the concave upper aspect 

 of the distal facet presents a character of the African, but otherwise the general outline 

 and circular contour of the proximal articular surface show no very close affinities with 

 either of the recent Elephants. 



Second digit. — Comparisons of these elements of the fore foot of the Mammoth with 

 similar bones of the recent species do not point to any characters available for diagnostic 

 purposes. 



The second metacarpal of the Mammoth is represented in the Owles Collection and 

 the Brady and Gunn Collections, the largest being 5' 8 inches. 



There is a large specimen in the Owles Collection, B. M., from the Dogger Bank, 

 7'5 inches in length. The proximal articular surface is 5'Sx3 inches, and the distal 

 4'4 inches in height by 4*4 in width. The girth midshaft is 88 inches. 



This digit is not relatively stouter nor longer than in the recent Elephants, and the 

 same character may be said generally to obtain, at all events with the three longest toes, 

 in the fore and hind feet of the Mammoth. 



The first phalanx is more even at its proximal or metacarpal articular aspect in both 

 the Asiatic and Mammoth than in the African, in which the foot is relatively broader, 

 but these characters may not be persistent. 



Third digit. — The sides of the metacarpal are more flattened in the African than in 

 the Mammoth and Asiatic. 



The magnal surface is more concave in the two last-named species, which differ 

 from E. antiquus as regards the contours of the central and marginal facets, as seen in 

 Plate XVIII, fig. 7, of the Mammoth, and fig. 6 of E. antiquus, on the one hand, whilst 



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