238 BRITISH FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 



found. Again, the huge teeth and bones referable to the last-named form have not 

 hitherto been found in deposits of a Post-glacial age with those of E. primigenius and 

 E. antiquus. 



The characters so distinctive of the worn crown of E. primigenius are maintained 

 throughout its geographical and geological distributions. The close-packed and attenu- 

 ated wedges of enamel and dentine are preserved equally in molars from the British Isles, 

 German Ocean, European Continent, Arctic Siberia and North America, Canada, and 

 the United States. In Europe they are found often side by side with the teeth and bones 

 of the other two forms, and again, in North America, with a decidedly different form of 

 tooth. But the spiral tusk, so prevalent in all skulls containing grinders of the characters 

 referred to the Mammoth, has not been seen in crania holding molars assigned to the E. 

 meridionalis ; and, as far as fragmentary instances of the E. antiquus are concerned, it is 

 also absent, its place being taken by a defensor similar in outline to that of the two 

 recent Elephants. 



Again, if the molars of E. primigenius, as stated by a few palaeontologists, are seen 

 shading off into thick-plated varieties, provided that such assertions are meant to convey 

 a belief that any two or more of these so-called species can be united by a series of 

 grinders graduating into one another, how is it that this remarkable variability is not 

 present in the teeth from Polar lands ? 



Then, as to the cranium of E. primigenius and E. meridionalis — unfortunately, that 

 of E. antiquus is unknown — can any two skulls of allied species be more distinct ? In 

 the case of the two recent species the cranial characters never vary, and are as broadly 

 specified as are the skulls of the Mammoth, Meridional, and probably that of the Ancient 

 Elephants. 



The various physical features and climates with which the Mammoth had to contend 

 throughout its wide distribution in space and in time were well calculated to bring about 

 modifications of its external and internal skeleton. And these, no doubt, took place within 

 certain limits I have indicated ; but the ancestral branches from which the E. primi- 

 genius, E. antiquus t and E. meridionalis sprang, and the regions in which their evolutions 

 took place, were both geographically and geologically remote from the British Islands, at 

 all events, and from the periods of time represented by the deposits in which the remains 

 of the former are found. No doubt the time will come when the palaeontologist can be 

 enabled to bridge over many gaps at present both wide and well defined. 



Although a few facts point definitely towards a union of several forms of Pro- 

 boscideans, at present admitted to be distinct species, it must be conceded that by far the 

 greater number of these are based merely on single characters subject to exceptional 

 cases, and as yet unsupported by other and far more important skeletal elements. It 

 will therefore be granted that the apparent resemblances between certain so-called 

 species, although morphological facts, must be subject to acceptance or rejection in 

 accordance with the advancement of science. At present I see no good — on the con- 



