398 Note on the Fossil Elephant [Aug. 



two (figure 11); so that as far as regards age the fossil and recent bones 

 are by no means unfit for a comparison of magnitude inter se. Judging 

 from the plates of elephant skeletons, it appears that the height of the 

 crown of the animal's skull from the ground is from 3—, to Z\ of the 

 length of the femur ; and the height to the top of the shoulder is 2f of 

 this length ; the latter is, I believe, the mode of estimating the height of 

 the elephant. 



The recent femur, measuring 40 inches exactly, would thus give an 

 animal of nine feet high, which is by no means a small elephant in the 

 present day ; while the ratios between several measurements of the 

 fossil and recent bone are as follows : 



The length of the femur itself was fortunately taken by Dr. Spils- 

 bury, while it remained whole, and attached to the rocky matrix ; other- 

 wise the length deduced from the measurement of its parts alone would 

 have needed some confirmation to obtain implicit credence. 



Fossil Specimen Skeleton of an 



from the Omar Nadi. elephant of 9 feet. Ratio. 



Greatest length of the fe- "I 



mur, between extremi- > 63 inches. 40 inches. 1.6 



ties, J 



Circumference of the ball a b, 27 16.5 1.6 



Diameter of ditto (measured.) 8.75 5.15 1.7 



Breadth from tip of tro-T 



chanter to exterior of V 18 11 1.6 



ball, ac, • J 



Circumference of the cen- 1 



tral or smallest cylin- V- 19 11 1-7 



der of the bone, J 



Breadth of the condyles, . . 11 6.8 1.6 



Mean ratio of the fossil to the existing species, 1.63 



There is a very satisfactory agreement between all these measure- 

 ments, and we may be warranted therefore in fixing as the height of 

 our fossil animal 9 X 1.63, or 14 J feet: 15 feet was the estimate at 

 first made from the proportion of the bones in Cuvier's work. 



Thus, a femur of an African elephant 1.11 metre, or 43.7 inches long, 

 denoted an animal of 9| feet : and 



The longest of the entire fossil bones accurately measured by Camper 

 was 52 Rhenish inches, = 53.9, indicating a height of 12 feet 2 inches. 



" Si Ton pouvoit se fier aux measures rapportees dans la giganto- 

 machie, le femur du pretendu Teutobochus auroit 6te encore plus grand, 

 puisqu'il auroit eu cinq pieds de long ; et neanmoins cette dimension 

 n'indiqueroit qu'un individu de quatorze pieds du haut : ce qui ne sur- 

 passe point ce que les relations nous disent des elephans vivans dans 

 les Indes." It is evident from this passage, that no entire specimen of 

 the magnitude of our fossil had been seen at Paris. There was in the 



