ON THE FOSSIL BONES OF THE ELEPHANT OF THE RUSSIANS. 231 



gioni were found in sand, intermixed with shells. According to the 

 account of Fortis, Scali had succeeded in clearing out a tusk from a 

 bed of stone, studded with shells, in the village of St. Jiacomo near 

 Leghorn *. 



They are likewise to be found in the mountainous country which 

 rises towards the south on the left of the Arno. Mr. Brocchi mentions 

 some from the neighbourhood of Sienna and Volterra ; in short, they 

 are to be found along the entire line reaching as far as the Apennines 

 of Liguria f. 



Considering this abundance, it is not astonishing that the museums 

 of Tuscany should be filled with these spoils. The museum of the 

 Grand Duke at Florence contained, some years since, two lower jaws, 

 almost entire, two half jaws, a great number of tusks, and molar 

 teeth ; a demi-atlas, three vertebrae, connected together, and one sepa- 

 rate, a shoulder, part of a thigh, two tibia, and divers other fragments; 

 and I have been told that great additions have been made to it since 

 I had the opportunity of seeing it. 



In the museum belonging to the late Fontana, besides the head ex- 

 humed by Fabrini, described by Mesnig, and subsequently transferred 

 to the Count Valsamachi of Cephalonia, I observed a very large thigh 

 and two portions of jaws. In that of the University of Pisa, where 

 Thomas Bartholin had noticed some as early as 1 643 J, I counted 

 twelve tusks or portions of tusks of different sizes ; one of them was 

 ten inches in diameter and three feet in length ; in addition to these 

 I observed six jaws, some with narrow, and others with broader rows. 



There is also a collection in the museum of Dr. Branchi, professor 

 of chemistry at Pisa. That of the abbey of Vallambrosa was cele- 

 brated for its large collection, as was also the museum of the Academy 

 of the Fusiocritici at Sienna. 



As Hannibal, after the battle of Trebbia, crossed the Apennines §,. 



* Fortis, Conchil. Subapenn., vol. i, 185. 



T Conchil. Subapenn., p. 183. 



X Treatise on the Unicorn, p. 388. 



§ On the route pursued by Hannibal from Trebbia to the lake of Thrasimene. 



The learned of every nation have occupied themselves with profound investigations in 

 order to ascertain the precise spot -where Hannibal crossed the immense chain of the 

 Alps and descended into Italy. The same laborious examination has not been be- 

 stowed with a view to ascertain the point where he crossed the Apennines after the 

 battle of Trebbia, on his road to Tuscany and to the plain where he gained the no 

 less celebrated victory of Thrasimene. Nay, I am induced to think that not one of 

 the opinions that have been promulgated on this subject is entirely in accordance with 

 the testimony of the ancient writers, or the presumptions suggested by the localities 

 themselves. I shall attempt to prove this in the following observations : — 



Polybius in the seventy-fourth chapter of his third book, after giving the details of 

 the battle of Trebbia, goes on to say, " The showers of sleet fell in such abundance 

 that the army of Hannibal suffered severely : all the elephants of the Carthaginians 

 perished, with the exception of a solitary individual ; numbers of men and horses died 

 of the intense cold, so that the Consul Tiberius thought himself justified in writing to " 

 the Senate, that the inclemency of the weather had suatched the victory from his 

 hands." 



Thus the battle was fought at the close of autumn. 



" On the approach of spring," continues he a little further on, " the new Consul 

 Flaminius put his legions in motion ; and. having traversed Etruria, he halted at 



