ON THE BONES OF THE HIPPOPOTAMI'S. 397 



half worn ; the second (that of plate 32, fig. 5), is the last grinder of 

 the under jaw, in that stage when it was just on the point of emerging 

 from the gum : as it was not used in masticating, the points of its 

 knobs were still entire : its enamel is not cut; and this drawing may 

 serve to show the form of the germs of the grinders of the hippo- 

 potamus, for it does not exhibit the slightest difference, except that 

 it locks somewhat larger. 1 cannot say whether this is the fault of 

 the artist or not, as M. Fabbroni has not sent me its dimensions. The 

 third engraving (plate 33, fig. 10) represents the fragment of a tusk 

 or lower canine tooth. This piece is also very easily recognised as 

 belonging to the hippopotamus : no other animal has tusks of this 

 shape : those of the elephant are larger, and are neither angular 

 nor striated ; those of the sea cow are certainly striated towards the 

 root, but they are not angular. The tusks of the nan* halus is 

 straight, or as it were bent spirally by the stria of the surface. The 

 grain of the osseous substance is besides very different. In that of the 

 elephant we may observe some brownish spots crossing each other in 

 very regular curvilinear lozenges. In that of the sea cow there are 

 brown veins, as it were, inserted in a white substance. The osseous sub- 

 stance of the tusk of the narwhalus presents a uniform appearance ; that 

 of the hippopotamus fine stria, concentric with the contour of the tooth. 



With regard to this tooth, M. Fabbroni has written to me, that it 

 differs from that of the African hippopotamus, by its diameter having 

 a greater relation to its length, and by its spiral curve being much 

 more decided. 



He adds, that these teeth are found scattered up and down in the 

 upper Valley of the Arno, but unaccompanied by jaws or other bones. 



Notwithstanding this, the astragalus picked up by M. Miot furnished 

 a sufficient proof that with a little attention the other parts might also 

 be collected. 



In fact, the subsequent searches were attended with better success. 



When I first visited Tuscany in 1809 and 1810, I found, both in the 

 Museum at Florence and in that of the Academy of the Valley of the 

 Arno at Figlini, such an abundance of the fossil bones of the hippo- 

 potamus, that there was not the slightest difficulty in reconstructing a 

 skeleton from them. Moreover, 1 have myself deposited in the King's 

 Museum a considerable quantity of them, which I purchased from the 

 peasants on the spot ; and as they have continued to collect them since 

 that time, I observe in the work of M. Breislack, that there has been 

 a skeleton almost entire in the Museum of the Grand Duke, since 1 816, 

 along with portions of at least eleven other individuals*. In short, it 

 is a notorious fact, that the bones of the hippopotamus are found in as 

 great quantities in the upper Valley of the Arno as those of the ele- 

 phant, and in much greater quantities than those of the rhinoceros. 

 However, they are found confusedly intermixed with both, in the 

 same strata, namely, the sandy hills which form the first stages of the 

 mountains encircling that beautiful valley. 



In proportion to the diligence exercised in searching after these 



* Breislack's Geology, p. 445. 



