342 ON THE FOSSIL BONES OF PACHYDERMATOUS QUADRUPEDS. 



2ncl. The tusks found in one of those places above mentioned are 

 worn at their points ; so that, supjiosing this extremity to have been 

 upwards, we must conclude that the animal was in the habit of rub- 

 bing it, without any apparent reason, against rugged and vertical 

 rocks. Perhaps these reasons may not appear conclusive to every 

 body. 



Tlie fossil elephant, or real Russian mammoth, frequently had its 

 tusks as decidedly curved as those of the mastodon, and yet their points 

 were upwards. We are as much at a loss to conceive of what possible 

 use they could be, in the position assigned them by Mr. Peale, as in 

 that which is pointed out for them by analogy. 



The rosemarus (trichecus rosmarusj has, it is true, its tusks directed 

 downwards; but then it is a short limbed animal, formed for the most 

 part to swim in the water ; and in that element such tusks might prove 

 serviceable. But the mastodon, with its immense length of limb, 

 must unquestionably have inhabited the land. It might easily have 

 worn the front or convexity of its tusks by rubbing them against trees, 

 rocks, or in any other way. 



Finally, the babiroussa, whose tusks rise vertically above its head, 

 and then bend their points in a spiral form backwards and below, has 

 much less the appearance of being able to make use of its tusks than 

 the mastodon. Hence, until such time as the skull of a mastodon shall 

 have been discovered, with its tusks implanted in their sockets, nothing, 

 in my opinion, can justify their being placed otherwise than as they 

 are observed in the elephant. 



5. Had the Mastodon a Trunk ? 



It has been shown that the mastodon had an immense head; the 

 thick and compact jaw teeth augmented its weight : this was further 

 increased by long heavy tusks, which removed the centre of gravity 

 still farther from its supporting point, 'i'hese causes necessarily re- 

 quired the neck of the elephant to be short; that of the mastodon must 

 have been short likewise. As its legs are very long, as we shall pre- 

 sently see, it could not have reached the ground witliout the assistance 

 of a trunk; in fact, if there were no other obstruction, its tusks must 

 have prevented it. If, like the seal, the sea cow, and the cetacea, it had 

 been an inhabitant of the waters, these reasons would not be conclusive. 

 But this cannot have been the case, as its feet are not made for swim- 

 ming; they are much too long, and the toes aie too slightly developed. 

 It is therefore placed beyond all doubt that tlie mastodon had a trunk, 

 and that in this, as well as in so many other particulars, it resembled 

 the elephant. 



6. The Bones of the Trunk. 



It is impossible at present to verify the conclusion drawn from the 

 preceding reasoning by an appeal to facts, as the soft parts must neces- 

 sarily have disappeared in almost every case ; but we can at least sub- 

 stantiate that part of the premises relating to the neck. The vertebrae 

 are very slight, forming a neck which is very far from permitting the 

 mouth to descend to a level with the fore feet. We are enabled to 



