ON THK BONES OF THE MASTODON'. . 345 



above, 0,104 in the centre, and 0,21 at the base. The diameter of its 

 head is 0,18. — (See plate 22, figs. 5, 6, 7.) 



The femur of the skeleton of Mr. Peale is 3^ 7" English, or 1,085 

 long. This corresponds almost exactly with our own. 



Srdly. The Tibia. That of the skeleton of Mr. Peale is 2' English, 

 or 0,607, which makes the relative proportion between that and the 

 femur to be as 6 is to 10. 



Mr. Peale is of opinion that this proportion is less than in the ele- 

 phant ; but I have not found it so. The femora of our two Indian 

 skeletons measure 0.92, and the tibiae 0,56, giving in both cases the 

 proportion of 6 to 10 almost precisely. Nevertheless, if, as is very pro- 

 bable, the abdomen of the mastodon be not so large as that of the ele- 

 phant, its knee must appear more disengaged from the belly. 



I give (plate 24, figs. 1,2,3, 4) the tibia presented to our Museum by 

 Mr. Jefferson. Compared with that of the elephant, it is much thicker 

 in proportion to its length. The anterior upper crest is much fuller 

 and more obtuse ; it is not cut with so deep a fossa opposite to the two 

 femoral articulations. The latter are more irregular; that is, the 

 external one is narrower in proportion from back to front. The pos- 

 terior surface above is more hollowed ; the malleolus is more salient 

 towards the base; the pulley of the tendon of the fibular muscle is 

 more hollowed, comprehending the internal. This tibia is 0,595 long; 

 its upper head is 0,238 broad, and the inferior 0,181. 



The late M. Adrien Camper had a tibia in his Museum 0,71 long, 

 0,25 broad at the top, and 0,21 at the bottom, indicating an animal 

 much larger, but of proportions similar to the preceding one. Of the 

 fibula I can say nothing. 



9. Of the Figure in general. 



On adding together the lengths of the humerus and the radius, and 

 those of the femur and the tibia, we find the height of the front extre- 

 mity to be 1,60, and that of the rear 1,69. 



The elephant, eight feet high, has the same lengths, or rather gives 

 the same sums — 1,40 and 1,48. Thus the relative proportion of the 

 extremities is pretty much the same in the two species, although those 

 of their component parts are not so. 



The height of the extremities, taken by themselves, would give nine 

 feet or three metres for the greatest height of the mastodon. But as the 

 shoulder blade of the latter is almost one-third longer, we may a,llow a 

 little m.ore for the height of its withers. Mr. Peale has given his skele- 

 ton eleven feet English, or 10^ 1" to the height. I am of opinion that 

 he has elevated it a little too much, by placing the shoulder blades too 

 low, and not spreading the articulations sufficiently. This is also the 

 opinion of Mr. Everard Home, who saw this skeleton. Granting, how- 

 ever, that it really does measure ten feet in height, it would only equal 

 the height of the most common elephants at present existing in India, 

 and Vi'ould be very far from realising those gigantic proportions which 

 people have fancifully attributed to the mastodon. And as the large 

 bones, deposited in the British and French Museums, and in that of M. 

 Camper, do not exceed in size those which Mr. Peale has formed into a 



