5^ 



suffered decomposition; but to this idea there 

 presented insuperable difficulties : all the 

 bones found in the same morass, at nearly 

 an equal depth, and equally protected by the 

 shell marie and water, were in an equal de- 

 gree of preservation ; but every bone was more 

 decayed than the ivory in the body and roots 

 of the teeth, and these sometimes less perfect 

 than the enamel. How could it happen then 

 that the bones were not wholly decayed, to cor- 

 respond with the tusk ? or why should this be 

 so much decayed, while the ivory of the teeth 

 is in such fine preservation, having been under 

 the same circumstances ? These questions can- 

 not be answered but in the belief that the 

 tusks (although they certainly have suffered 

 some injury) never could have been of the same 

 consistence as those of the Elephant. 



When the skeleton was first erected, I was 

 much at a loss how to dispose of the tusks ; their 

 sockets shewed that they grew out forwards, 

 but did not indicate whether they were curved 

 up or down. I chose, therefore, first to turn 

 them upwards, not because they produced the 

 same effect as in the Elephant y fpr it is evi-. 



n 2 



