A NEW FOSSIL RUMINANT GENUS. 



23 



The following dimensions contrasted with those of the Elephant and 

 Rhinoceros, will afford a tolerably accurate idea of the size of the Siva- 

 therium. They are characteristic although not numerous : — 



Indian 1-horned 

 Elephant. Sivatherium. Rhinoceros. 



From margin of foramen magnum to the first molar, . 



. 23.10 inch. 



18.85 inch. 



24.9 inch. 





, 2G.0 



22.0 



12.05 





. 18.5 



16.62 



9.20 





. 17.80 



11.9 



11.05 





2.55 



2.6 



2.6 





2.4 



2.3 



1.5 





. 15.06 



12.38 



10.22 



If the view which we have taken of the fossil be correct, the Sivathe- 

 rium M^as a very remarkable animal, and it fills up an important blank in the 

 interval between the Ruminantia and Pachydermata. That it was a rumi- 

 nant, the teeth and horns most clearly establish ; and the structure which 

 we have inferred of the upper lip, the osteology of the face, and the size 

 and position of the orbit, approximate it to the Pachydermata. The circum- 

 stance of any thing approaching a proboscis is so abnormal for a ruminant, 

 that at the first view, it might raise a doubt, regarding the correctness of 

 the ordinal position assigned to the fossil : but when we inquire further, 

 the difficulty ceases. 



In the Pachydermata, there are genera with a trunk, and others with- 

 out a trace of it. This organ is therefore not essential to he constitution 

 of the order, but accidental to the size of the head, or habits of the animal 

 in certain genera. Thus in the Elephant, nature has given a short neck 

 to support the huge head, the enormous tusks and the large grinding 

 apparatus of the animal ; and by such an arrangement, the construction of 

 the rest of the frame is saved from the disturbance which a long neck would 

 have entailed. But as the lever of the head became shortened, some other 

 method of reaching its food became necessary ; and a trunk was appended to 



