GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



55 



with the posterior molares, and a portion of the left 

 ramus. The anterior molar has three denticules, with 

 two points each ; and a ridge posteriorly. The ramus 

 of this jaw is straighter and more cylindrical; the 

 height from the base to the edge of the alveolae is less ; 

 the groove for the tongue broader and shallower, and 

 the direction of the teeth less diverging than in the 

 maxilla figured in plate XXIV.; the crowns of the teeth 

 are also less elevated in the former than in the latter." 

 Fid. vol. iv. Trans. Am. Philos. Soc. p. 323. 



a Height !j breadth, depth, direction" ! &c. 



On comparing a number of human jaws together? 

 scarcely two will be found to correspond exactly in 

 these particulars. 



The author of u Tetracaulodon" renown appears to 

 pay no regard to the principles of classification, yet he 

 ought to have been aware, that, whether " labouring 

 for bread, or doing something for fame,"* writers on 

 natural science are not permitted to swerve from esta- 

 blished laws. 



We shall now close our observations on the remains 

 of the Mastodon giganteum, by one more quotation 

 from an authority which our author appears to esteem 

 as conclusive in such matters; we allude to Mr. Wil- 

 liam Cooper of New York, whom our author states 

 " has been long engaged in the investigation of the his- 

 tory of the Mastodon ; has visited Big-bone-lick, for the 

 purpose of obtaining materials ; and who, upwards of a 



* Vid. " Tetracaulodon" Memoir. Trans. Am. Philos. Soc, vol iv. p. 318, 



