Editorial 



471 



entirely concealed in 9. hollow trunk, hiss like so many snakes 

 when disturbed, will never forget the weird effect. It is said 

 that the young nuthatch has the same habit. It is doubtless 

 a protective attainment, for it is certainly well adapted to 

 scare away any ill-informed intruders. We must admit, 

 however, that not all birds that hiss are nearly related to 

 each other. These two birds use the attainment only when 

 quite young and whilst exposed to danger in the nest, and 

 under circumstances which render it very likely to be effectual. 



It has been pointed out to us by two correspondents (to 

 whom our thanks are due) that a paragraph respecting the 

 grinders of elephants, on p. 463, seems to suggest more 

 than it says, and is liable to misconception. The points in 

 which the teeth of the mastodons resemble those of the 

 African elephant rather than those of the Indian are the 

 lozenge-shape of the ; transverse plates as seen in the worn 

 tooth, and their somewhat coarser structure. In the Indian, 

 as in the mammoth (Elephas pf imi 'genius) , the plates are 

 straight-sided, whilst in the African they are lozenges, and 

 in the mastodons they are irregular, and when worn down 

 approach lozenges. It was not intended to suggest that this 

 implied closer relationship between the mastodons and the 

 African than between the latter and the Asiatic. There is 

 no question but that both African and Asiatic elephants are 

 genericaily distinct from the mastodons. It was, however, 

 we thought, of some interest to note that in the African 

 molar, certain mastodon features are preserved which are lost 

 in the Asiatic. 



Our note was prompted by the inspection of some fine 

 specimens of these teeth, which are placed side by side in 

 the Berne Museum. It is to be remembered that there were 

 many mastodons, the teeth of which differed somewhat, and 

 also that the pattern presented by the £worn surface would 

 vary with the stage of wearing. 



