36 



GEOLOGY. 



The Mastodons, when living, had a range extending from England 

 through France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, to Armenia, India, 

 and Ava ; they have also been found both in North and South 

 America. There are thirteen species of these old Elephants whose 

 range was coextensive with that of the Mastodon, and embraced in 

 addition the whole of Africa and the Northern seaboard of the Asiatic 

 and North American continents. 



Most abundant remains of one species, called the "Mammoth" 

 {Elephas primigenius), have been found in the frozen soil of the vast 

 alluvial plains called " tundras," intersected by the rivers Yenesei, 

 Irtish, Obi, Tndigirka, Lena, &c. In several instances, entire indi- 

 viduals have been found, so completely frozen, as to have retained 

 the flesh and skin adhering to the skeleton ; the body being covered 

 with reddish wool and long black hair (an example of which may 

 be seen in Pier-case 15), as if to protect it from the colder climate. 

 The tusks of this Arctic Elephant are still collected for the sake of 

 the ivory ; and every few years a shipload is sent from Archangel 

 to the port of London for sale. The Siberian Mammoth closely 

 agrees with the specimens found fossil in various parts of England, 

 especially at Ilford in the valley of the Thames near London, and 

 on the coast of Norfolk. 



Many of these remains may be seen in Wall-cases 15 and 16, and 

 in the centre of the Gallery floor are placed the fine skull, tusks, and 

 lower jaw of the Ilford Mammoth. Similar remains have also been 

 found beneath modern London, associated with flint implements made 

 by early man, with whom this old elephant was contemporary. 



(Wall-cases Nos. 17 to 20.) India, the home of one of the two 

 species of existing elephants, has also yielded abundant evidence of 

 extinct species of this animal. The skull and tusks of Elephas 

 ganesa (probably one of the largest of ail the fossil elephants), 

 from the Sewalik Hills in India, and exhibited next the Ilford speci- 

 men in the centre of the Gallery, has tusks which measure 10 feet 6 

 inches in length.* (Presented by General Sir William Erskine 

 Baker, K.C.B.) 



The late Dr. Falconer has described thirteen species of fossil 

 elephants, nine of which are from India, and two occur fossil . in this 

 country. 



Pier-case No. 17 contains some British remains of the Elephas 

 antiquus ; the rest of the case, and also of Pier-cases 18, 19, and 20, 

 are entirely devoted to the great collection of elephant-remains from 

 the Sewalik Hills (Upper Miocene) of India (figured and described 

 in the Fauna Antiqua Sivalensis) . This series includes more than 

 thirty heads and parts of skulls of extinct species of elephants, be- 

 sides numerous lower jaws, vertebra^ and limb-bones. For our mag- 

 nificent series of skulls, tusks, and teeth of fossil Indian elephants, 

 we are mainly indebted to the late Col. Sir Proby T. Cautley, K.C.B., 

 so large a donor of specimens to the Geological Department. 



* A mammoth's tusk from Eschscholtz's Bay, in the collection, measures 12 feet 6 

 inches along the curve. (See tops of Wall and Pier-cases, North side.) 



