SIWALIK AND NARBADA CARNIVORA. 
35—212 
battered off. The palatal surface was, however, still buried in matrix, and careful 
chiselling has revealed this surface in a more perfect condition : on the left side the 
position of the 1 fangs ’ of the canine and cheek-teeth has been made visible by 
cutting and polishing the alveolar ridge. Both zygomatic arches have been broken 
away, but the glenoid cavity (gl.) remains on the left side : the specimen is not 
sufficiently perfect to indicate the position of the basi-cranial foramina, or the exact 
limits of the component bones of this part. Bad as the condition of the specimen 
undoubtedly is, the palate fortunately affords ample characters for indicating its 
specific distinctness from all described bears ; many of these characters are, however, 
somewhat difficult to clearly portray in the figure. 
In the first place an inspection of the figures will at once show that the specimen 
undoubtedly belongs to the genus Ursus. The generic determination being accepted, 
the most important specific characters are to be found in the form of the palate, and 
in the size and position of the cheek-teeth. The palate is deeply concave between 
the molar series, and its hinder free border (pal.) extends very far back behind the 
last molar (m. 2) : at the anterior border of the latter tooth the median line of the 
palate is elevated upwards of one inch above the level of the molar alveoli. 
Anteriorly the vaulting or concavity of the palate gradually diminishes till at the 
hinder border of the canines there is a distinct transverse ridge, only slightly above 
the level of the alveolar ridges : in advance of this the palate slopes upwards and 
forwards towards the incisors, the free extremity having been broken off in the 
specimen : posteriorly to the ridge the slope of the palate is upwards and backwards. 
The general form of the palate, and more especially of the transverse ridge behind 
the canines, and the consequent opposite direction of the slope of the two surfaces 
before and behind this ridge, is nearest to the form of the palate of the living Ursus 
labiatus, and totally distinct from the palates of all other species of the genus , in which the 
anterior portion of the palate is either horizontal ( U. arctos, U. torquatus ), or slopes 
upwards and backwards ( U. maritimus). In the fossil, however, the vaulting of the 
hinder part of the palate is very much greater than in U. labiatus ; the surface of 
the hinder part of the palate in the latter not being elevated more than a quarter-of- 
an-inch above the molar alveoli. In both skulls the free posterior border of the 
palate (pal.) is produced far behind the molar series : this extension being mainly 
due to the circumstance that the last molar ( m. 2 ) does not extend (as it does in all 
other bears, though least so in the polar bear,) behind the root of the zygoma; but 
partly to the proportionately great development of the hinder part of the palate 
itself. This character is most developed in the fossil ; and the vaulting of the post- 
molar portion of the palate in the latter causes this part of the skull to be narrower 
than in the recent form. 
Turning to the dentition, the polished alveolar ridge of the left side of the 
specimen (fig. 2) exhibits transverse sections of the bases of the crowns of all the 
cheek-teeth. The three first premolars are separated from one another by distinct 
