88 
OEIGINAL AKTICLES. 
and below, the penultimate and last true molars in action ; the former 
in advanced wear, the latter coming into use, and in the upper jaw, 
barely abraded. The right upper penultimate is worn low, with a- 
loss of the anterior portion. The crown presents the discs of eight 
distinct ridges, together with a denuded base of ivory in front, cor¬ 
responding with two ridges that have been worn out. These discs 
are wide, with highly crimped enamel machcerides , both being of the 
E. Sumatranus pattern ; the following are the principal dimensions: 
Length of crown measured at summit 8. inches. 
Space occupied by the 7 last discs of wear 5.8 „ 
Greatest width of crown 3.0 „ 
In this case, the discs are very open, with an average width of about 
.83 in. to each; but in the progress of wear, the ridge-plates have 
become so reclinate, in relation to the plane of detrition, that in the 
middle of the crown, from the causes above assigned, the grooved 
enamel plates are exposed, nearly horizontally, to the extent of nine- 
tenths of an inch. The width of the bands, in this instance, is an 
exaggeration arising from the obliquity of the section yielding them, 
in a tooth far advanced in wear. 
The last true molar of the same skull makes a different appear¬ 
ance. Although partly extruded it is hardly touched by wear, and 
the outer wall of the alveolus was removed to expose the concealed 
hinder portion. The crown is composed of 22 ridge-plates, of which 
18 are consolidated, the 4 hindmost being loose. It yielded the 
following dimensions:— 
Extreme length, measured diagonally, from apex of 
front ridge to base of the last do. 13. inches. 
Length of do. measured along the base of the ridges 11.5 „ 
Greatest width 3.1 „ 
Instead, therefore, of .83 yielded by the penultimate, the ridges in 
this case give only an average of .52 in.; and in weighing the re¬ 
sult, it should be borne in mind, that the three last true molars, not 
only increase successively in the number of their component ridges, 
but that the latter are proportionally thicker in the older teeth, being 
an adaptation of nature, to suit the long term of use, which the last 
molars have to serve. Here then are two consecutive molars of 
the same skull, which, if detached, and introduced into a museum 
without a knowledge of their origin, might be cited—the penulti¬ 
mate as a typical illustration of E. Simairanus, and the last of E. 
Indicus. 
Nor is this width of the bands, in worn molars, confined to the 
Southern Elephant. I have now before me two grinders, picked up 
by Sir Proby Cautley, in the swamp of Azufghur, a habitual resort 
of wild Elephants, in the Tarai of the 6 Sal Forests,’ at the foot of 
the Himalayah north of Meerut, which present the characters of the 
discs of wear attributed to the Sumatran Elephant. There is, doubt¬ 
less, a certain amount of difference to be met with in the teeth of 
