28 
BRITISH FOSSIL ELEPHANTS. 
The lower molar, No. 19,844, B. M., from Slade Green, referred to by Falconer, 1 
is another excellent example of the usual long tapering and arcuated second true molar. 
It has lost, however, possibly a ridge posteriorly, leaving 13 or x 12 in 8'6 inches, the 
injury having taken place since it was examined by Hr. Falconer, as he gives twelve plates 
and a heel in 10 inches, or else his description refers to another tooth, as the illustra¬ 
tions agree with the molar as it stands at present. This tooth might be the opposing 
molar to the upper molar, Plate II, fig. 1, as far as state of wear, condition of ridges, 
general characters, and locality extend. 
A fine specimen of an upper second true molar, commencing wear and showing the 
pronounced characters of the teeth of this Elephant, is represented by No. 22,017, B. M., 
from Grays. Here in 8'2 inches a small figmentary anterior talon and a well-marked 
digitated posterior talon embrace twelve plates between them. 
No. 580 of the Museum, Royal College of Surgeons, is a penultimate upper molar 
with an injury to the anterior ridge, but the original length of the tooth is preserved. 
It is a good specimen of the narrow crown from Grays, and holds seventeen ridges in 
9 inches. 
The difficulty in determining which is a plate or a talon is well shown in another and 
similar upper molar, No. 22,017, B. M., from Grays. Here the last two ridges do not 
arise from the common base, just as occasionally a semilunar plate in front takes the 
place of an anterior talon. The tooth, moreover, shows posteriorly the narrow crown of 
the second as compared with the breadth of the same part in the first true molar. 
There are fourteen ridges altogether in 7'7 inches. 
A comparison between the last and two perfect lower molars in the Jermyn Street 
Museum, also from Grays, shows no less than fifteen ridges or a? 13 a; in 10 inches in 
the latter. They are contained in a jaw with clear traces of the ultimate tooth behind, 
whilst another specimen of a penultimate lower tooth in the same collection from British 
strata contains a? 12 x m 9 inches. These are again exceeded by the remarkable 
specimen referred to by Falconer as having been dredged up at Harwich, 2 where a 
lower molar, “probably the penultimate,” holds a? 12 a? in 10'8 inches, and an 
“extremely characteristic” second lower true molar holding x 14 x in 10'l inches. 
It would even seem that undoubted penultimate true molars, especially in the lower jaw, 
have sometimes fifteen plates besides talons. 
The enamel, which becomes thicker in last true molars than in any of the preceding, 
shows a tendency towards this condition in many specimens of the penultimate tooth. 
An instance in point is shown in No. 21,318, B. M., from Grays, Essex. 
Another illustration is presented by specimen No. 27,916, B. M., dredged off 
Norwich. This tliick-plated tooth is entire and of the lower jaw. It holds a? 12 a? 
in 8'7 inches. 
1 1 Pal. Mem.,’ vol. ii, p. 184, and ‘ F. A. S.,' pi. xiv a, fig. 10. 
2 Ibid., vol. ii, pp. 183 and 184. 
