Page:Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 28.djvu/565

1872.] that the carcass to which they belonged had not been brought any very great distance. c. One large portion of an antler, undoubtedly of C. tarandus, indicates the coexistence of that species; but as no other portions of the skeleton have been discovered, this specimen may have been brought down by the river from some distance.

9. Ursus.—The only bone belonging to the Carnivora is the left fifth metacarpal of a Bear of large size. The bone, which is quite entire, is 3"⋅9 long, its least circumference 2"⋅5 (perimetral index ⋅641). It would seem to belong to U. ferox priscus, as it is too slender for U. spelæus, and altogether too large for U. arctos. No teeth or other portions of the skeleton of Ursus have as yet been met with; still, as the present specimen is entire and unworn, it would seem that it could not have been carried very far.

10. Elephas primigenius.—The Mammoth is distinctly represented by portions of three upper molars and a fragment of a dorsal spine. But besides these there are several other fragments of bone which, from their thickness and texture, not improbably belong to this species.

1. The fragment of dorsal spine betokens an individual of large size. It is recently fractured at one end; but the other is much rounded by attrition. The specimen was found in the Mid-terrace Gravel at Acton Green.

2. A second specimen, also found at Acton Green, in the Mid-terrace Gravel, at a depth of 12 feet, in March 1870, is somewhat remarkable on account of its mineral condition, which is very different from that of the two other teeth to be described below. The present is a fragment, measuring 3⋅8 × 2⋅4, of a right lower m 1. It presents the worn surfaces of six plates and of half a plate at each end. Five entire plates occupy a length of 2"⋅5; consequently they are of unusual thickness for E. primigenius, although, from the form and thickness of the enamel ridges, there can be little or no doubt of the tooth belonging to that species. Under other circumstances, however, it might equally belong to E. indicus. The tooth is very heavy and dense and hard, the dentine quite black, and the osteine deeply mottled with manganous oxide.

3. Of the other two teeth, one is marked as having been found in the High-terrace Gravel at Acton, as recorded in Col. Lane Fox's paper; and although in colour and general condition it exactly resembles the tooth next to be noticed, which was obtained from the Mid-terrace Gravel at Turnham Green, there is nothing, from this circumstance alone, absolutely opposed to its having been derived from the High-terrace Gravel, which in general characters does not appear to differ very materially from the Mid-terrace deposit. Nevertheless it will perhaps be more prudent not to assume positively that there has been no confusion in the account given to Col. Lane Fox by the finders.

The specimen is a much-broken portion of an upper molar of the right side, about 5"⋅5 long, presenting the remains of twelve or thirteen plates, which are, so far as can be judged, unworn. They are also very easily separable, and incomplete at the base. And as