. Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences . This great mass is between three and four feet long. It seems to have belonged to the pachydermous or thick- hided animals, the fossil remains of most of which, ac- cording to M. Jacquemin, are found in the ancient ter- tiary strata of our globe. The great tusks of this enor- mous head, which, with the jaw, measure four feet, re- call to our recollection those of the gigantic Elephant and Walrus ; but they possess this remarkable pecu- liarity, that, instead of starting from the upper jaw, as in these last named animals, the
. Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences . This great mass is between three and four feet long. It seems to have belonged to the pachydermous or thick- hided animals, the fossil remains of most of which, ac- cording to M. Jacquemin, are found in the ancient ter- tiary strata of our globe. The great tusks of this enor- mous head, which, with the jaw, measure four feet, re- call to our recollection those of the gigantic Elephant and Walrus ; but they possess this remarkable pecu- liarity, that, instead of starting from the upper jaw, as in these last named animals, they proceed in what appears a far more anomalous manner from the lower, the tusks and their sockets describing a complete semicircle as the shaft is prolonged downwards, No disposition similar to this is found in any of the existing races of animals, nor, so far as we are informed, in the extinct. Many other remains of this animal have at different times and places been dis- covered, so that a complete conception has been formed, not only of its skeleton, but also of its softer covering and general lineaments. These we may on a future occasion represent, when it will be seen that, furnished with a great proboscis, it must have possessed a general resemblance to the Elephant of the present day, and still more to the larger Mastodon of a former period. This cranium was discovered under the auspices of Dr Kaup, keeper of the Museum at Dramstadt, by a gentleman named Klipstein, whilst making a drain on his property near Eppelsheim, a small town on the left bank of the Rhine, in the grand duchy of Hesse. It was raised from a depth of 18 feet, where it lay imbedded in marly clay, and required no small care lest it should be injured. It was cautiously freed from the surrounding soil, and all beneath was removed save ten columns, which were allowed to remain, and on which it reposed. For these natural columns, artificial ones of gypsum were substituted, and finally it was made to rest up
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