Edinburgh journal of natural history Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences edinburghjournal01macg Year: 1835 i/0/W Hllk,' SC â ^^iiiiiiii04 The large cranium of the Sivatherium, of which the above are representations in profile and in front, is a remarkably perfect fossil. When discovered, it was fortu- nately so completely enveloped in amass of stone, that although it had hmg been ex- posed to be acted upon as a boulder in a water-course, all the more important parts of structure had been preserved. The block might have been passed unnoticed, had not'a projectin
Edinburgh journal of natural history Edinburgh journal of natural history and of the physical sciences edinburghjournal01macg Year: 1835 i/0/W Hllk,' SC â ^^iiiiiiii04 The large cranium of the Sivatherium, of which the above are representations in profile and in front, is a remarkably perfect fossil. When discovered, it was fortu- nately so completely enveloped in amass of stone, that although it had hmg been ex- posed to be acted upon as a boulder in a water-course, all the more important parts of structure had been preserved. The block might have been passed unnoticed, had not'a projecting edge of the teeth, by juttin? out in rehef, given a promise of some- thing additional concealed beneath. After much labour, the hard crystalline cover- ing of stone was so successfully removed, that the huge head now stands out, with a couple of horns between the orbits, broken only near the tips, and the nasal bones projected in a free arch high above the chaffron. All the molars on both sides of the jaw are present, and singularly perfect. The only mutilation of the fossil is at the vertex of the cranium, where the plane of the occipital meets that of the brow, and at the muzzle, wliich is truncated a little way in front of the first molar tootb. The only parts which are still concealed are a portion of the occipital, the zygoma- tic fossiE on both sides, and the base of the cranium over the sphenoid bone. The form of the head is so singular and grotesque, that the first glance strikes us with surprise. The prominent features are, \st. The great s:ze, approaching u» that of the Elephant ; 2d, The immense development and width of the cranium be- hind the orbits ; 3r7, The two divergent osseous cones for horns, starting out from the brow, between ihd orbits ; 4M, The form and direction of the nasal bones, rising with great prominence out of the chaffron, and overhanging the external nostrils ia a pointed arc'h ; ttk. The great masiiveness, width, and shortness of the face
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