If the differences in stature and form are constant, there can be no question as to the right of the dwarf Congo elephant to rank as a well-marked local race; the only point for consideration being whether it should not be called a species. The great interest in connexion with a dwarf West African race of elephant is in relation to the fossil pigmy elephants of the limestone fissures and caves of Malta and Cyprus. Although some of these elephants are believed not to have been larger than donkeys, the height of others may be estimated at from 4 to 5 ft., or practically the same as that of the dwarf Congo race. By their describers, the dwarf European elephants were regarded as distinct species, under the names of _Elephas melitensis_, _E. mnaidriensis_ and _E. cypriotes_; but since their molar teeth are essentially miniatures of those of the African elephant, it has been suggested by later observers that these animals are nothing more than dwarf races of the latter. This view may receive some support from the occurrence of a dwarf form of the African elephant in the Congo; and if we regard the latter as a subspecies of _Elephas africanus_, it seems highly probable that a similar position will have to be assigned to the pigmy European fossil elephants. If, on the other hand, the dwarf Congo elephant be regarded as a species, then the Maltese and Cyprian elephants may have to be classed as races of _Elephas pumilio_; or, rather, _E. pumilio_ will have to rank as a race of the Maltese species. In this connexion it is of interest to note that, both in the Mediterranean islands and in West Africa, dwarf elephants of the African type are accompanied by pigmy species of hippopotamus, although we have not yet evidence to show that in Africa the two animals occupy actually the same area. Still, the close relationship of the existing Liberian pigmy hippopotamus to the fossil Mediterranean species is significant, in relation to the foregoing observations on the elephant. It may be added that fossil remains of the African elephant have been obtained from Spain, Sicily, Algeria and Egypt, in strata of the Pleistocene age. Some of the main differences in the habits of the African as distinct from those of the Asiatic elephant have been mentioned under the heading of the latter species. The most important of these are the greater tolerance by the African animal of sunlight, and the hard nature of its food, which consists chiefly of boughs and roots. The latter are dug up with the tusks; the left one being generally employed in this service, and thus becoming much more worn than its fellow. (R. L.*)