LAETET O^' nrilAN BEMArN'S. 63 



wliicli these were luteudecl ; but tliere can be no doubt tbat tlie teeth 

 had been thus disjointed piu-posely, for in the rubbish above the ashes 

 we found the basal portions of two molars of the Elephant from which 

 it was clear that the upper portion, in which the laminae are longer 

 and ^-ider, had been detached. Particles of charcoal are still adhe- 

 rent to one of these fragments. This is all that we discovered of 

 Elephant's remains.* 



The portion of the ossiferous rubbish B, comprised between the fii'e- 

 place, or inferior layer of ashes and charcoal, and the rubbly mass of 

 vegetable earth above, which, before Bonnemaison's discovery, con- 

 cealed the entrance of the cave, was nearly a metre in thickness. In 

 it were found, as in the ash-layer, many bones of Herbivora, always 

 broken and comminuted in the same manner, and some also gnawed 

 bv Hvjenas. In the same sitiiation, likewise, we met with scattered 

 particles of charcoal ; the bones of the Carnivora were tolerably 

 abundant. These were often entire, and, when broken, the fracture did 

 not present the uniform character so remarkable in the herbivorous 

 bone ; and none of the carnivorous remains were gnawed, or exhibited 

 any marks of the teeth of the Hyfena.f ISTor on these bones could 

 any of the scratches or incisions made with cutting instruments be 

 perceived, which are so often noticed in the herbivorous bones. J 

 In explanation also of the presence in this situation of a considerable 

 quantity of the remains of Carnivora of different sizes, it may be 

 suggested that these animals served prmcipaUy to furnish skius and 

 furs for clothing and the protection of man against the weather. 

 Nevertheless it should not be forgotten that in the interior of the 

 cave, among the human skeletons and in the soil beneath them, the 



* It may be asked, -nhy, if Elephants existed at that period at the foot of the 

 Pyrenees, arrows or other implements made of the ivory of then- tusks are not 

 met with. " The Ethiopians in the army of Xerxes," says Herodotus, " used long 

 arrows made of cane, pointed, instead of iron, with a sharp stone. They had also 

 javelins armed with the horns of the Koc-deer (?) pointed and fashioned Hke the 

 head of a lance." Elephants nevertheless existed in Ethiopia, as is proved by the 

 circumstance that ceitain nations in that country were termed Elephantophagi. 

 The Phoenicians, moreover, fetched ivory fiora Ethiopia, with which they traded 

 amongst other nations. But the Ethiopians, like the sub-pyrenean people, had the 

 common sense to perceive that ivory was more difficult to work, more brittle, and 

 less durable than the horns of the various species of Cci-viis. 



t This circumstance, made me think that in the wild state the Hyena might 

 have a repugnance lo feeding on the tlesh of Carnivora ; but M. Jules VeiTcaux 

 who, when at the Cape of Good Hope, fed domesticated Hyienas with the flesh of 

 the dog, has assured me that llyajnas when retiring in troops into caverns, sometimes 

 devour that of their comrades who may fall sick. Mr. Brown, in his journey to 

 Darfour, relates that when an individual in a troop of Hyaenas is wounded, the rest 

 fall upon and devour him. Dr. Buckknd also was of opinion that in the ossiferous 

 caverns in England, even the bones of the Hytena had been gnawed by their 

 congeners. 



t In this respect, however, an exception must be made in the case of two frag- 

 ments of a young Ursus spelaus, on one of which more especially (part of the pelvis) 

 may be seen numeroiis streaks, which it might be supposed had been produced by 

 the repeated action of a tool employed to remove the flesh. 



