GEOLOGY. 291 



rope. During the past year the remains of ancient lake-habitations, 

 similar to those heretofore discovered in Switzerland, have been found 

 in Bavaria and Moravia. In a considerable number of lakes the piles 

 upon which the ancient population erected their habitations are dis- 

 tinctly preserved ; associated with fragments of rude pottery, and 

 bones of the horse, the stag, the ox, the wild boar, and the wolf. 

 Most of the bones have been broken, evidently for the purpose of 

 extracting the marrow. 



At Olmiitz in Moravia, Prof. Jeittcles has succeeded in discovering 

 traces of most ancient human settlements with numerous remains of 

 animals no longer in existence. In laying pipes across a "moor"- 

 bed, the workmen found numerous bones, teeth, and jaws of animals, 

 together with objects of human industry in bone, stone, bronze, and 

 iron. Gigantic teeth of the wild boar, numerous remains of the do- 

 mestic pig, bones and teeth of the ur, and the domestic ox, of the old 

 horse, stags, roes, and other ruminating animals, of the dog, and of 

 many other big and small wild and domestic animals were dug up. 

 The bones of the horse belong to all appearance to the extinct species 

 of the Equus angustidens ; the lower jaw is distinguished by two 

 enormous corner teeth. As to the dog, the two halves of the lower 

 jaw which were found, agree exactly in their dimensions with the pro- 

 portions, stated by Riitimeyer, of the race of dogs which then lived 

 in Switzerland. Perhaps we have here the original form of the great 

 variety in the dog species now extant. Most of the tubular bones 

 were split open longwise. 



Prehistoric Remains from Scotland. At a meeting of the An- 

 thropological Society (London), Dec. 4, an interesting account was 

 given by Mr. Laing of the exploration of some shell mounds on the 

 coast of Scotland, near Caithness. The interesting features of these 

 mounds, were, he said, that they resemble the " kjokkenmb'ddings " of 

 Denmark, which consists of heaps of shells and bones, the refuse of 

 the food of the men who are supposed to have lived in the prehis- 

 toric period. (For the description of the " kjokkenmoddings," see 

 Annual of Sci. Discovery, 1861 and 1862.) Five mounds were opened 

 and explored, and the results showed that the heaps had been accu- 

 mulated at different periods. In the lowest stratum were found 

 mingled Avith the shells of limpets and periwinkles, which appear to 

 have constituted the principal articles of food of these ancient people, 

 some bones of oxen, of horses and pigs, and stone implements of the 

 rudest possible kind. Specimens were also found of the bones of a 

 bird that has long been extinct. In continuing his explorations, Mr. 

 Laing came to some kists consisting of slabs of stone just large 

 enough to hold the body of a man, and inside, covered with sand, he 

 discovered the skeletons of those who had been interred. Most of 

 them were very short, not being more than 5 ft. 4 in. long, and in 

 those kists no implements of any kind were found ; but in two in- 

 stances he discovered kists of a much larger size, the skeletons in 

 which measured 6 ft. and 6 ft. 4 in. These were presumed to have 

 been the chiefs of the race, and buried with one of them were fifteen 

 stone implements, of small size and of the rudest character, exhibit- 

 ing a lower degree of Art than the flint implements found with the 

 bones of extinct animals in tertiary geological deposits. Several of 



