1899] THE GROUND-SLOTH OF PATAGONIA 353 



between the inner barrier and a mound — a space which could easily 

 be shut off. 



" 2. That at the foot of the mound inside, but a little behind the 

 excrement, there was found a considerable quantity of cut hay beneath 

 the same layer of earth and stones which covered the excrement ; while 

 this hay could only have been placed in this situation by man. 



" 3. That the aspect of the layer of excrement indicates the exist- 

 ence of a stable, exactly as if it had been an old corral." 



He thus concludes " that the men who lived there ages ago were 

 accustomed to stable their domestic animals in this part of the cavern, 

 reserving the rest for their own dwelling-place." 



This extraordinary idea leads us to turn with expectant interest to 

 the fragmentary remains of the so-called Neomylodon ; for if the beast 

 was a gigantic ground-sloth, it is inconceivable that so unwieldy a 

 monster can have been of any use to man as a domestic animal or 

 of any value to him except as food. The descriptions and figures 

 published by Dr. Santiago Both leave no doubt whatever that the 

 quadruped in question was a gigantic ground-sloth ; and the so-called 

 Neomylodon is clearly proved to be identical with a Mylodon -like 

 auimal, already well known by the skull from the Pampa Formation 

 of Argentina, described under the names of Glossotherimn (Owen, 1840) 

 and Grypothcrium (Bernhardt, 1879). It is, in fact, a Mylodon with 

 a very long head and laterally-placed nostrils. The species from Cueva 

 Eberhardt is probably distinct from the Glossotherium (or Grypotherium) 

 darwini, and will thus be known for the future as Glossotherimn listai. 

 After a ridiculous line of argument, which one would hardly expect to 

 find in a scientific treatise, Dr. Both proposes to change the specific 

 name ; but this point needs no discussion. 



By the kindness of Dr. Moreno, the actual skull discovered by 

 Dr. Hauthal and some pieces of the excrement were exhibited to the 

 British Association at Dover ; and the specimens will be further dis- 

 cussed at a forthcoming meeting of the Zoological Society of London. 

 The animal must have been killed by man, for the cranium is battered 

 on the top in three places. The blows themselves would probably 

 merely stun the creature, for the air-chambers above the brain-case are 

 too extensive to permit injury of the brain from above ; but the men 

 clearly had knives or sharp instruments of some kind, for there are 

 distinct clean cuts on the remains. Pieces of periosteum, cartilage, 

 ligaments and dried muscle still adhere to the bones. The specimens 

 have a peculiar odour, and three of them exhibit no indications what- 

 ever of having been buried. Presumably these were dug out of the 

 hay. They are, indeed, so fresh, that if the discoverers had reported 

 that the animal had been killed shortly before the bones were packed 

 up, the evidence of the specimens themselves would not have sufficed 

 to contradict the story. 



The excrement of the animal is of great interest, and was examined 



