156 FOSSIL REMAINS OF MAN. 



an ■umisiiallj powerful development of tlie thoracic 

 muscles. 



The bones adhere strongly to the tongue, although, as 

 proved by the use of hydrochloric acid, the greater part 

 of the cartilage is still retained in them, which appears, 

 however, to have undergone that transformation into gela- 

 tine which has been observed by v. Bibra in fossil bones. 

 The surface of all the bones is in many spots covered with 

 minute black specks, which, more especially under a lens, 

 are seen to be formed of very delicate dendrites. These 

 deposits, which were first observed on the bones by Dr. 

 Mayer, are most distinct on the inner surface of the cra- 

 nial bones. They consist of a ferruginous compound, and, 

 from their black colour, may be supj^osed to contain man- 

 ganese. Similar dendritic formations also occur, not un- 

 frequently, on laminated rocks, and are usually found in 

 minute fissures and cracks. At the meeting of the Lower 

 Rhine Society at Bonn, on the 1st April, 1857, Prof. 

 Mayer stated that he had noticed in the museum of Pop- 

 pelsdorf similar dendritic crystallizations on several fossil 

 bones of animals, and particularly on those of Ursus spe- 

 IcBus, but still more abundantly and beautifully displayed 

 on the fossil bones and teeth of Equus adamiticus^ Ele- 

 phas priinigenius^ &c., from the caves of Bolve and Sund- 

 w^ig. Faint indications of similar dendrites were visible 

 in a Roman skull from Siegburg ; whilst other ancient 

 skulls, which had lain for centuries in the earth, presented 

 no trace of them.* I am indebted to H. v. Meyer for the 

 following remarks on this subject : — 



" The incipient formation of dendritic deposits, which 

 were formerly regarded as a sign of a truly fossil condi- 

 tion, is interesting. It has even been supposed that in 

 diluvial deposits the presence of dendrites might be re- 



* Verb, des Naturhist. Vereins in Bonn, xiv. 1857. 



