496 ORIGINAL ARTICLES. 



open to the German Ocean than it is now, we can easily understand 

 that the fluctuations of level may have been greater, and we can 

 thus explain how the waves may have risen over the Rjokkenmod- 

 ding at Bilidt (which is after all not much more than 10 feet above 

 the water), without resorting to the hypothesis of a subsidence and 

 subsequent elevation of the coast. 



In the Lake-habitations of the Stone age in Switzerland, grains 

 of wheat and barley and even pieces of bread, or rather biscuit, have 

 been found.* It does not however appear that the men of the Kjok- 

 kenmbddings had any knowledge of agriculture, no traces of grain of 

 any sort having been hitherto discovered. The only vegetable remains 

 found in them have been burnt pieces of wood and some charred sub- 

 stance referred by M. Forchhammer to the Zoster a marina, a sea 

 plant which was perhaps used in the production of salt. 



The four species of shells which constitute the greater portion of 

 these deposits are in the order of their abundance — 

 The oyster, Ostrea edulis, L. 

 The cockle, Cardium edule, L. 

 The mussel, Mytilus edulis, L. and 

 The periwinkle, Littorina littorea, L. 

 all four of which are still used as food for man. Four other species 

 occur more rarely, namely, — 



Nassa reticulata, L. 

 Buccinwm undatum, L. (the whelk) 

 Venus pullastra, Mont, and 

 Helix nemoralis (the snail). 

 It is remarkable that the specimens of these species are very well 

 developed, and decidedly larger than any now found in the neigh- 

 bourhood. This is especially the case with the Cardium edule and 

 Littorina littorea, while the oyster has entirely disappeared, and even 

 in the Cattegat itself occurs only in a few places, a result which may 

 perhaps be partly accounted for by the quantities caught. Some 

 oysters were, however, still living in thelsefjord at the beginning of 

 the century, and their disappearance cannot be altogether ascribed 

 to the fishermen, as great numbers of dead shells are still present ; 

 but in this case it is attributed to the abundance of starfishes, which 

 are very destructive to oysters. On the whole,, however, their dis- 

 appearance, especially when taken in connexion with the dwarf size 

 of the other species, is evidently attributable in a great measure to 

 the smaller proportion of salt in the water. 



Of Crustacea only a few fragments of crabs have hitherto been 

 found. Fish bones, on the contrary, are frequent, the commonest 

 being — 



Clupea Jiarenr/us, L. (the herring) 

 Gadus callarias, L. (the dorse) 

 Pleuronectes limanda, L. (the dab) and 

 Murena anguilla, L. (the eel). 



* Troyon, Habitations Lacustres, pp. 43 and 427. 



