THE BOUNDARY-IJNE BETWEEN GEOLOGY AND HISTORY. 227 



quently than those of beasts of prey. lu caverns, however, the latter pre- 

 dominate. Since the herbivorous animals, which were carried to the 

 caverns by beasts of prey, were the same as those found in the alluvium, 

 and since we occasionally find remains of the same beasts of prey in 

 the aUuvium, we are justified in considering their existence as coeval. 

 The whole fauna of mammals may be divided into four groups : 



1. Animals now extinct and not mentioned in human traditions. To 

 these belong the mammoth [Elcphas immigenms)^ the large two- 

 horned rhinoceros with bony septum in its nose (Rhinoceros tichor- 

 hUius), the cave-lion, hyena, and bear, and the Ursus priscus. 



2. Animals which are known to have become extinct, or to have been 

 exterminated in historical times. Among these are the "schelch"of 

 Niebelungen-Lied, [Cervus enryccros Aldr.,) a very large species of deer, 

 related to the fallow-deer, but much larger; the Urus, or ur, of the an- 

 cient Germans; and another species of ox, the Bos longlfrons. xVmong 

 those which are nearly exterminated or driven out of Central Europe in 

 historical times are the wisent of the Niebelungen-Lied — au animal 

 still kept in the Lithuanian forests by order of the Russian gov'ernmeut, 

 and often exhibited as a Urns in menageries — ^the elk, and the beaver. 



3. Animals still living in Central Europe, such as the wolf, fox, i)ole- 

 cat, hog, horse. 



4. Animals still extant, but not in the lowlands of Central Europe. 

 To these belong the reindeer, the North American musk-ox, the com- 

 mon lemming, the glutton, (wolverine,) which now live much farther 

 north, and the marmot, now found on the Alps. 



The fourth group of mammals points with great certainty to a colder 

 climate during those times. The bones of all the above-named animals 

 have either been found in the alluvium, or in caverns, or in both. But 

 besides these direct discoveries, there is an indirect way of obtaining 

 information concerning the ancient tlora and fauna, which the English 

 naturalist, Edward Forbes, has the credit of discovering. The phe- 

 nomena which will now be mentioned seem better calculated than all 

 others to cast some light on the first appearance of man in Central 

 Europe. 



The researches of the last decade leave no doubt that each species of 

 animal or plant had an original home, from which it spread in different 

 directions in the course of time, according as the external conditions of 

 life permitted, and no geographical obstacles, such as a sea, or a very 

 high mountain-chain in the case of a land-animal, were in the way. 

 Hence, each species has a geographically connected region ; and where 

 this is not the case, we may assume that this region was divided by 

 later influences. 



In many cases human influence is perceptible ; the lion, for instance, 

 has a considerably divided region, having been exterminated in the 

 ancient civilized countries. The ox, on the contrary, has a twofold 

 home, by having been transported to America. 



