378 



REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



the harpoon is straight from oue end to the other, while the barbs are 

 symmetrically placed; whether opposite or alternated, their spaces are 

 equal, they have the same form, and point in the same direction. 



Animals. — The animals of this epoch were represented in great num- 

 bers, about three hundred specimens having been discovered, compris- 

 ing nearly every animal known. There are some reptiles, more fish, a 

 few birds, and many mammals. The reptiles are scarcely determinable. 

 Of the fish, the salmon, the trout, and the brochet have been recognized. 

 A swan was found at Laugerie Basse. There is a fair representation of 

 what is probably the entire fauna of the epoch. The principal ones were 

 the cave bear, mammoth, reindeer, horse, ox (two species, the urus and 

 the aurochs), deer, mountain goat, antelope, chamois, wild boar, wolf, fox, 



CAVE liBAE ENGRAVED ON A FLAT OVAL PEBBLE OF SCHIST. 



Grotto of Massat, Ariege. 



0/iginal, Musee de Foix. Natural size. 



bear, lynx, otter, seal, walrus, and rabbit. There are a few representa- 

 tions of animals as yet unrecognized. One is the small animal resem- 

 bling a cat, engraved on both sides of the bone disk (fig. 58). To this 

 list of animals, of course, man must be added. 



The care bear. — Fig. 22 is an engraving on a fiat stone or water-worn 

 pebble of schist, about 6 by 4 by 1 inches, found by Dr. Garrigou in 

 the Grotto of Massat (Ariege), a few miles south of Toulouse. The 

 original is in the prehistoric museum in Foix, where the author saw it. 

 The characteristics of the animal are well represented ; one can see its 

 prominent forehead, the irregular line of its back, immense body, short 

 and lieavy legs. It is identified as the Ursus spela^us, or great cave 

 bear, which occupied that country in numbers during the Quaternary 

 geologic i)eriod. It is extinct and has been during all historic time. 



