B90 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1896. 



the forms which he depicts. The woi k is so iine that it requires the magnifying glass 

 to bring out all its beauty. One face of the baton represents two seals, such as 

 inhabited the sea oft' the coasts of France. One of them is seen in its entirety with 

 his four members. The hinder members, so singularly carried among these animals, 

 are exactly rendered, each foot having five toes. The size and extent of the tail is 

 plainly to be seen. The head is delicately executed. The muzzle with its mustache, 

 the mouth, the eyes, the hole for the ear, all indicate a degree of artistic ability. 

 The other seal is not to be seen in its entirety ; it is larger and has indications of long 

 hair about its neck. The fore foot is exact. In front is a fish, which is either a salmon 

 or a trout. Its spots are shown and the ventral fins are affixed to the abdomen. 



On the opposite side of this baton are two animals, long and slim, 

 the longer being 34 centimeters, or 13^ inches. They are not complete, 

 but one shows its head and the other its tail. M. Gaudry thinks they 

 repieseiit eels, possibly serpents 5 non constat, but they may have been 

 sea serpents. All these are represented on other specimens from various 

 caverns and grottoes. Engravings of the seal have been found in the 

 cavern of Yarier (?), Haute Savoy, by M. Gosse, one in the Grotto 

 of Gourdan, by Judge Piette; the salmon, or trout, in the cavern of 

 Goye', Belgium, by M. Dupont; and the eel, or serpent, in Laugerie 

 Haute, by Lartet- and Christy.' 



Implements have been found which, while similar in form, are in such 

 fragmentary condition that one can not determine their function, but 

 bhey p; rsistently represent the hole bored as herein described. Some of 

 these should be classed with sculptured rather than engraved objects, 

 bu cross reference should be made so that they may be studied in both 

 classes. Fig. 35, a, h, c, shows three of these objects, all bifurcated, and 

 of which a and h represent animal heads on the end of the bifurcation, 

 while c re{)resents a different decoration. The relation between these 

 fraginentary implements, with their respective holes, and the former 

 implements, batons de commandement, is as yet unknown. 



The bison or ox {urns or aurochs). — Fig. 36 represents a man chasing 

 an aurochs or bison. It is engraved on reindeer horn, comes from 

 Laugerie Basse, was found by M. Massenat, and belongs to his collec- 

 tion. Tlie man follows the bison and is in the act of throwing a spear 

 or harpoon at him. Action on the part of both is shown, and the chase 

 is well rei)resented. It is an artistic representation of a prehistoric 

 hunting scene. The position of the arms, especially the right, is awk- 

 ward. The man has a sardonic grin. The marks, possibly represent- 

 ing Ijair, nearly cover his body. Whether they were really liair or were 

 intended only to show light and shade and the rounded parts of the 

 body has never been fully decided. M. de Mortillet believes them to 

 rei)resent hair and, therefore, that the man of this epoch was covered 

 with hair. Tliis i)iece furnished the basis for the reproduction of the 

 man of the Cavern period displayed in the anthropological section of the 

 Paris Exposition of 1889. (Plate 18^;.) Fig. a of this plate represents 

 the artists of the Chellcen epoch displayed at the same time and place. 



' Materiaux, 1864, pp. 8-9, 73-74. 



