liS*2 5>C1ENTIFIC LAB0K8 OF EDWAKD LaKTET. 



refuse, the lacustrian habitations, »S:i.'. The reindeer, on the eontrary, are 

 still in existence, as also the urns or bison of roland. 



M. Lartet divides the period of primitive humanity into four ages : the 

 ag'e of the bear of the oaves, the age of the elephant and of the rhinoce- 

 ros, of the reindeer and ot" the Poland bison or auroeh, but these sys- 

 temaVic divisions are ai>plieable only to a limited region. In Lithuania, 

 the aurochs still exist, as in the time of Caesar the reindeer was still an 

 inhabitant of the heivyniaii forest. 



Such were the facts disclosed by Al. Lartet by his examination of 

 the cave of Aurignac. In his other excavations all his sagacity was 

 called into play by theiigures of aniuuils sculptiu'ed and engraved — the 

 tirst artistic etforts of the men of the caves. It would be unjust not to 

 mention in this connection the name of the English savan Christy, who 

 displayed so much zeal in the explorations of Perigord, and who pre- 

 pared, with 31. Lartet's assistance, a beautiful work entitled ''lieliquitc 

 Aquifauica:" 



It was in association with M. Christy, that M. Lartet calculated the 

 ..oological population of most of the grottoes of Perigord. " A race, 

 aboriginal or otherwise," he says, ^'inhabited this region in the same 

 l>eriod with the reindeer, the bison, the wild goat, the chamois, animals, 

 some of which have now represeiitarives only in extreme climates, while 

 a few descendants of others are found on the summits of the Alps and 

 the Pyrenees. These people were not acipiaiuted with the use of morals, 

 they lived by hunting, and no animal was domcsticared by them. Their 

 sculpture indicates great artistic feeling." 



We are indebted to this artistic talent for a very satisiactory repre- 

 sentation upon an ivory tablet of the UU'phas pyimujenius. This re- 

 markable specimen came from the care of the j^adeleiue. The figure 

 of the reindeer is found engraved upon many of the bones from Perigord. 



All the facts relative to the caves of the southwest part of France 

 were to have been collected iu a large volume by MM. Cliristy and 

 Lartet, but unfortunately this interesting book was not completed, iu 

 consequence of the premature death of its authors. The parts published 

 are tilled with original research iu regard to the caves of the valley of 

 X'ezere, the ancient fauua of Perigord, the grotto of Cromaguon, the 

 exploration of wldcU was made by a son of M. Lartet, and the humau 

 fossils of Cromaguon, »S:c. 



31. Lartet also examined the bones of the caves of the Maritime Alps 

 and of Heraidt. He found in the cave of Mars, about two miles from 

 Vence, a new species of bear, strongly resembling in some respects the 

 polar bear : this bear was associated with the leopard and the Mhuioccros 

 Jlerl'ii. From the rhinoceros M. Lartet endeavored to determine the 

 characteristics of the quaternary rhinoceros, of which the affinities are 

 very obscure. 



Iu conclusion I would call attention to a memoir upon the fossil 

 musk-ox, a portion of the skull of which was found iu the diluvium of 



