362 MAN AS THE COTEMPORARY OF THE MAMMOTH, ETC. 



Tlie reindeer (Ccrvus tarandus) made its appearance witli tlie manimotli in 

 middle Europe, and hence at the beginning of the quaternary period. Its remains, 

 which occur so abundantly in the caves and other sites where man has dwelt, 

 testify to a vast numerical development at the epoch to which the animal has 

 given its name. This circumstance enables us in some measure to account for 

 the rare occurrence of the ure ox and the deer, for it is known that both tliese 

 animals entertain a great antipathy for the reindeer. Where the latter has rested, 

 the former avoid feeding. The reindeer, whose geographical hal)itat extended to 

 the Pyrenees, withdraws towards the north and disappears in middle Europe at the 

 period of the last great movement of the waters and of the red diluvimn. At 

 the epoch of the peat moors it no longer existed in France. At present it inhabits 

 the coldest regions of northern Europe. The remains of the elk (Ccrvus alces) 

 are seldom met with in the temperate European latitudes. It seems to have fol- 

 lowed the reindeer in its migration to the north, where it now exclusively sojourns. 



The aurochs (Bison ciiropicus.) Tliis wild ruminant seems to have existed 

 in the j)liocene period, and was ver^^ widely distributed in middle Europe. Its 

 remains occur sparingl}' in the peat moors and in the pile settlements of Switzer- 

 land. Caesar did not observe it in Gaul or in the Ilercynian forest, but Pliny 

 asserts that the bison, which could be none other than the aurochs, lived in Ger- 

 many. The animal is now nearly extinct, being found oidy in Lithuania, where 

 it is protected by stringent laws, and at Gervais, in the forests of the Caucasus. 



The great ox, or m'e ox, (Bos pr'nnlgenius,) appears with the quaternary era, 

 and attains so wide a geographical diffusion that its remains are found in the 

 w-hole of Europe. It sundved, like the aurochs, the ages of stone and bronze, 

 and subsisted even in the age of iron. Caesar mentions it in his commentaries, 

 and the Veson cornipotens of the Chronicle of St. Gall (lOtli centm-y) is, accord- 

 ing to Steenstrup, nothing else than the Urus of Caesar. The species is at 

 present wholly extinct. 



The musk ox, (Bos moschatiis,) a smaller ruminant, is intermediate between 

 the ox and the he-goat. It lived in France and England simultaneously with 

 the cave-dwellers. Its remains are found in the ilint formations of the diluvium. 

 At present it lives only in the coldest regions of America. 



The horse (Eqims adamiticus ) dates from the origin of the quaternary forma- 

 tions. It differs from the horse of the tertiary era, but seems identical with the 

 now existing species, (Ecpiiis cabaUiis.) In the age of the cave bears and the 

 reindeer, the horse was very widely distributed through middle Europe, and fur- 

 nished the populations of that time with their principal food. A smaller race 

 is met with in the pile settlements of Switzerland and in the Pyrenees. It was 

 at a later period that man availed himself of the horse for riding, especially in 

 war. The Greeks seem first to have practised equitation about the seventh 

 century B. 0. 



