582 TUE NATURAL IIISTOllT REVIEW. 



caves and other localities in the Dordogne, which I had explored in 

 common with my much regretted colleague, the late Mr. Henry- 

 Christy, I accompanied them in this excursion. The excavations at 

 La Madelaine were then being continued, and had already furnished 

 a number of those animal figures engraved on bone and reindeer horn, 

 of which some were placed last year under the eyes of the Academy. 

 At the time of our arrival, the workmen had just discovered five 

 cracked fragments of a rather thick plate of ivory, which must have 

 been formerly broken ofi^" from a tolerably large elephant's tusk. 

 After joining these bits together by the marks furnished by the 

 roughnesses of the fracture, I showed to Dr. Palconer several rather 

 deep lines or engravings which, when brought together, seemed to 

 indicate animal forms. The practised eye of the celebrated palaeon- 

 tologist who has best studied the Proboscidians, recognized directly 

 the head of an elephant. He also identified several other parts of 

 the body, particularly about the neck, a bundle of descending lines 

 reminding us of the long-haired mane characteristic of the Mam- 

 moth, or elephant of the glacial epoch.* It^is known that this specific 

 peculiarity, referring to the sub-arctic habitat of an animal of this 

 species, was verified in 1799 by Mr. Adams, of the Academy of St. 

 Petersburg, by means of the body of one of these elephants {JE. 

 primigenius), which was embedded, flesh, bones, and all, in the ice 

 near the mouth of the Lena. A tuft of the long hair of the Mam- 

 moth may be seen in the Gallery of G-eology of the Museum. 



" According to the rule which we have laid down, I did not wish to 

 publish this discovery before it was confirmed by a second analogical 

 observation, I therefore contented myself with exhibiting the speci- 

 men to some of the most competent judges. Among these I may 

 mention MM. de Quatrefages, Desnoyers, de Lougperier, all of 

 whom have, like yourself, examined it with the most scrupulous at- 

 tention ; also Mr. A. AV. Eranks, Director of the London Society of 

 Antiquaries, who was good enough to take the trouble of following 

 out upon the model, and tracing with a black pencil the most pro- 

 nounced engravings, and those most characteristic of the forms to be 

 distinguished. It is, therefore, the opinion of these eminent savants 

 and that of Mr. Falconer, together with your own, which I shall lay 

 with mine, before the Academy. Por the rest, this new fact adds 



* In the model, there is in the lines descending from the top of the head, a gap 

 or interruption corresponding to a transverse breakage, filled up in the original by 

 cement. 



