1899] THE GROUND-SLOTH OF PATAGONIA 353 
between the inner barrier and a mound—a space which could easily 
be shut off. 
“92. That at the foot of the mound inside, but a little behind the 
excrement, there was found a considerable quantity of cut hay beneath 
the same layer of earth and stones which covered the excrement ; while 
this hay could only have been placed in this situation by man. 
“3. That the aspect of the layer of excrement indicates the exist- 
ence of a stable, exactly as if it had been an old corral.” 
He thus concludes “that the men who lived there ages ago were 
accustomed to stable their domestic animals in this part of the cavern, 
reserving the rest for their own dwelling-place.” 
This extraordinary idea leads us to turn with expectant interest to 
the fragmentary remains of the so-called Meomylodon ; for if the beast 
was a gigantic ground-sloth, it is inconceivable that so unwieldy a 
monster can have been of any use to man as a domestic animal or 
of any value to him except as food. The descriptions and figures 
published by Dr. Santiago Roth leave no doubt whatever that the 
quadruped in question was a gigantic ground-sloth; and the so-called 
Neomylodon is clearly proved to be identical with a Mylodon-like 
animal, already well known by the skull from the Pampa Formation 
of Argentina, described under the names of Glossotheriwm (Owen, 1840) 
and Grypotherium (Reinhardt, 1879). It is, in fact, a Mylodon with 
a very long head and laterally-placed nostrils. The species from Cueva 
Eberhardt is probably distinct from the Glossotheriwm (or Grypotherium) 
darwini, and will thus be known for the future as Glossotherium listai. 
After a ridiculous line of argument, which one would hardly expect to 
find in a scientific treatise, Dr. Roth proposes to change the specific 
name; but this point needs no discussion. 
By the kindness of Dr. Moreno, the actual skull discovered by 
Dr. Hauthal and some pieces of the excrement were exhibited to the 
British Association at Dover; and the specimens will be further dis- 
cussed at a forthcoming meeting of the Zoological Society of London. 
The animal must have been killed by man, for the cranium is battered 
on the top in three places. The blows themselves would probably 
merely stun the creature, for the air-chambers above the brain-case are 
too extensive to permit injury of the brain from above; but the men 
clearly had knives or sharp instruments of some kind, for there are 
distinct clean cuts on the remains. Pieces of periosteum, cartilage, 
ligaments and dried muscle still adhere to the bones. The specimens 
have a peculiar odour, and three of them exhibit no indications what- 
ever of having been buried. Presumably these were dug out of the 
hay. They are, indeed, so fresh, that if the discoverers had reported 
that the animal had been killed shortly before the bones were packed 
up, the evidence of the specimens themselves would not have sufficed 
to contradict the story. 
The excrement of the animal is of great interest, and was examined 
