12 NATURAL SCIENCE. 



July, 



last month, Mr. Smit has attempted a new restoration of the animal 

 based upon this discovery ; and by the courtesy of the author and 

 publishers (Messrs. Chapman and Hall) we are able to reproduce the 

 sketch on the previous page. The curious downward bend of the 

 vertebral column into the lower lobe of the caudal fin is well indicated ; 

 and a life-like drawing of this kind affords a much more vivid con- 

 ception of the animal than the original outline sketch of Dr. Fraas. 

 We may add that Mr. Smit has executed other new restorations 

 for Mr. Hutchinson's second edition, and criticisms of the first issue 

 have been turned to profitable account. 



Cavern Explorations, 



Little has been done of late in the exploration of caverns — • 

 perhaps there remains now little to be learned concerning the ancient 

 fauna of which they provide evidence. Dr. Eberhard Fraas, how- 

 ever, has been examining the Irpfel cave in the valley of the Brenz, 

 Wiirtemberg {Zeitschv. dentsch. geol. GeselL, 1893), ^^^^ Mr. E. 

 Harle has published, in the Comptes Rendus of the Natural History 

 Society of Toulouse, an elaborate summary of the distribution of the 

 Quaternary mammals in the south-west of France. 



The cavern in Wiirtemberg investigated by Dr. Fraas proves to 

 have been a hyaena-den, with some evidence of occupation also by 

 the cave bear and man. The animals found distinctly indicate a 

 Steppe-, not a Forest-fauna ; and it is quite evident that the reindeer 

 was contemporaneous with the mammoth, rhinoceros, and hyaena. 

 It is also definitely proved, from the occurrence of flint-flakes, that 

 man lived with these animals in Southern Germany. 



The researches of Mr. Harle also show that the country to the 

 north of the Garonne was a great steppe — not a forest — at the same 

 period. Remains of the Saiga antelope and Spevmophiliis are widely 

 spread, and in four instances they have been found associated. The 

 steppe is believed to have been replaced by forests at the end of what 

 is termed the " Magdalenian " period, when there is reason to suppose 

 that the climate became warmer and more humid. 



Our Monthly Selections. 



The office boy, or his equivalent so far as scientific matters are 

 concerned, is more conspicuous than ever in the newspapers this 

 month. We must, however, content ourselves with three selections 

 from the Natural History provided for the edification of the general 

 public. 



Last month the Westminster Gazette tried to discourse learnedly 

 on botanical questions, and provided some amusement for the readers 

 o{ ihe]vine Journal of Botany ; but this month it has even excelled 

 itself by an attempt at a popular exposition of the Insect House in 



