496 BOVIDA. 
shells, and by remains of the Mammoth, Rhinoceros, Felis, 
large Horse, large Deer, Wolf, &ce. 
To determine to which subgenus of Bovide belong the 
detached teeth, vertebre, ribs, and other bones of the 
skeleton—often mutilated and gnawed, is still attended 
with much difficulty. Such remains, however, sufficiently 
attest that species as large as the Bison priscus and os 
primigenius were very extensively distributed throughout 
England: they have been found in almost all the ossiferous 
caves which have yielded the fossil remains of Hlephas, 
Rhinoceros, Hyana, and Ursus. 
Cuvier * affirms, as the result of his numerous com- 
parisons of the recent and fossil bones of the Bovine 
animals, that the detached bones resemble each other too 
much to yield certain specific characters, and that it is 
necessary to have skulls in order to determine the species. 
The fossil metacarpal bones of the gigantic Bovide 
found in England, indicate two species by their different 
proportions ; one kind being thicker than the other. The 
metatarsal bones show a corresponding difference ; and the 
proportions of a metacarpal found associated with the 
skull of the Bos primigenius, to be described in the next 
section, indicate the more slender bones to belong to the 
Aurochs, (Bison priscus). 
This difference is shown by the subjoined admeasure- 
ments, and may be more readily appreciated by comparing 
fig. 207 with fig. 209. 
g. 4 
BISON. BOS. BISON. BOS. 
Metacarpal. Metacarpal. Metatarsal. Metatarsal. 
Grays. Grays. Clacton. Grays. 
In. Lines. In, Lines. In. Lines. In. Lines. 
Length . : c 10 LON 3 Wit 8} ll 6 
Circumference at 
the middle f < 6s 3 52 13 GOS 
* © Ossemens Fossiles,’ vol. iv. p. 140. 
