318 ANNUAL REG I ST E R, 1794. 



caves are formed a vast number of 

 stalactites, which might encrust the 

 bone* of those that die there. 



The bones in tlie caves of Ger- 

 many are "^o much the object of the 

 curior.s, that the specimens are dis- 

 persed throughout Europe, which 

 prevents a sufficient number coming 

 into the hands of any one person to 

 make him acquainted witli ih*; ani- 

 mals to which they belong. 



From thehistory and figures given 

 by Esper, it appears that there are 

 the bones of several animals ; b;:t 

 •what is curious, they all appear to 

 have been carnivorous, which we 

 should not h;ue expected. There 

 are teeth in number, kind, and mode 

 of setting, exactly similar to the 

 white bear, others more like those 

 cf the lion ; but the representations 

 of parts, however veil executed, 

 are hardly to be trusted to for the 

 nicer characters, and much less so 

 when the parts are mutilated. 



The bones sent by his highness 

 the margrave of Anspachagree with 

 those described and dilincated by 

 Esper as belonging to the white 

 bear ; how far tiny are of the same 

 species among then)selves, I cannot 

 say ; the beads differ in shape from 

 each other ; they are, upon the 

 •whole, much Icngerfor their breadth 

 than in any carnivorous animal I 

 know of J they also diffsr from the 

 present white bear, whicli, as fiir as 

 I have seen, has a common propor- 

 tional breadth ; it is supposed, in- 

 deed, that the heads of the present 

 ■vrhite bear differ from one another, 

 but for the truth of this assertion I 

 have not seen heads enough of that 

 animal to determine. 



The beads not/)nly varj' in shape, 

 but also in size, for some of them, 

 when compared with the recent 

 white bear, would seem to have be- 

 loni;ed to an animal twice its size, 

 while some cf the bones correspond 

 in size with those of the white bear, 

 and others are even smaller*. 



There are twor^ia humeri^ rather 

 of a less size than those of the re- 

 cent white bear ; a first vertebra, 

 rather smaller ; the teeth also vary 

 cr.nsiderably in size, yet they are all 

 those of the same tribe; so that die 

 variety among themselves is not less 

 than bctwf-en them and the recent. 

 In the formation of the bead, age 

 makes a considerable difference ; 

 the skull of a young dog is much 

 more rounded than an old one, the 

 ridge leaning tack to the occiput, 

 terminating in the two lateral ones, 

 hardly exists in a young dog ; and 

 among the present bones there is 

 the back part of such a head, yet it 

 is larger than thehead of thelargest 

 mastiff, how far the young white 

 bear may vary from the old, similar 

 to the young dog, I do not knew, 

 but it is very probable. 



Bones of animals under circum- 

 stances so similar, although in diffe- 

 rent parts of the globe, one would" ' 

 have naturally supposed to consist 

 chiefly of those of oneclass or order 

 in every place, one piinciple acting 

 in all places. In Gibraltar they arp 

 niostly of the ruminating tribe, cf 

 the hare kind, and the bones of 

 birds; yet there are some of a small 

 dog or fox, and likewise shells. 

 Those in Dalmatia appear to be 

 mostly of the ruminating tribe, yet 

 I saw a part of the as hyoides of a 



• It is to be unuc'Stood, that the bones of the white bear that I have, belonged t(> 

 one that had been a show, and hadnot grown to the full or natural size ; and 1 make 

 allowance lor this in my assertion, that the heads of those tscrusied appear to belong 

 to an animal twice the size of our white bear, 



horse j 



