90 MAMMALS. 



In the Jaguar the instrument used is the paw, but we may fairlj' assume that the canine teeth, 

 half a foot in length, would take their part along with the paw, when the Smilodon came to play 

 at such a game. 



One iufercjice from this supjjosed similarity of function may be that the Jaguar is a legitimate 

 descendant of the Smilodon, and that the latter was a great spotted cat. 



The caverns and deposits in which Dr. Luud found remains of these, and many other most 

 interesting animals, are situated in the mountain - chains between the Eio das Velhas and the 

 Eio Paraopeba. This country forms an elevated plain 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and 

 is traversed in its centre by a chain of mountains 300 to 700 feet in height, which is formed of 

 secondary limestone stratified in horizontal beds, and possessing all the characters of the Zechstein or 

 Hohlen Kalkstein (cavern limestone) of the Germans. It is entirely perforated with caverns, and 

 traversed in all directions by fissures, which are more or less filled with red earth, identical mth that 

 forming the superficial stratum of the district. This bed, which varies from ten to fifty feet in 

 thickness, covers indiscriminately, and without interruption, the plains, valleys, hills, and even the 

 gentle slopes of the mountains. It consists principally of clay, containing subordinate strata 

 of gravel and quartz pebbles, and is frequently ferruginous to such a degree thai the particles of 

 iron are converted into j)istholitic ii'on ore, resembling that which fills the fissures of the Jura. 

 The soil which fills the caverns has undergone some modifications, arising from its introduction 

 and sojourn in them. It contains angulose, or roimded fragments of limestone. It is also hardened 

 by the particles of lime deposited in its interior by the waters charged with this substance filtrating 

 through the fissures of rock, and it is impregnated with saltpetre, and is on this account explored by 

 tlic inhabitants of the country.* 



It is in this soil that the fossil bones are found ; they are deposited pell-mell, are fragile, very 

 white in their fracture, and adhere strongly to the tongue. Fi'cquently they are petrified, more often 

 converted into calcareous spar. In general they are broken or mutilated, and, lastly, they frequently 

 bear the impressions of teeth, leaving no doubt that the animals to which they belonged had been 

 dragged into these caverns by ferocious animals then inhabiting them. The larger ones have been 

 introduced by various carnivorous maminifera, and the smaller ones probably by a diurnal bird. At 

 the present day not a single ferocious animal of the mammifera sojourns in these caverns, and none 

 accumidate masses of bones comparable to those which are found in the dihivial deposits. At the 

 utmost, all that is found in the modern excavations are bones of small animals scattered at the surface, 

 which had served as prey to a nocturnal bird, the Terror (Efiraie) of Brazil (Strix perlata). 



Of these caverns, that called Sappa Nova de Marguine, in the Sierra de Marguin(^, is one of the 

 most remarkable. The mountain consists of clay-slate, flinty-slate, and transition limestone, in which 

 last is the principal cavern. Its total length from north to south is 1440 feet, the height being from 

 thirty to forty feet, and the breadth from fifty to sixty. It is separated by masses of stalactite into 

 twelve divisions, of which only three were known before Dr. Limd explored them. The others, 

 especially the innermost, were of such extraoi'dinary beaut}', that his attendants fell on their knees 

 and expressed, the greatest astonishment. Lund examined nineteen caverns in all, in three of which 

 he found the remains which have thrown so much light upon the ancient forms of life in Brazil. 



An interesting fact relating to these caves is mentioned by Dr. Mantell as having been commu- 

 nicated to him by Mr. Waterhouse. M. Clausen, from whom, as well as Dr. Lund, many of the 

 remains from the caves now jn-eserved in the British Museum were obtained, in the course of his 



* "Comptes Reiidus," No. 15, Avril, 18.39. 



