30 Mr Oswald's Observations relative to the 



since the first opening of the pit, and therefore conclude that 

 an incalculable number still remains. These bones occur at 

 all depths of the marl. At and towards the surface of it the 

 bones, like the shells, are merely delineations of what they 

 once were, with little or no difference in consistence from the 

 mass in which they are contained, and therefore will not bear 

 handling; in the bed of sand above the marl all vestiges of 

 them disappear. The deeper these elks are in the marl, the 

 more fresh and perfect they seem ; and near the bottom of the 

 bed complete heads are found. They sometimes, though very 

 seldom, are observed imbedded partially in the gravel below. 

 Those in the marl are generally charged with calcareous mat- 

 ter, yet I have frequently seen the thick part of the stem of the 

 horns so unchanged, as to admit of being worked. The bog tim- 

 ber is in this instance solely confined to the peat on the surface. 

 The skeleton now in the Museum of the University of 

 Edinburgh, was found at the bottom of the marl, where the 

 bed was very thick. The different bones, though partly in 

 contact, lay irregularly, and possessed •little or no relative po- 

 sition to each other. The head lay with its nose upwards, 

 and the other bones around it were in a state of confusion 

 which the workmen cannot describe. This specimen is the 

 only relic approximating to a complete skeleton which has 

 been met with. But it was not perfect when it was set up ; 

 some bones were wanting, and I have reason to conclude that 

 Mr Kewish (the blacksmith who put the skeleton together) 

 availed himself of the relics of other animals. It is no uncom- 

 mon thing to meet with two heads and a number of other re- 

 lics lying in confusion together. One man assured me, that 

 on a late occasion he saw appearances of a perfect skeleton 

 lying on its side in the middle of the basin, all the bones in 

 situ, but whether it would have borne handling was not as- 

 ascertained. To my knowledge two other very fine heads have 

 been raised, one of which, with brow antlers, measured eight 

 feet and a half from the tip at one horn to that of the other, 

 each horn being five feet eight inches in length ; it had three 

 molar and three cutting teeth perfect on each side of the jaw. 

 Single horns, ribs, and fragments of these and of other bones 

 are often met with not only in this basin, but in the other pits 

 of white marl without shells. 



