SVENSKA EXPEDITIONEN TILL MAGELLANSLÄNDERNA. BD. II. N:0 7. 153 



rounded. The surfaces are sli.gh.tly uneven, trat neither the 

 distal nor the proximal one shows any special structure or 

 any depressious etc. 



Xo. 6 is a larger piece of the same kind of skin. It has 

 dried in such a way that some large folds are formed, but 

 if these folds had not been it would have measured about 

 76 cm. in one directum without any stretching, and this, I 

 suj)pose, has been the vertical one in its natural state. In 

 the opposite direction the greatest extension is about 50 cm. 

 This is, to judge from the direction of the hairs, the breadth 

 of the upper part. The lower part becomes rather suddenly 

 narrowed and measures only about 10 — 13 cm. across. The 

 length of this narrow part is between 35 and 40 cm. 1 This 

 shape of the skin seems to nie to indicate that it has covered 

 one of the forelegs (the leff) of the animal. The anterior 

 and superior margins are freshly cut, the others are old. In 

 some places it looks as if some small rodent (Hesperomys '■) 

 had gnawed on the edge of the skin, because there are marks 

 which could be supposed to have been produced by the cut- 

 ting incisors of some such animal. The margins of that part 

 of the skin which has covered the leg seem to have been cut 

 by a comparatively sharp instrument, but of course long ago. 

 There is no doubt however that the animal has been killed 

 by man, and that the skin has been taken off and brought 

 to the cave. The circumstances that it was, at least partly, 

 buried in the limy and gipsy material on the floor of the 

 cave, and perhaps also the presence of the hard ossicles has 

 saved it from being completely devoured by animals. This 

 piece of skin, is also very thick mostly 10 to 12 mm. It is 

 covered with thick and coarse hair of the same stiffness and 

 yellowish-brown or ochreous colour as that on the other piece 

 of skin, but as this hair has not been so much mutilated it 

 is considerably longer, mostly 5 to 6 cm., and down on the 

 leg still longer, 8 or even 9 cm. The inner surface of this 

 piece does not show any ossicles arranged as a pavement. 

 But in the freshly cut upper margin we find that dermal 

 ossicles are present here also although completely imbedded in 

 the connective tissue. These are, however, not of the same 



1 With regard to tliese dimensions measured and quoted I at once want 

 to call the attention to the fact that the skin has shrunk considerably in 

 drying. 



