78 Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society. 



period the horse was by no means a scarce inhabitant of the 

 south-west regions of France. 



But, en revanche for the deficiency in our knowledge of 

 the fauna of the Dordogne caves, we have, in the handicraft 

 products of their inhabitants, another source of information, 

 viz., a series of representations of animals (evidently those 

 with which they were familiar in their hunting expeditions) 

 engraved on fragments of bone, ivory, or stone, or sometimes 

 sculptured out of bone or reindeer-horn. Since the investi- 

 gations of M. Lartet and Christy, similar drawings and 

 sculptures have come to light from a number of other caves 

 throughout France and Switzerland, the whole now culmi- 

 nating in a collection of over three hundred specimens 

 illustrating the social life of the period, more especially 

 animals and hunting scenes, the former being portrayed 

 with singular fidelity and artistic skill. Among the animals 

 represented in this remarkable art gallery, the horse takes a 

 prominent place. Numerous illustrations of horses, chiefly 

 from La Madelaine, engraved on reindeer horns or bones, are 

 given in " Pteliqui^ Aquitanicse " (B. PI. IL, VI.-VIL, IX.- 

 X., XIX.-XX., XXIV., and XXX.-XXXL), all of which 

 unmistakably represent big-headed animals (PI. I. Fig. 1), 

 with the exception of one or two which show a small head, 

 sharp muzzle, and long ears. The outlines of a horse (PI. I. 

 Fig. 2), engraved on a piece of reindeer-horn found in the 

 Kesslerloch Cave, near Schaffhausen, and figured by Mr 

 Konrad Merk (" Excavations at the Kesslerloch," 1876, p. 50, 

 and figs. 66, 68, and 70), also show a small-headed animal. 

 It is thus described by Mr Merk : " The well-formed head — 

 rather long, with small ears — the upright mane, the graceful, 

 well-formed body, the elegant and lightly-formed feet, and 

 especially the remarkably thin tail, reaching nearly to the 

 ground, represent, without doubt, a young, well-bred animal." 

 This Kesslerloch horse must, therefore, have been a very 

 different animal from the clumsy rough pony, with its 

 shaggy tail and big, ugly- looking head, figured on bones and 

 horns from La Madelaine. M. G. de Mortillet suggested 

 (" Materiaux," 1867, p. 210) that there might have been also 

 a race of horses with very long ears. 



