CHAPTER IV. 



PART IV. 

 FOSSIL CABNIVQBA OF THE CAVEBNS. 



FOSSIL CARNIVORA OF THE CAVES CAVE OF GAILENREUTH FOSSIL BEARS 

 OF THE CAVERNS URSUS SFEL^US URSUS PRISCUS MACHAIRODUS MA- 

 CHAIRODUS LATIDENS, FROM KENT'S CAVERN. 



FOSSIL CARNIVORA OF THE CAVERNS. The fossil bones and 

 teeth of numerous species of Carnivora, as the Lion, Tiger, 

 Bear, Cat, Dog, &c. abound in fissures and caverns, in breccias 

 and conglomerates, and in drifted sand and gravel. The 

 remains of the large Pachyderms and Ruminants are for the 

 most part found buried in the superficial alluvial deposits; 

 but those of the carnivora, although occasionally entombed 

 with the herbivora in Drift, are generally imbedded in the 

 floors of extensive fissures or caverns in stratified rocks. In 

 some instances, such immense quantities of bones and teeth 

 of individuals of all ages, and belonging to but one or two 

 species occur, as to render it probable that these caves were 

 for a long period the dens of the extinct species of Bears, 

 Wolves, Hyenas, Tigers, &c. whose bones they enclose. 



Another remarkable geological condition in which fossil 

 carnivora occur, is that of an ossiferous, or bone-breccia ; that 

 is, a conglomerate formed of fragments of limestone and 

 bones, cemented together into a hard rock, by a reddish 

 calcareous concretion. This breccia is found in almost all the 

 islands on the shores of the basin of the Mediterranean Sea ; 

 as for example, at Gibraltar, Cette, Nice, Cerigo, Corsica, 

 Palermo, &c. 



