396 PETRIFACTIONS AND THEIR TEACHINGS. CHAP. IV. 



tiger, bear, wolf, fox, weasel, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopo- 

 tamus, horse, deer, ox, hare, or rabbit, mouse, water-rat, and 

 fragments of skeletons of ravens, pigeons, larks, and ducks. 

 Many of the bones exhibited marks of having been gnawed 

 and crushed by the teeth of some animals. From all the facts 

 observed, and which are detailed by Dr. Buckland with his 

 wonted graphic power, it is inferred that the cave was inhabited 

 for a considerable period by Hyenas ; that many of the 

 remains found there were of species carried in and devoured 

 by those animals, and that in some instances the hyenas 

 preyed upon each other. The portions of bone referable to 

 the elephant are supposed to prove that occasionally the large 

 mammalia were also obtained for food ; but it is probable that 

 the smaller animals were either drifted in by currents of 

 water, or fell into the chasm through fissures now closed up 

 by stalactitical incrustations. 



Kent's Cave near Torquay, Oreston Cave near Plymouth, 

 and several other caves in Devonshire, have yielded great 

 numbers of bones and teeth of Carnivora, and of Pachydermata. 1 

 Kent's Cavern, or Hole, has proved the most productive ossi- 

 ferous cavern in England ; its vicinity to Torquay rendering it 

 easy of access, it has been thoroughly explored. An extensive 

 collection of fossil bones was obtained from this cavern by the 

 late Rev. J. MacEnery ; comprising, in addition to the usual 

 extinct Carnivora, skulls and teeth of a species of Badger 

 (Meles taxus), Otter (Lutra vulgaris), Pole-cat (Putorius vul- 

 garis), Stoat or Ermine (P. erminius). The choicest speci- 

 mens in that collection were obtained for the British Museum, 

 and are deposited in Room VI. 



In the western district of the Mendip Hills, in Somerset- 

 shire, there are several ossiferous fissures and caves. The 

 most interesting are those of Button, on the northern es- 

 carpment of Bleadon Hill ; and of Banwell, lying about a 

 mile to the east of Hutton. They contain remains of the 

 two species of cavern bears, one ( Ursus spelceus) of immense 

 size and strength; and of a species of Tiger, Hyena, Wolf, 

 Fox, Deer, Ox, and Elephant. 2 



From the caves at Hutton, the Rev. D. Williams obtained 

 the milk-teeth and other remains of a calf-elephant, about 



1 "Reliquiae Diluv." p. 67. 2 See " Wonders of Geology," p. 181. 



