ROOM IV. URSUS SPEL^EUS AND U. PRISCUS. 399 



more elevated, and forms a convex protuberance, and the pro- 

 file of the head in front descends more suddenly to the nasal- 

 bones than in other species ; and some of the molar teeth are 

 relatively larger and more complicated. 



Some of the crania and bones from Gailenreuth indicate, 

 according to Cuvier, a bear equal in magnitude to a large 

 horse ; the canine teeth are five inches long. 



Ursus prisons. There is a nearly perfect skull of an aged 

 individual of this species from Gailenreuth in the Museum. 

 The contour of the skull is less elevated than in the Brown 

 Bear, and the forehead flattened, and the profile from the 

 forehead to the nose has no depression. 



The lower jaw resembles that of the recent Brown Bear 

 ( Ursus arctos), and is distinguished from that of Ursus spelceus 

 by a small persistent premolar tooth in front of the antepen- 

 ultimate molar, while the much greater relative space be- 

 tween the last-named tooth and the canine, separates the 

 Ursus priscus from the existing Brown Bear. 1 The eminent 

 zoologist, Mr. Waterhouse, under whose care this department 

 of the Museum is placed, will, I doubt not, so soon as his mul- 

 tifarious duties permit, arrange and label this fine collection, 

 so as to be intelligible and instructive to the casual visitors. 



MACHAIRODUS ( Ursus cultridens of Cuvier). Wall-case G : 

 Uppermost Shelf. The upper canines of the animals of this 

 genus, so closely resemble in their sabre-like form and ser- 

 rated edges the teeth of the Megalosaurus (ante, p. 329), that 

 when, in 1825, I received a cast of one from Baron Cuvier, 

 I could scarcely persuade myself it did not belong to a species 

 of that colossal reptile. 



The teeth were first discovered in the Val d'Arno, associated 

 with bones of bears, and M. Cuvier described them under the 

 provisional name of Ursus cultridens. Specimens of large 

 falciform canines, collected by the late Rev. J. MacEnery, in 

 Kent's Cavern, were recognised by Dr. Buckland as belonging 

 to the same genus of carnivora ; and subsequently, a skull 

 with teeth, but specifically distinct, was discovered in Au- 

 vergne, by M. Bravard ; and other specimens were found 

 by M. Kaup, at Epplesheim, near Darmstadt. M. Bravard 

 described his specimen under the name of Felis megantereon : 



1 See Professor Owen's " Hist. Brit. Fos. Mam." p. 82. 



