174 HUMAN FOSSILS III 



hinder portions and one middle portion of ribs which, from their 

 unusually rounded shape, and abrupt curvature, more resemble 

 the ribs of a carnivorous animal than those of a man. Dr. II. v. 

 -Meyer, however, to whose judgment I defer, will not venture to 

 declare them to be ribs of any animal ; and it only remains to 

 suppose that this abnormal condition has arisen from an un- 

 usually powerful development of the thoracic muscles. 



"The bones adhere strongly to the tongue, although, as proved 

 by the use of hydrochloric acid, the greater part of the cartilage 

 is still retained in them, which appears, however, to have under- 

 gone that transformation into gelatine which has been observed 

 by v. Bibra in fossil bones. The surface of all the bones is 

 in many spots covered with minute black specks, which, more 

 especially under a lend, are seen to be formed of very delicate 

 dendrites. These deposits, which were first observed on the 

 bones by Dr. Mayer, are most distinct on the inner surface of the 

 cranial bones. They consist of a ferruginous compound, and, 

 from their black colour, maybe supposed to contain manganese. 

 Similar dendritic formations also occur, not unfrequently, on 

 laminated rocks, and are usually found in minute fissures and 

 cracks. At the meeting of the Lower Rhine Society at Bonn, 

 on the 1st April, 1857, Prof. Mayer stated that he had noticed 

 in the museum of Poppelsdorf similar dendritic crystallizations 

 on several fossil bones of animals, and particularly on those of 

 Ursus spelceus, but still more abundantly and beautifully dis- 

 played on the fossil bones and teeth of Equus adamiticus, 

 Elephas primigenius, &c., from the caves of Bolve and Sundwig. 

 Faint indications of similar dendrites were visible in a Roman 

 skull from Siegburg ; whilst other ancient skulls, which had 

 lain for centuries in the earth, presented no trace of them. 1 I 

 am indebted to H. v. Meyer for the following remarks on this 

 subject : 



" 'The incipient formation of dendritic deposits, which were 

 formerly regarded as a sign of a truly fossil condition, is in- 

 teresting. It has even been supposed that in diluvial deposits 



1 V&rh. des Nalurhist, Vereins in Bonn, xiv. 1857. 



