Til.' (li.Miiistrv ..r Kossil Boii.' \'Xi 



fat; normal undrifd l)oiie contains l.'rT") per cent, of fat ami I \M) jxt cent, 

 of proteid. whilst the prehistoric humerus contains more than twice ah 

 much proteid as fat 'Phis point is emphasised hy tlie seal l)oncs, which 

 contain ten times more proteid than fat. Of course the fat is less closely 

 bound up with the earthy niateiial in the Ixjne tlian is the j)roteid, most of 

 the fat belon^inj:^ to the marrow. The proteid in the seal Ixines and humerjis 

 was collagen. Mucoid was not present, hut traces of a protein (nucleo- 

 protein were observed. 



Turning now to the rib of Dij)rotodon, we note that tliere is no organic 

 matter at all, although the bone l)eIongs to the Pleistocene period. As 

 ah-eady stated, the rib looked and felt like stone. The climate of the 

 Darling Downs, where the bone was found, is very hot in sunnner and cold 

 in winter. The.se conditions ha.sten disintegration of orijanic matter. Fair 

 quantities of silica, alumina, and manganese are present in the ash. These 

 have evidently come from the surrounding soil. Freiny.' who examined 

 a number of fossil bones of animals, found that the or<£anic matter tends to 

 be displaced by the substances (silicates, lime, etc.) in the surrounding soil. 

 My results contirm this observation. 



I wish to express my indebtedness to Mr James Shelton. acting 

 assistant Government analyst, Singapore, for advice regarding the gravi- 

 metric methods. 



Part of this work was performed during my tenure of the CVichton 

 Re.search Scholarship, University of Edinburgh. 



' Anil, de Cliimie, .ser. 3, tome xliii. j>. 47. 



