ON SOME FOSSIL REMAINS OF MAN 311 



and abrupt curvature, more resemble the ribs of a carni- 

 vorous animal than those of a man. Dr. H. 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 unusually 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 undergone 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 lens, are seen to be formed of very delicate 

 dendrites. These deposits, which were first observed on 

 the bones by Dr. Meyer, are most distinct on the inner 

 surface of the cranial bones. They consist of a ferruginous 

 compound, and, from their black colour, may be 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. Meyer 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 spelaeus, but still more abundantly and beautifully 

 displayed on the fossil bones and teeth of Equus adamiticus, 

 Elephas primigenius, etc., 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.* 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 interesting. It has even been supposed that in diluvial 

 deposits the presence of dendrites might be regarded as 

 affording a certain mark of distinction between bones 

 mixed with the diluvium at a somewhat later period and 

 the true diluvial relics, to which alone it was supposed 

 that these deposits were confined. But I have long been 

 convinced that neither can the absence of dendrites be 

 regarded as indicative of recent age, nor their presence as 

 * Verh. de3 Naturhist. Vereins in Bonn, xiv. 1857. 



