NOTES ON THE EEINDEER AND HIPPOPOTAMUS. 147 



xm, 



NOTES ON THE KEINDEER AND HIPPOPOTAMUS. By M. E. LABTET. 



NOTE A (see above, page 144). We have already often observed that by the exa- 

 mination of the many antlers of Reindeer collected in our caves, and evidently 

 derived from individuals which had been eaten there, we are led to the conclusion 

 that these animals have been slain of all ages, and consequently at all seasons. 

 Thus, among the antlers still adhering to the frontal bones of skulls broken open 

 to get at the brains, there were some not more than fifteen days old (with the 

 Reindeer the antlers begin to show at a much earlier date than in other Deer) ; 

 we have found also antlers of every stage of development, and, lastly, remains of 

 skulls belonging to individuals that were shedding their antlers. 



As for the permanency of the Reindeer in our low plains of Pe"rigord, it may be 

 explained (as we have sought to establish elsewhere) by the probability that the 

 summers at that time were cooler in this part of our continent, then surrounded 

 by colder seas. "We see moreover that the Ibex, the Chamois, and the Musk-ox 

 also lived on our plains, as well as Marmots, families of which were established as 

 far as our north-western districts (Calvados, the Two Sevres, &c.). 



NOTE B (see above, page 146). If we were to refer the existence of the Rein- 

 deer and Hippopotamus respectively to epochs very distant from each other, we 

 should be obliged to renounce the establishment of the biological synchronism 

 of our Quaternary Mammalia according to the collocation of their remains accu- 

 mulated in one and the same deposit. 



In England remains of Hippopotamus have been found in at least four caverns 

 and in many river-deposits (at Bedford, for instance) with the Reindeer and 

 Elephas primigenius. In France we have found the Hippopotamus in only one 

 cavern, that of Arcy, where it was noticed by the Engineer Bonnard, who placed 

 the specimens in our Museum of Natural History. De Vibraye found afterwards, 

 in the same cavern of Arcy, numerous remains of Reindeer, accompanied by 

 worked flint, and in the lowest layer a human jaw, associated with numerous 

 remains of the great Bear, the Elephant, Rhinoceros, and Hysena. We have 

 received from St. Acheul and other places on the Somme, remains of Hippo- 

 potamus and Reindeer found in the same deposit. The " diluvial " beds of the 



