ANCIENT MAMMALS OF BRITAIN. 303 



'he skull of which may always be recognised by the sudden 

 rise of the forehead above the eyes, while the crowns of the 

 molar teeth display a more finely puckered structure than is to 

 be seen in those of the existing species. This gigantic Bear 

 was one of the inhabitants of the celebrated Kirkdale Cave in 

 Yorkshire, of which Spotted Hyaenas were, however, by far the 

 most numerous carnivorous denizens. Much rarer than those 

 of either Bears and Hyaenas, are the remains of the Glutton 

 (Gitlo luscus\ which have been obtained only among the de- 

 posits now under consideration, from the caves of Banwell, 

 Bleadon, Cresswell Crags, the Vale of Clwyd, and Yealm 

 Bridge. The Glutton is now unknown further south than 

 Scandinavia, and in drawing any conclusions as to climate 

 from its occurrence in Britain, we must always bear in mind 

 the comparative scarcity of the remains both of this species, 

 the Arctic Fox, and the Musk-Ox. It is true that the rarity of 

 these forms is discounted by the abundance of the remains of 

 the Reindeer ; but the latter are somewhat local in their dis- 

 tribution, being unknown to the east of London, and if the 

 assertion that this animal still lingered in Caithness till a few 

 centuries ago be true, no great change of climate would be 

 necessary in order to admit of its existence in England. The 

 other Carnivores of the Cavern Period are not of much import- 

 ance, including species like the Pine-Marten, Stoat, Weasel, 

 Polecat, and Otter, which still exist among us; although it has 

 been thought that some bones from the Ightham fissure indi- 

 cate an extinct type intermediate between the Polecat and the 

 Marten. 



Turning to the Hoofed Order, we find remains of the Horse 

 common in all the Pleistocene deposits pertaining to the Cavern 

 Epoch, and from the rude yet characteristic portraits of the 

 animal engraved by our pre-historic ancestors it would appear 

 that the Horse of this period was very similar to the Wild or 



