536 ON CAVES CONTAINING BONES 



sent day. A smaller number belong to a species of the 

 tiger or lion kind, and to another of the wolf 'or dog ge- 

 nus ; lastly, the most diminutive have belonged to va- 

 rious small carnivora, as the fox, the polecat , or at least 

 species very nearly allied to them, &c. 



The Kirkdale Cavern, however, forms a notable ex- 

 ception, inasmuch as none, or very few, bones of bears 

 are found in it, and in its being the hyena that appears 

 to predominate among the carnivora. 



The species so common in the alluvial formations, the 

 elephants, rhinoceroses, horses, oxen or aurochs, and 

 tapirs, are of very rare occurrence in the caves of Ger- 

 many. There are even some in which no one is said to 

 have found them, and the only bones of herbivora men- 

 tioned are remains of deer. In this point also, however, 

 the Kirkdale cave differs much from the others, inas- 

 much as it abounds almost as much in bones of large 

 and small herbivora, as in bones of carnivora. All the 

 great pachydermata of the alluvial formations are seen 

 in it : the elephants, rhinoceroses and hippopotami. There 

 are also seen in it bones of oxen, deer, and even small 

 bones of mice and birds. But there are no bones of ma- 

 rine animals of any species, either at Kirkdale or in Ger- 

 many. Those who have pretended that they saw bones 

 of seals, morses, or other similar species, have been led 

 into error by the hypothesis which they had previously 

 adopted. 



These bones of carnivora, so numerous in the caves, are 

 rare in the great alluvial strata; the hyena alone has 

 been seen in any quantity at Canstadt, near Aichstedt, 

 and in some other places. There have also been found 

 some traces of bears in Tuscany and Austria, but their 



