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LETTER XXX. 



CAVERNS IN GERMANY AND HUNGARY, CONTAINING FOSSIL BONES 



GAYLENREUTH, &C INQUIRY RESPECTING THE ANIMALS 



TO WHICH THEY BELONGED THE REMAINS OF TWO SPECIES 



OF BEARS DISCOVERED. 



IT has been with considerable pleasure that I have heard you describe 

 the terrific magnificence of the caverns of the Peak, arid of several other 

 similar caverns in this island. But these must yield to the caverns of 

 Germany and of Hungary, in which we have not only to admire pro- 

 digious subterranean excavations, embellished with stalactitic decorations, 

 but to contemplate an inexhaustible accumulation of the remains of ani- 

 mals of a former world, some of which appear to be unknown to us in a 

 living state. 



Many of these caverns have been noticed by different authors. Bau- 

 man's Cave, near Blankenbourg, has been described by Leibnitz, Pro- 

 togaa, p. 7 ; and Einhornshcele, in Scharzfeld, in Hanover, has been 

 described by the same author, and by M. de Luc, in his letters to the 

 Queen. In the chain of the Hartz are several also, which have been 

 described by Behrens, in Hercynia Curiosa. Hungary, also, has several 

 similar caverns, which have deservedly engaged the attention of several 

 learned men. 



Among the most remarkable of these caverns are those of Gaylen- 



