316 PICTURESQUE SKETCHES 



teeth were exceedingly strong, terminated with blunt- 

 ed cones, and provided with a strong bony belt 

 defending the gum (figures 135, 136). They were 



Fig. 135 Fig. 136 



TEETH OF CAVERN HY^INA. 

 {Hyaena spel&a?) 



thus especially adapted for breaking and gnawing 

 bones. The strength of the jaws and teeth, and the 

 state of the muscular apparatus for working them, 

 was unusually great even for carnivorous animals ; 

 the neck was compact and powerful, and the whole 

 structure bespeaks the greatest possible amount of 

 strength. It is a remarkable and interesting fact, 

 and one which distinctly shows the correctness of 

 the conclusion with regard to the occupation of the 

 caverns by hysenas, that almost all the bones found 

 in them are gnawed and broken, while those in the 

 gravel are comparatively uninjured. The number of 

 individual hysenas determined from the examination 

 of the cavern bones in England amounted some time 

 ago to nearly three hundred, a large number, when 

 we consider how few probably of the ancient dens 

 have been broken into and examined, and how large 



