NATURAL HISTORY OF THE PRIMEVAL WOliLD. 



41 



Tliis species was probably a fourth larger than llie 

 existing brown bear, and was also of a mure cumbrous 

 and ungainly shape. The skeletons found average nine 

 or ten feet iu length, and not above six feet iu height. 

 The Cave Bear abounded in England, Belgium, Vienna, 

 and Germany. 



The Felts spdcriis, or Cave Tiger, was twice the size 

 of its modern successor, and, in fact, partook of the 

 characters of both tiger and lion. Its body exceeded 

 in bulk and strength that of the largest bull, while 

 measuring upwards of four yards in length. 



Tiie Ilycvna spchra, or Cave Hya;na, closely 

 resembles, not only in size, but in habits, the existing 

 spotted hyrena of the East. The fossil remains of 

 about three hundred individuals were discovered in the 

 Kirkdale cave, together with the bones of the animals 

 they had devoured. 



The Horse dates from the Quaternary epoch, says 

 Figuier, if not from the last period of the Ten iary epoch. 

 Its remains are found in the same rocks wiih those of 

 the Mammoth and the Rhinoceros. It is distinguished 

 from our existing horse oidy by its size, which was 

 smaller: its memorials abound in the Postpleiocene 

 strata, not only in Europe but in America ; so that an 

 aboriginal horse existed in the New World long before 

 it was carried thither by the Spaniards, although it was 

 unknown at the date of their arrival. 



The I'ost-pleioceue oxen very nearly approximated to 

 [iresent species. Three varieties have been recognized : 

 the lios priscus, Bos primi(jeiiius, and Bos Pallasii. 

 The first had slender legs ; its broad forehead was high 

 and convex, and except that it was taller, and had 

 larger legs, it differed but little from the Aurochs. Our 

 domestic oxen, according to Cuvier, spring from the 

 Bos primifjenius. The Bos Pallasii, found in America 

 and Siberia, resembled, iu many important respects, the 

 Canadian Musk-ox. 



Of the Ueer it may safely be affirmed, that it is very 

 difficult to distinguish the fossil remains from those of 

 existing species. The only exception is in the case of 

 the gigantic forest stag, Cervus mcgaceros, frequently 

 called the " Irish Elk." Its remains are frequently 

 found in Ireland, and more rarely in Germany, Poland, 

 Italy, and France. Intermediate between the stag and 

 the elk, the Cervus megaceros approached the latter in 

 the shape of its cranium and its general proportions ; 

 the former in its size, and the arrangement of its horns. 

 These were between nine and ten feet long, and so 

 divergent that the space from one extremity to the 

 other measured ten to twelve feet. 



Its skeleton is exhumed from the deposits of calcareous 

 tufa which underlie the immense peat moss of Ireland, 

 and nearly always in the same attitude, as if suddenly 

 overtaken by the crash of doom ; its head is raised 

 aloft, its neck stretched out, its horns reversed and 

 eloped downwards towards the back, as if the animal, 

 sinking all unexpectedly in marshy ground, had lifted 

 itself in a vain attempt to drink in the respirable air. 



We come now to the most curious and wonderful 

 creatures q£ the Quaternar}' period, the colossal Eden- 

 tates, by which it was peculiary distinguished — the 

 gij;antic Megatherium, the Glyptodon, the Mylodon, 

 and the Megalonys. 



The prominent characteristic of the Edentates* is the 

 absence of teeth iu the fore part of the mouth. Their 

 masticatory apparatus is confined only to molars, the 

 canines and incisors being, with a few exceptions, 

 altogether absent. Consequently the animals of this 

 order feed principally upon insects, or on fruits, grass, 

 and the young leaves of plants. The Armadillo, Ant- 

 eater, and Pangolin are living examples of the order, 

 which, as its members are further characterized by 

 possessing largely-developed claws at the extremities of 

 the toes, may be considered a connecting link between 

 the hoofed mammals and the ungulated animals, or 

 those armed with claws. 



Among the Edentata of the Post-pleioccne period 

 the foremost place must unquestionably be given to the 

 Meijalhcrlum, an animal of the most extraordinary 

 and fantastic character, nearly allied to the Slolh in 

 some parts of its organization, and, like the Slulli, 

 exhibiting an apparently monstrous and anomalous 

 external form, accompanied internally by many pecu- 

 liarities of conformation. 



It has been a common error to depict the Sloth 

 as one of the most imperfectly constructed of all 

 the members of the animal kingdom, doomed to a 

 life of misery, and utterly incapable of enjoyment. 

 But the seemingly anomalous conditions on which 

 the earlier naturalists so unwisely insisted are not only 

 not deficiencies, or sources of pain or discomfort to the 

 animal, but, on the cojitrary, are striking illustrations 

 of the varied contrivances by which the great Maker 

 adapts each of his creatures to the work it is intended 

 to execute, and the particularcircumstances under which 

 it is designed to live. 



"The peculiarities of the Slotli," says Dr. Bucklaud, 

 " that render its movements so awkward on the earth, 

 are fitted with much advantage to its destined office of 

 living entirely upon trees, and feeding upon their leaves; 

 so also, if we consider the Megatherium with a view to 

 its province of digging and feeding upon roots, we shall, 

 in this habit, discover the explanation of its unusual 

 structure and apparently incongruous proportions, and 

 find in every organ a relation of obvious convenience, 

 and of adaptation to the office it had to discharge. 



" At first sight this gigantic quadruped appears not 

 only ill-proportioned as a wdiole, but endowed with 

 the clumsiest and most incongruous members. Here 

 we have a truly colossal animal, exceeding the largest 

 rhinoceros in bulk, and to which the living species 

 most closely approximative are the Sloth, the Armadillo, 

 and the Chlamyphorus; the former adapted to an 

 arboreal life ; the two latter constructed to burrow in 

 the sand in quest of food and shelter ; and all limited 

 in their geographical distribution nearly to the same 

 regions of America that were once the habitat of the 

 Megatherium. 



" But let us examine with some degree of attention 

 the more important organs of this seemingly monstrous 

 creature, and we shall see how admirably they are 

 fitted for the peculiar work they were called upon to 

 perform. The bones of the head most nearly resemble 

 those of a Sloth. The long broad bone descending 

 to the cheek from the zygomatic arch, however, is 

 From tile Liitin e, without, and t/ens, a tooth. 



