ANCIENT AND EXTINCT BRITISH QUADRUPEDS. 127 
these wild beasts enjoyed a long freedom before he appeared on 
the scene. How the thick hides were pierced by arrow- or spear- 
points made of stone, and how man with such weapons could have 
held his own against powerful and ferocious bears and lions, 
seems a mystery when we think of the ferocity of the degenerate 
descendants of these animals. It is, moreover, a curious circum- 
stance not easily explained that, whilst the tiger and lion are daily 
destroying human beings, we find no indications of man among 
the gnawed bones so plentifully distributed throughout the ancient 
caverns and dens of the post-glacial epoch. The only explanation 
would seem to be that the larger carnivorous quadrupeds found 
ample subsistence among the lower animals during the cave period 
without preying on the lords of creation. 
THe GLUTTON, now a native of the Arctic Regions of the Old 
and New Worlds, was contemporary with the Bears, and sought its 
fortunes on British soil. Its bones have been discovered in 
caverns and deep soils in England, but the date of its extinction 
is so far shrouded in obscurity. 
THe Banpcer is the sole remaining representative of the Bear 
family which still lingers in our islands. Like the Glutton, it 
existed with the Bears, but was not so plentiful, if we may judge 
from the few bones which have hitherto been discovered. 
THE Ermine, Potecat, Beech MartTeEN and OTTER can be 
traced back to the days when the large carnivores and elephantine 
quadrupeds lived in our islands; and it would appear that, in 
point of size, individuals of the ancient race did not greatly surpass 
their modern representatives. It seems probable, moreover, that 
in all cases where quadrupeds, from early epochs, have remained 
unchanged in point of size, although confined within narrower 
geographical Jimits, they have continued to enjoy abundance of 
their natural food. At the same time it is the fact that several 
animals, as the Bear and Elephant, present to a greater extent 
individual variations in size, according to the favourable or 
inimical conditions under which they have happened to be 
placed. These are points of great importance to the naturalist, 
especially when attempting to trace back the history of extinct 
animals by a comparison of their remains with those of living 
species. 
