170 REPORT — 1875. 



" Out of about 269 specimens, including detached teeth, 

 127 belonged to Bear, 



37 „ Hyaena, 



36 „ Bos, 



24 „ Fox, 



pg -]. J 15 Eed Deer, 



" I 7 Reindeer, 



10 „ Ehinoceros, 



2 „ Horse, 



1 „ Badger." 



To those we may add 1 of Pig, 2 of Elephant, and 1 of Hippopotamus. 



The Elephant-remains consist of two small right and left lower antepenul- 

 timate milk-molars of Eleplias antiquus, determined by Prof. Leith Adams. 

 A fragment of the tusk of a Hippopotamus, about 2 inches long, is a discovery 

 of the year, being the first relic of Hippopotamus found throughout the ex- 

 plorations. It was in Parallel 32, at a depth of 7 feet. Close by it was the 

 carnassial tooth of a Hyaena, which perhaps may account for its having been 

 found at such a distance from the river, now flowing about 1000 feet below. 



It may be well here to correct an error as to the identification of remains 

 of which a list occurs in Mr. Denny's paper "On the Geological and Archaeo- 

 logical Contents of the Victoria and Dowkabottom Caves in Craven," Proe. 

 Geol. and Polytechnic Soc. of the West Eiding, 1859. At the head of the 

 list of animals found is the following entry : — 



" Cave Tiger (Felis spelceci). A canine tooth recognized by the late Dr. 

 Buckland, and now in the British Museum. — Victoria Cave." 



Inasmuch as in the course of six years' diggings no remains of Tiger or 

 Lion had been recognized by the Committee, Mr. William Davies, of the 

 British Museum, was communicated with ; and he kindly returned an answer 

 that he had examined the remains in the British Museum, that it was a case, 

 as surmised, of erroneous identification, and that the tooth in question was 

 the canine of a Bear. 



The existence of the Cave-Lion in the Victoria Cave remains therefore to 

 be proved. 



Prof. Busk remarks of the bones and teeth submitted to him: — "They are 

 a remarkably interesting collection, especially in the Bears ; and I think the 

 larger of the two skulls is by far the finest specimen of the kind yet found in 

 this country." 



Many interesting facts come out from the systematic record of the position 

 of the bones. The aj)pended Table (p. 174) of instances of bones which appear 

 to belong to the same individual, but which have been found apart from one 

 another, is an interesting commentary upon the way in which bones become 

 scattered through a cave whether by the intentional transportation by beasts of 

 prey in the process of devouring, or by the shuffling tread of the same beasts 

 amongst the loose bones lying on the floor. 



This leads us to the fact that many of the bones have a very fine polish ; 

 and it seems probable that the cause of this is that suggested by Dr. Buck- 

 land*, the treading of the beasts upon them ; the fine mud occurring in the 

 cave would make a very good pollshing-paste, and being of a very plastic 

 nature, would tend afterwards, when accumiilating in sufficient quantity, to 

 cover up the bones and preserve that polish. It occurs on the long bones of 

 both ruminants and Bears, and not only on one side as noticed by Dr. Buck- 

 land, but all round. The specimens noticed are all apparently in the upper 



* Reliquiae DiluTianre, p. 31. 



