1900.] GBYPOTHEBIUM (NEOMYLODON) EISTAI. 77 



The remains of the Guanaco {Lama huanacos) do not present 

 any features worthy of special remark. 



Man is represented by a diseased scapula (no. Ill), and by two 

 bone awls (nos. 49, 50), which are clearly made from the tibia 

 of a species of Canis intermediate in size between 0. jubatus and 

 C. magellanicus. 



III. Relative Age of the Remains. 



As the result of Dr. Roth's researches, supplemented by the 

 additional observations now recorded, it is evident that the majority 

 of the mammalian remains from the cavern near Last Hope Inlet 

 belong to the extinct fauna which occurs in the Pampean formation 

 of more northern regions. To this category are referable the 

 genera Grypotherium, Onohippddium, Megamys, and Arctotherium ; 

 also Macrauchenia, which is said to have been discovered in the 

 same deposit on the floor of the cave by Dr. E. Nordenskjold. The 

 large Felis likewise probably belongs to the same series. Remains 

 of mammals of the existing fauna, on the other hand, are com- 

 paratively few and insignificant, referable to the genera Ctenomys, 

 Cervus, Lama, Lyncodon, and Felis. 



Although Dr. Hauthal's explorations were rather hurried and 

 Dr. INordenskjold's results have only been published hitherto in 

 abstract l , their account of the deposits on the floor of the cavern 

 seem to confirm the suspicion that the remains of these two faunas 

 were introduced at two successive periods. According to Hauthal, 

 the remains of the Guanaco were found along with fragmentary- 

 bones of Deer, shells of Mytilus chorus, branches of trees, and dried 

 leaves, in the superficial dust of the ca\ern near the outer wall. 

 The skin of Grypotherium and all the other remains of this and the 

 associated Pampean genera were discovered in the deeper layer 

 of excrement and cut hay between the mound and the inner wall 

 of the cavern. According to Nordenskjold, three distinct strata 

 can be recognized on the floor of the cavern as follows : — 



A. A thin surface layer, containing ashes, shells, and bones of recent 



animals broken by man. 



B. A middle layer, containing numerous branches of trees and dried leaves, 



with remains of Lama and the extinct horse, Onohippidium. Said to 

 be probably the stratum in which the original piece of skin was found. 



C. A bottom layer, usually about a metre iu thickness, without any traces 



of branches or leaves, but only dried herbs. Remains of Grypotherium 

 numerous and confined to this stratum, associated with its" excrement 

 and hair, also with remains of a large variety of Felis onca, 

 Macrauchenia, and Onohippidium. 



It is unfortunate that the question of the contemporaneity of 

 the various bones cannot be tested by the ingenious method of 

 chemical analysis which has been applied with success to similar 

 problems by M. Adolphe Carnot in Prance. The French chemist 



1 E. Nordenskjold, " La Grotte du Glossotherium (NeomyJodon) en Patagonie," 

 Comptes Eendus, vol. cxxix. (1899), pp. 1216, 1217. 



