SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES. 



I. Fossil Bears of the Caverns. (Plate LXXIII.) For many centuries certain caves in 

 Germany have been celebrated for their osseous treasures, particularly those in Franconia. The 

 most remarkable of these caverns is that of Gaylenreuth, which lies to the north-west of the village 

 of that name, on the left bank of the river Wiesent, on the confines of Bayreuth.' The entrance 

 to this cave is in the face of a perpendicular rock, and leads to a series of chambers from fifteen 

 to twenty feet high, and several hundred feet in extent, terminating in a deep chasm. The cave 

 is quite dark ; and the icicles and pillars of stalactite, refiected by the light of the torches, which 

 it is necessary to use, present a highly picturesque effect. The floor is literally paved with bones 

 and fossil teeth, and the pillars and corbels of stalactite also contain similar remains. The bones 

 are generally scattered and broken, but not rolled ; they are lighter and less solid than recent 

 bones, and are often incrusted with stalactites. Three-fourths of the bones belong to two 

 species of bears {[Trsus), the remainder to hyaenas, tigers, wolves, foxes, gluttons, weasels, and 

 other small carnivora. Those belonging to bears are referable to two extinct species : the 

 largest has the skull more prominent on the front than any living species ; it is named Ursus 

 spelcBus, or cavern bear ; the other has a flat forehead, and is the Ursus priscus of Cuvier. The 

 Hyena was allied to the spotted hyena of the Cape, but differed in the form of the teeth and 

 skull. Bones of the Elephant and Rhinoceros are said to have been discovered, together with 

 those of existing animals, and fragments of sepulchral urns of high antiquity.' 



Similar ossiferous caves occur in England ; of these, the most remarkable now accessible are 

 Kent's Hole, near Torquay, and Banwell Cave, in the Mendip Hills, near the village of 

 Banwell. The latter may be easily visited, as the Exeter railway passes within three miles of 

 the village, and there is a station, with vehicles to convey passengers to Banwell. 



II. The Bblemnite. (Plates LIX. and LX.) Among the innumerable relics which abound 

 in the secondary deposits, there are perhaps no fossil bodies that have excited so much curiosity, or 

 given rise to so many fanciful conjectures as to their nature and origin, as the long, cylindrical, 

 fusiform, crystalline stones, called Belemnites by naturalists, and thunderbolts by common 

 observers. Mr. Parkinson gives an amusing account (vol. iii. p. 122) of the discordant opinions 

 entertained at various times respecting the nature of these bodies. 



' See Medals of Creation, vol. ii. p. 869, for an interesting account of the present state of these caverns, by my friend. 

 Major Willoughby Montague. 



^ Dr. Buckland's " Reliquia Diluviana " contains a full account of the most remarkable ossiferous caverns and their 

 contents. 



