VARIOUS FOSSIL SPECIES. 



477 



seen also, by the aid of the Rev. S. W. King, a skull in the 

 possession of Mr. Sandford, j imior, of Cromer, procured from 

 the ' Forest-bed ' of Sidestrand. It consists of the greater 

 part of the cerebral part of the skull of a very large species 

 of Cervus, which, from the form and insertion of the pedicles, 

 I think it highly probable belonged to the same species as 

 the Bacton horn. 1 



None of the established sub-genera groups of Cervus, 

 founded conventionally on the characters yielded by horns, 

 will admit the fossil species. 2 



[During the last two years of his life, Dr. Falconer devoted much 

 attention to the fossil remains of the genus Cervus, and his Note-books 

 contain numerous references to specimens which he had examined in 

 the various palajontological collections of England and the Continent. 

 Although in most instances the descriptions are too fragmentary to 

 merit publication, it may be interesting to refer to some of the identi- 

 fications to which the author was led. The most important are as 

 follows : — 



1. September 20, 1858. — In Col. Wood's collection at Stouthall from 

 the Grower Caves. (See p. 498.) 



a. Cervus eurycerus. Molars, but no determinable fragments of 

 antlers. 



b. Cervus Turandus. Crania from Paviland and Spritsail-Tor. 



with some of the species figured by 

 Croizet, but I am unable to make it out. 

 It deserves to be figured as well as the 

 previous one. 



No. 22. — A third specimen consists of 

 the froutals, cerebral cavity, and both 

 horned pedicles, but both horns shed, so 

 that the distinctive characters are want- 

 ing. The horned pedicles are short and 

 slightly divergent, and the frontal plane 

 above the nasal suture shows a promi- 

 nent mesial ridge, bounded on either 

 side, first by a depression and then by a 

 bulge outwards for the superciliary 

 artery. Laterally, below the horned 

 pedicle, there is a deep depression. 



The form and characters remind me 

 strongly of some of the St. Prest speci- 

 mens, which Lartet and I saw at Char- 

 tres. 



The dimensions are : — Width of brow 

 between orbits and pedicle, 6i in. Girth 

 of horned pedicle, 8J in. This specimen 

 ought also to be figured. It appears to 

 have come out of the iron pan of the 

 Forest-bed. 



No. 23 is a specimen corresponding 

 with the three last, but terribly wea- 

 thered and rolled. 



On the right side the pedicle bears a 

 horn, which differs from the others in 



the collection by emitting a brow-antler, 

 which is directed inwards, but is so rolled 

 that nothing can be made out of it, ex- 

 cept that the species differs from the 

 three others above referred to. 



1 Extract from Note-book. — ' British 

 Museum, Aug. 5, 1863.— No. 82,497 is 

 a magnificent skull of a Deer, dark and 

 heavy, and evidently a dredged specimen. 

 It shows the whole of the occiput, con- 

 dyles, and basal portion, and also part of 

 the frontal and of the two orbits. It is of 

 the size of the Irish Elk, but is of a dif- 

 ferent species. The form of the occiput 

 and the offset of the horns are different, 

 and the distance between the base of the 

 horn and the orbit is much longer. Can 

 this be the species to which Gunn's horn 

 belongs ? '—[Ed.] 



2 From entries in Dr. Falconer's Note- 

 books it appears that after careful com- 

 parison with the remains of deer in the 

 British Museum, and in the Museums of 

 Paris, Le Puy, and Chartres, he was 

 unable to identify the fossil with any 

 species hitherto described. At one ti nic- 

 he was inclined to think that it might 

 belong to Cervus martialis (Gervais), 

 but this opinion he ultimately gave up, 

 and, as Mr. Gunn informs me, G. marti- 

 alis had a brow-antler. — [Ed. J 



