142 STAG. BOAR. BULL. GOAT. SHEEP. DOG. 



From the small lake at Moosseedorf, M. Riitimeyer has 

 identified the following list : Of the dog, three specimens ; 

 fox, four specimens ; beaver, five specimens ; roe, six speci- 

 mens ; goat and sheep, ten specimens ; cow, sixteen speci- 

 mens ; hog, twenty specimens ; stag, twenty specimens. It 

 is certainly very striking to find two wild species repre- 

 sented by the greatest number of specimens, and particularly 

 so, since this is no exceptional case ; but the whole sum of 

 the wild, exceeds that of the domesticated individuals,, a 

 result,, moreover,, which holds good in other settlements 

 of this epoch. Not only does this indicate a great antiquity, 

 but it also proves that the population must have been some- 

 times subjected to great privations, partly from the unavoid- 

 able uncertainty of supplies so obtained, partly because it is 

 improbable that foxes would have been eaten except under 

 the pressure of hunger. 



The bones of the stag and the wild boar often indicate 

 animals of an unusual magnitude, while, on the other hand,, 

 the fox appears to have been somewhat smaller than at present. 

 The dogs varied less than they do now; in fact they all belong 

 to one variety, which was of middle size, and appears to have 

 resembled our present beagles. (M. Riitimeyer describes it 

 as "resembling the Jagdhund" and the " Wachtelhund.") 

 The sheep of the Stone period differed from the ordinary 

 form, in its small size, fine legs, and short, goat-like horns : 

 particulars, in which it is nearly resembled by some northern, 

 and mountain, varieties at the present day, as, for instance, 

 by the small sheep of the Shetlands, Orkneys, Welsh hills, 

 and parts of the Alps. At Wauwyl, however, M. Riitimeyer 

 found traces of an individual with large horns. Our know- 

 ledge of the wild species of sheep is so deficient, that M. 

 Riitimeyer does not venture to express any opinion concern- 

 ing the origin of the domestic varieties, except that he is 

 inclined to trace them up to several wild races. 



