REMAINS OF 
FALLOW DEER FROM GOOLE MOOR. 
EDGAR: B WALTE, | F.E.S., 
Curator, The Museum, Leeds. 
DuRING last summer my friend Mr. Thomas Bunker, of Goole, sent 
me portions of a skull, some vertebre, and a rib for determination, 
together with a considerable portion of hair and peat upon whic 
they had been found. The remains are those of the Fallow Deer 
(Dama vulgaris), and are in a most peculiar condition ; the bones 
are quite pliable and elastic and of a dark brown colour, reminding 
me very much of sheet gutta-percha. They are also very light, and 
float with about one-third of their bulk out of water. All the 
inorganic matter has evidently been dissolved out of them, and even 
the teeth, which usually resist chemical action for an immensely long 
period of time, are almost as pliable as the other portions, not a trace 
of the enamel being left. 
In conjunction with Mr. J. C. Birch, L.D.S., I have made a care- 
ful examination of the teeth. In colour, the exposed portions are 
precisely similar to the bones themselves, but the roots are quite 
black. Like the bones, they float in water, but owing to their greater 
density, with only about one-twelfth of their bulk above the surface. 
After steeping for about three hours, during which period absorption 
takes place, they become heavier and gradually sink. 
The action of the dissolvent acids is extremely interesting. 
The crown of the normal tooth of a deer or similar animal is 
covered with a layer of enamel infolded at the grinding surface, and 
in time the portion in contact with the opposing teeth becomes worn 
down and leaves an inner as well as an outer layer of enamel. In 
the root, the place of the outer enamel is taken by cementum, or 
tooth bone. 
The teeth under consideration show the root of normal size, 
ormer consists of only 3 per cent. of organic or gelatinous, matter, 
and 97 per cent. of inorganic matter, the whole of which has been 
dissolved out, consequently the crown is reduced to the bulk of the 
dentine. 
Cementum consists of only 68 per cent. of inorganic matter and 
32 per cent. of organic matter, and although the former has been 
removed, the gelatinous residue of about one-third has been sufficient 
to maintain the size of the root of the tooth. 
