426 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY, [JuilG 5, 



the Hippiirite limestone near Palermo, in Sicily, show that the 

 Mammoth, which ranged as far south as the valley of the Tiber, did 

 not cross the straits of Messina into Sicily. In the Grotto di San 

 Giro and in the Grotto di Maccagnone, from which vast quantities 

 of bones have been exported from time to time for use in sugar- 

 refining, a fauna was discovered diifering in most important respects 

 from that which has been described. Although the Elephas antl- 

 quus and the Spotted Hyoena remind us of the like deposits in the 

 caves of Gower or Kirkdale, they were associated with the African 

 Elephant and a small extinct Hippopotamus {H. PentJancU). The 

 last-named animal has been discovered by Dr. Adams and Captain 

 Spratt* in the caves of Malta, along with a gigantic Dormouse 

 {Myoxus melitensis) and two pigmy Elephants (E. melitensis). It 

 has also been identified by Dr. Palconer f in the island of Candia. 

 There is also proof of its having lived on the mainland of Greece, 

 since an upper true molar, discovered by Dr. E,olleston, E.R.S., in a 

 Greek tomb near Megalopolis in 1871, certainly belongs to this spe- 

 cies, and was most probably obtained from one of the many caves 

 which traverse the limestone plateau of Greece. 



12. The Pleistocene Climate. 



"We have now to consider the conditions under which such an ex- 

 traordinary fauna as tliis lived in Europe during the Pleistocene 

 times ; and the inquiry will lead us into some very interesting pro- 

 blems relating to the ancient climate and geography. The Pleistocene 

 mammalia may be divided into five well-marked groups : — the first 

 embracing those which live noAv in hot countries ; the second those 

 which inhabit northern regions or the tops of lofty mountains, where 

 the cold is severe ; the third those which inhabit temperate regions ; 

 a fourth those which are found alike in cold and hot ; and a fifth 

 those which are extinct. 



The Southern Gj'oup of Animals. 



The group of Pleistocene animals now found only in southern cli- 

 mates consists of eight. At the present day the Lion is found, with but 

 extremelyslight variations, in the whole of Africa — with the exception 

 of Egypt and the Cape Colony, from, which it has been driveikby the 

 hand of man. In Asia the maneless variety inhabits the valley of the 

 Tigris and of the Euphrates and the districts bordering on the Persian 

 Gulf; and in India the common form is met with, according to Mr. 

 Blyth, in the province of Kattywar, in Guzerat. Although the animal 

 is now found only in these hot regions, it is proved hj the concurrent 

 testimony of Aristotle, Pausanias, and ^lian to have inhabited the 

 mountains of Thrace, in which the Avinter cold must have been se- 

 vere. The animal, therefore, although from its present distribution 

 better fitted for a tropical than a temperate climate, possessed suffi- 



* Falconer, Palseont. Memoii-s, vol. ii. p. 299. Spratt, Quart. Journ. Geol. 

 Soc. vol. xxiii. p. 283. Leith Adams, Journ. Eoy. Dubl. Soc. 1863. 

 t Palseont. Memoirs, vol. ii. p. 553. 



