OF THE CAVES OF CRESWELL CHAGS. 



595 



its possessor, or who might have had the rare luck to kill so formidable 

 an animal. Indeed, that this tooth attracted attention in ancient 

 times, we have evidence in a specimen in the Museum at 

 Florence, found in an Etruscan tomb, and which may be 

 fairly taken to be the earliest example of fossil-collecting within 

 the historic period. It was derived from the Pliocene of the 

 Val d'Arno. Whether, however, the Creswell tooth was collected 

 or not, its mineral condition agreeing with that of the other associ- 

 ated teeth forbids the supposition that it was obtained from the 

 Forest-bed, or from any Pliocene strata on the Continent, in which 

 the remains, so far as I have yet seen, are in a totally different state 

 of preservation and of a different colour. As the evidence stands, 

 it is in favour of the animal having been a contemporary of man in 

 the neighbourhood. 



The Lion (Felis spelaea). — A canine, a lower true molar, a gnawed 

 tibia, and 8 bones of the feet, belong to the Lion. The following 

 measurements of metatarsal bones compared with those given by Mr. 

 Sanford and myself in the monograph on Felis spelcea (Palaeont. Soc. 

 part 1, p. 25) imply that the animal was intermediate, in point of 

 size, between the large variety of the caves and the smaller form 

 now prevailing in Africa and India. 



Comparative Measurements of Metatarsal 3 of 



Lion 



• 







T3 

 O 

 O 



w 



1 



a 



IS 

 o 



P3 



Fossil, Taunton 

 Museum. 



o 



PR 



O <D 



8 ° 



r u 



a a 



466 

 1-72 

 0-63 

 100 

 0-85 

 1-6 



1 . Maximum length 



50 

 1-95 



098 

 1-3 

 0-8 1 

 1-3 



594 



2-55 

 1-27 



0.86 



1-80 



5-40 



2-20 



105 



1-37 



09 



1-8 | 



4-08 

 1-45 

 0-56 

 0-78 

 0-65 

 1-37 





3 Transverse measurement of proximal articulation 



4. Vertical ,, „ ,, 



5. Transverse measurement of distal articulation ... 



6. Vertical „ „ ,, 



The Leopard (F. pardus). — One ectocuneiform from the cave-earth 

 is undistinguishable from that of a Leopard. It is far too large to 

 be identified with any of the smaller Pleistocene felines, and too 

 small to match with that of auy of the fossil or recent Lions, as may 

 be seen by comparing the measurements below with those in part 1, 

 p. 18, of 'British Pleistocene Mammalia' (Palteont. Soc). 



inch. 



Antero-posterior length 0*42 



Circumference 1'5 



Transverse measurement of proximal articulation . . 0*48 

 Vertical „ „ „ .... 0-65 

 Vertical measurement of distal articulation 0-6 



