1900.] PIECE OF SKIN EROM PATAGONIA. 383 



medulla, or at least with the medulla broken up in scattered miuute 

 portions. The coarse hair of the Jaguar is also different from 

 that of the problematical piece of skin, in having a thicker cortex 

 and a less developed medulla. Since all the present South- 

 American cats (Jaguar, Puma, Ocelot, &c.) have an underfur, it 

 may be assumed that the extinct Jaguar also had such an under- 

 fur, the more so as it lived further south in a region with a more 

 inhospitable climate than that of the native country of most South- 

 American cats. If such were the case, this piece of skin cannot 

 have belonged to that extinct cat or to any other allied species. 

 Similarly thespecies of Canis, probably aclose ally of C. magellanicus, 

 may be excluded from comparison, because, like other wolves and 

 foxes, it must have been provided with au underfur. The skin is too 

 thick to have possibly belonged to any of the rodents of which 

 remains have been found in this or other layers of the cave. 

 There thus remain only two kinds of animals of which fragments 

 occur in the same layer as that in which the piece of skin was 

 found, namely Macrauchenia and Onohippidium. The hrst of 

 these, however, is very sparingly represented in Erland Nordens- 

 kjold's collection, perhaps only by a phalangeal bone, and Dr. 

 Hauthal has not found anything which could be referred to the 

 same animal. Onohippidium, on the other hand, occurs abundantly. 

 This peculiar horse, with its large fossa lachrymalis, which can be 

 seen very well in one of Nordenskjold's specimens, has thus in one 

 way or the other been very often brought into the cave. It seems, 

 therefore, quite probable that the piece of skin now described may 

 have belonged to the now extinct Onohippidium. 



To determine more precisely the mammal to which this piece 

 of skin belonged, it is necessary to extend comparisons to other 

 animals still living in the neighbourhood. IY>r reasons already 

 mentioned, the Puma, species of Canis, Guanaco, and the small 

 rodents are at once excluded. The Viscacha (Layostomus) has too 

 soft a fur and too thin a skin to be taken into consideration. The 

 characteristic structure of the hair of the deer (Cervus chilemis) 

 makes every comparison with this animal impossible. In the same 

 way, every mammal native to the South-American soil must be 

 rejected. For the sake of completeness, however, the domesticated 

 cattle and horses must also be included in the discussion, although 

 it is extremely improbable I hat a piece of skin of either of these 

 animals would find its way into the deepest layer of the cave- 

 deposits. I have thus made a comparison of the hair with that 

 of the domesticated ox and horse. The microscopical structure of 

 the hair of cattle is different from that of the supposed Onohip- 

 pidium. The cortex of the hair of the former is much thicker 

 compared with the medulla than in the latter. At least iu 

 Scandinavia, it is also to be noted that the cattle have an under- 

 fur of fine hairs without medulla ; and I suppose that the cattle 

 of Patagonia, which run half wild without protection against the 

 roughness of the climate, must be similarly provided. The hair 

 of a horse is coarser and stiffer and does not show the same 



