1866.] DAWKINS— FOSSIL BEITISH OXEI? . 395 



This skull Is 4 inches longer than that of the largest Bos tauriis in 

 the Jardin des Plantes. 



The most perfect remains, however, are those derived from the 

 turbaries of Scania, described by Professor Nilsson, of Lund*. They 

 afford the following measurements in inches and tenths : — 



Occipital crest to premaxillary 2833 



Horn-cores to anterior edge of premaxillary 2541 



Lower edge of orbit 15*33 



Outer curve of horn-core 26*0 



Breadth of forehead between base of upper part of horn-cores 9*08 

 „ ,, „ lower part of „ 12-0] 



,, „ between orbits, upper part 1201 



,, ,, ,, lower part 1133 



Distance between tips of horn-cores 28-0 



Circvimference of base of horn-core 14"33 



Distance between auditory foramina 12*33 



First cervical to last dorsal vertebra 91*33 



Cervical vertebrae 23*33 



Length of shoulder-blade 200 



Breadth of its distal end 12*0 



Length of humerus between articulations 14*0 



ofradius 14*33 



., of ulna and olecranon 19*5 



„ of femur 19*0 



oftibia 17*5 



, , of metatarsal 1 1 '0 



Professor Mlsson estimates the length of the animal as being from 

 11-5 to 12 feet, and its height over the withers as about 6 to Q'b — 

 an estimate that coincides remarkably with that given by Baron 

 Cuvier from the examination of the head of a French specimen, which 

 we have already noticed. 



To pass, however, to the remains of the Bos urns found in our own 

 country, the first and most noteworthy discovery in Britain was that 

 of the frontal portion and horn-cores in the bed of the river Avon at 

 Mellisham, near Bath. The span from tip to tip of the unbroken 

 horn-cores was 39 inches f, their basal circumference 17*5, and 

 their length, following their curvature, 36*5. This last measurement 

 is one-fourth greater than that mentioned by Cuvier as indicating 

 an animal 12 feet long and 6*5 feet high. Mr. Woods also cites an 

 instance of the occurrence of a head of this species of a size little 

 inferior to the head of the preceding, under a tumulus near Calne 

 in Wilts, and associated with remains of the Deer, Boar, and British 

 pottery ornamented with right lines. The measurement from tip 

 to tip of horn -core of 33 inches, and their basal circumference of 

 15'5, prove that at the time the makers of the tumulus lived in Wilt- 

 shire a Urox inhabited the same area of larger size than any of 

 those mentioned by Baron Cuvier in Germany, or by Professor Nils- 

 son in Scania. 



Professor Owen figures, in the * British Possil Mammals,' a skull 

 fromnear Athol, in Perthshire, derived probably from a turbary. It is 



* Op. cit. p. 258 et seq. 



t Descript. of Fossil Skull of Ox. By Henry Woods, A.L.S. 4to. London, 

 1839 : p. 29. 



