FOSSIL MAMxMALIA. 121 



It is not only in the caverns that the bones of bears are 

 found. Similar remains, though comparatively few in number, 

 are found in the loose strata. Many specimens, for example, 

 have been found in the Vale of Arno ; but the Baron declares 

 them different in species from the cavern bears. 



Dr. Buckland found, in 1820, in the collection of the convent 

 of Krems-Munster, in Upper Austria, certain crania and bones, 

 which he judges to have belonged to the large fossil species 

 with convex chafFron. They had been disinterred from a 

 gravel-quarry which had been consolidated into a pudding- 

 stone, employed in that part of the country for the purposes 

 of building. The bones of bears have also been found in the 

 cavern of Oreston, near Plymouth, which we mentioned in an 

 earlier part of this essay. 



As to the osteology of the fossil bears, we shall only trouble 

 our readers with a few remarks on the teeth and crania, these 

 constituting the most material specific characters. 



The teeth of which the caverns of Germany have furnished 

 so many myriads, have been clearly proved to have all the ge« 

 neric characters of the bear. The first point which indicates 

 diiference of species is their magnitude. The largest living teeth 

 are either less than, or, at the most, but equal to, the smallest 

 fossil; and, in general, one-fourth smaller than the largest. 

 This constant superiority was a sufficient indication of a differ- 

 ence and a superior size of species, which the other parts have 

 since confirmed. Those other parts have also proved, what the 

 teeth alone could never do, at least not very clearly, namely, 

 that the remains of more than one species of bear existed in 

 these caverns. 



These teeth are, in general, less worn, and have preserved, 

 their enamel and their eminences better than those of the living 

 bears, which proves that the species from which they came were 

 more exclusively carnivorous. 



Among the fossil crania, we find the cheek-teeth worn only 

 in the oldest and largest subjects. 



