18 DE. H. HICKS ON SOME 



The state of preservation of the hones, apart from the imhedding 

 matrix, resembles that of similar remains from other caves in lime- 

 stone rocks, and inhabited by Hyaenas. Eew are entire ; many of 

 the limb-bones have their softer ends gnawed away, leaving the 

 hard and denser bone of the shafts still bearing the marks of teeth. 

 Others appear to have been fractured both longitudinally and trans- 

 versely by some force when the bone was fresh, as if for the extraction 

 of the marrow ; and, again, a few crushed specimens, by some pecu- 

 liar disintegration, show very distinctly the lamellar structure of 

 the bone. 



The remains of the Carnivora, excluding the Hyaena, are compa- 

 ratively few. The Lion is represented by 12 canines, and the Wild 

 Cat by a few limb-bones ; the remains of the Bear, Wolf, and Fox 

 are not respectively numerous ; whilst those of the Hyaena are abun- 

 dant. They consist of bones and over 200 specimens of jaws and 

 detached teeth, a few being milk-teeth. The jaws are all more or less 

 imperfect, and several bear traces of having been gnawed by the 

 hungry survivors. The remains of the Wild Boar are few ; chiefly 

 teeth and a mandibular ramus of a young pig containing the milk- 

 molars. Of the Irish Deer no portions of the antlers were discovered, 

 but many detached teeth from the upper and lower jaws. Excluding 

 the antlers, the remains that could with certainty be referred to the 

 Eed Deer are few. Of the antlers there are several fragments, 

 some nearly as large as the antlers from Kent's Hole, described 

 by Sir Eichard Owen as Strongyloceros spelceus *, on account of 

 their large size. There is also an unshed antler {"■ Pricket ") of a 

 Stag of the second year. Of the Eoebuck, we can only record a 

 tibia and a few phalanges, all from the lower cave ; but, as in many 

 other caverns, the remains of the Eeindeer are very numerous, 

 chiefly portions of antlers, referable to individuals of all ages and 

 many varieties of form, also portions of jaws, detached teeth, and 

 bones. Both sexes of the Eeindeer bear antlers which, in some 

 measure, accounts for their greater relative proportion'to the skeletal 

 remains, as compared with those of the Eed Deer. But there can 

 be little doubt that the Hyaenas carried into their retreats many 

 that had been shed. 



Most, if not all of our British caves contain remains of the Horse, 

 and ours do not form an exception, for teeth and bones are the 

 most abundant in each case ; and they also show that there were 

 great individual variations as to size in the herds that roamed in the 

 district. As regards their structure the teeth are undistinguishable 

 from those of the existing Horse. 



The next in point of number are the teeth and bones of the 

 Woolly Ehinoceros, of which over 400 teeth were exhumed ; they 

 embrace many examples of the deciduous teeth, some so young that 

 the ridges are scarcely abraded, and others in which the crowns are 

 nearly worn away. This also applies to the teeth of the adults. 

 The teeth and bones agree in size with the remains of the same 

 species found in our brick- earths and gravels. The Mammoth is 

 * Owen, Brit. Foss. Mamm. p. 469. 



