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PROF. W. BOYD DAWKINS ON THE 



17. The Mammalia found at Windy Knoll. By W. Boyd Dawkins, 

 M.A., F.K.S., F.S.A., F.G.S., Professor of Geology and Palaeon- 

 tology in Owens College. (Read February 10, 1875.) 



Contents. 



§ 1. Introduction. 



§ 2. Remains of Bison. 



1 3. „ Reindeer. 



§ 4. „ Grisly Bear. 



§ 5. „ Wolf. 



§ 6. „ other animals. 



§ 7. The Remains mart the route of 

 a Migration. 



§ 8. The Bison in district in one sea- 

 son, the Reindeer in another. 



§ 9. The Deposit of Pleistocene Age, 



§ 1. Introduction, — The eaves and fissures of the Mountain -lime- 

 stone district of Southern Derbyshire and North Staffordshire have 

 long been known to contain the remains of the Pleistocene mam- 

 malia; and the discovery of a tusk of Mammoth in a fissure at 

 Doveholes, near Buxton, showed that they ranged also into Northern 

 Derbyshire. The exploration of the caverns in the neighbourhood of 

 Castleton extends their range into the basin of the Upper Derwent ; 

 and that of Windy Knoll in particular has yielded the greatest number 

 of mammalian skeletons which have, so far as I know, ever been 

 found in so small an area. The number of bones of the limbs which 

 I have determined in Mr. Pennington's collection amounts to no less 

 than 1183, exclusive of small fragments and splinters ; while the 

 teeth and jaws amount to 429. The number of vertebrae was too 

 great to be classified inthe limited time at my disposal ; they are 

 to be counted by the hundred. All these were found in a space 

 which, so far as we could estimate it, did not exceed 22 cubic feet. 

 They belong to the following species : — 



1. The Bison {Bison jpriseus), 



2. The Reindeer {Cervus tarandns). 



3. The Grisly Bear {Ursus ferox). 



4. The Wolf {Canis Iwpus). 



5. The Fox ( Canis viitpes), 



6. The Hare {Lepus timidus). 



7. The Rabbit (L. euniculus). 



8. The Water -vole{Arvieola amphibia}. 



§ 2. Bison. — The first intimation which I had of the presence of 

 fossil mammalia in this locality was in October 1870, when Mr. Pen- 

 nington brought me a portion of a tibia and some other bones which 

 from their size I considered to belong to the Urus {Bos jprimigenius). 

 Yiewing them now by the light of the great variations in size and 

 form of the remains of Bison from the same locality, they are most 

 probably to be referred to that animal, and not to the Urus. 



The skulls of Bisons are, as might be expected, in a very frag- 

 mentary condition ; - but the more solid frontal bones form a series 

 in which all stages of the development of the horn- cores are to be 

 observed — from the sprout of the young calf, not more than half an 

 inch long, to the fully-developed massive horn-core of the adult, 14 

 inches in length ; and it is worthy of remark that the calves were 

 present in considerable numbers. 



To pass over the 32 jaws, which present no character of impor- 



