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tkey belong reforted at different periods to tliefc cares, as 

 places of retreat, and periflied in them. In Gibraltar, they 

 ars moftly the bones of animals of the ruminating tribe, of 

 the hare kind, and sf birds, with fome of a fmall dog, or 

 fox, and likewife fliells. Thofe in Dahnatia appear to be 

 moftly of the ruminating tribe. From thtie facts, it may 

 be prefumed, that their accumulation did not arife from any 

 inftin<3;ive mode of living, as the fame mode could not fuit 

 both carnivorous and herbivorous animals. As to the local 

 diftribudon of thefe bones, it is neceffary to recur to fiicccflive 

 fhiftings of the fituation of the fca, in confcqucnce of which 

 we may have a (Iratum of marine extraneous foflil.;, one of 

 earth, mixed probably with vegetables and bones of land 

 animals, a ftratum of terrcllrial extraneous foflils, then one 

 of marine inoduftions ; but as the fea carries its inliabitants 

 * along vvitii it, wherever there are thofe of land animals, 

 there will alfo be a mixture of marine ones ; and from the fea 

 commonly remaining thoufands of years nearly in the fame 

 fituation, we have marine foflils unmixed with any others. 

 As all operations rtfpetling the decompofition, as well as 

 the growth, of animal and vegetable fubftances, proceed more 

 rapidly on the fnrface of the earth, to which the air has 

 accefs, than within it, we Ihall find fewer changes as we 

 defcend into the eavtli, and at laft probably arrive at a cer- 

 tain depth, wliere no change takes place. Subftances, 

 therefore, that are foCilized at a great depth, and depofited 

 in ftone, clay, &c. are preferved for a very long time from 

 putrefaction ; as much fo as if they were in a vacuum ; the 

 heat alfo in fuch fituations being uniform, commonly about 

 52° or 53"; and in the colder regions they are Hill longer 

 preferved. It has been generally underftood, that in CK- 

 traneous foflils the animal part is deftroyed ; but Mr. Hun- 

 ter has not found this to 'be the cafe. Shells, and bones of 

 filh, muil probably have the lead in quantity, having been 

 longed in that ftate, otherwife they fhould have the mod ; 

 for the harder and the more compact the earth, the better is 

 the animal part preferved ; and this is an argument in 

 proof of their having been longeft in a foffil ftate. In the 

 foifil bones of fea-animals, as the vertebrs of the whale, the 

 animal part is in large quantity, and exifts in two ftates ; 

 the one having fome tenacity, but the other like wet duft ; 

 in fome of the harder bones it is more firm. In the foffil bones 

 of land animals, and thofe which ir.habit the waters, as the 

 fea-horfe, otter, crocodile, and turtle, the animal part is in 

 great quantity. In the horns of ftags dug up in Great 

 Britain and Ireland, when the earth is diftblved, the animal 

 part is in confiderable quantity, and very firm. The fame 

 obfervations apply to the foffil bones of the elephant found 

 in England, Siberia, and other parts of the globe ; alfo 

 thofe of the ox kind ; and more particularly to their teeth, 

 efpecially thofe from the lakes in America, in which the 

 animal part has fulfered very little : the inhabitants finding 

 little difference in the ivory of fuch tufl^cs from the recent, 

 except its having a yellow ftain ; the cold may probably 

 allift in their prcfervation. In incrufted bones, the quan- 

 tity of animal fubttancc is very different in different bones : 

 in thofe of Gibraltar, there is very httle ; it partly retains 

 Its tenacity, and is tranfparent, but the fuperticial part dif- 

 folves into mucus. Thofe from Dalmatia furnilli fimilar 

 refults. Thofe from Germany, efpecially the harder bones 

 and teeth, feem to contain all the animal fubftance natural 

 to them, though in this refpedt they differ among themfclves. 

 The bones of land animals have their calcareous earth united 

 with the phofphoric acid of the aerial, and retain it, when 

 foiShzed, as Mr. Hu!;ter thinks, in proportion to the quan- 

 tity of animal matter they contain. This he infers from the 

 quantity of cffcrrefcence. In fome bones of the whale, put in- 

 V91.. IV. 



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to the muriatic acid, the effervefcence is very great ; in the 

 Dalmatia and Gibraltar bones it is Icfs ; and in thofe of the 

 German caves, it is very little, fince they contain by much 

 the largeft proportion of animal fubftance. From the ex- 

 periments and obfcrv-ations of the ingenious Mr. Hatchett, 

 (fee Phil. Tranf. vol. Ixxxix. p. 335.'; we learn that the bones 

 of the Gibraltar rock confift principally of phofphat of lime ; 

 and that the cavities have been partly filled by the carbo- 

 nate of lime, which cements them together. FofTil bone*, he 

 fays, refemble bones which, by combuftion, have been de- 

 prived of their cartilaginous part ; for they retain the figure 

 of the original bone, without being bone in reality, as one 

 of the moll effential parts has be^-ii taken awav. Such 

 foffil, or burned bones, can no more be regarded as bone, 

 than charcoal can be confidered as the vegetable of which it 

 retains the figure and fibrous texture. Bones which keep 

 their figure after combuftion, refemble charcoal made from 

 vegetables replete with fibre; and cartilaginous bones, which 

 lofe their fhapc by the fame caufe, may be compared to fuc- 

 culent plants which are reduced in bulk and fiiape in a 

 fimilar manner. Hence he is led to queftion if bodies, con- 

 fifting of phofphat of lime, like boncs, have concurred ma- 

 terially to form ftrata of limellone, or chalk ; as it appears 

 to be improbable, that phofphat is converted into carbonat 

 of lime, after thefe bodies have become extraneous foffils. 

 Thedeftruction, or decompofition of the cartilaginous parts of 

 teeth and bones in a foffil ftate, mull have been the work of 

 a very long period of time, unlefs accelerated by the aftion 

 of fome mineral principle ; for, after having, in the ufual 

 manner, fteepcd in muriatic acid the os humeri of a man, 

 brought from Hythe in Kent, and faid to have been taken 

 from a Saxon tomb, Mr. Hatchett found the remaining 

 cartilage nearly as complete as that of a recent bone. 



M. Cuvver communicated to the Societe d'Hiftoire Na- 

 ture'.le at Paris, a curious memoir upon the foffil bones of 

 animals. The following abridgment has been taken from 

 the Societe Piiilomatique, N°l8, Year VI. In order to 

 determine the relations and differences that fubfift between 

 the feveral fpecies of animals that do exift, or have exilled 

 on the furface of the globe, he direfted his attention to 

 the following. 1. The animal which afforded the bones 

 and teeth, called the bones and horns of the mammouth, 

 by the Ruffians and Siberians, and of which remains are 

 found in Europe, is a fpecies of elephant, refembling the 

 elephant of Afia ; but differing from it in the alveolae of its 

 teath, its tuflcs being longer, the angle of its lower jaw more 

 oblufe, and the laminse of which its grinders are compoftd 

 thinner. Th" true analogous living animal is not known, 

 though it has been hitherto confidered as the ordinary ele- 

 phant. 3. The anim.al, of which the remains are found on 

 the banks of the Oliio in North America, which the Ame- 

 ricans and Englifh have alfo named mammouth, though it 

 differs much from the former. Remains of it are found 

 in Europe and Afia. It niuft have been nearly as high as 

 the elephant, but more bulky ; its tufks are fmaller ; its 

 grinders are armed with large cutting points, of which the 

 leclion by wear prefents double tranfverfal lozenges. There 

 are three molar teeth on each fide, o.ne of four, one having 

 fix, and one eight points. .3. The animal of which the 

 teeth tinged by copper afford the turquois ftone, and of 

 which there was a mine at Simore, in Languedoc. The 

 remains of this fpecies are found in the department of Ain, 

 in Peru, and elfewhere. It muft have confiderably refembled 

 the former ; but the points of its molar teeth arc round, and 

 when worn, their feciion prefents firft, a circle, then a femi- 

 oval, and afterwards a figure of a trefoil, which has caufed 

 thera to bt confounded with the teeth of the rhinoceros ; 

 ' D fome 



