Mr. W. B. Dawkins on the Fossil British Oxen. 479 



niferous Limestone of the British Islands and Belgium the local 

 and exceptional peculiarity. 



March 21. — Warington W. Smyth, Esq., President, in the Chair. 

 The following communications were read : — 



1 . "On the Fossil British Oxen. — Part I. Bos Urus, Caesar." By 

 W. Boyd Dawkins, Esq., M.A., F.G.S. 



The problem of the origin of our domestic races of cattle was 

 considered by the author to be capable of solution only after a care- 

 ful examination of each of the three European fossil species of Ox, 

 namely, Bos Urus of Cassar, B. longifrons of Owen, and B. Bison of 

 Pliny. In this paper he began the inquiry with Bos Urus, Csesar, 

 being the Bos primigenius of Bojanus ; and he arrived at the con- 

 clusion that between this species and Bos Taurus, or the common 

 Ox, there is no difference of specific value, though the difference in 

 size and some other characters of minor value render the bones of 

 the two varieties capable of recognition. After giving the synonymy 

 of Bos Urus in some detail, and measurements of the different bones 

 as represented by specimens from a number of localities, Mr. Boyd 

 Dawkins described the range of the species in space and time, show- 

 ing that it coexisted in Britain with the Mammoth, Rhinoceros lepto- 

 rhinus, R. megarhinus, and R. tichorhinus, and was associated with 

 Elephas antiquus, Felis spelcea, Ursus spekeus, U. Arctos, Bos priscus, 

 Megaceros Hibernicus, Gervus Elaphus, C. Tarandus, Equusfossilis, 

 &c, and held its ground during the Prehistoric period, after most 

 of these animals had become extinct or retreated from this country. 

 The precise date of its extinction in Britain was stated to be 

 somewhat uncertain, although the author inclined to the belief that 

 it existed in the wild state as late as the middle of the 1 2th century ; 

 while on the continent it seems probable that it lingered until the 

 1 6th century. The author then endeavoured to explain its gradual 

 diminution in size by the progressive encroachment of cultivation on 

 its old haunts ; and in conclusion stated his belief that at least the 

 larger cattle of Western Europe are the descendants of the Bos Urus, 

 modified in many respects by restricted range, but still more by the 

 domination of man. 



2. " Further documents relating to the formation of a new island 

 in the neighbourhood of the Kameni Islands." By Commander G. 

 Try on. 



A detailed account was here given of the formation of the new 

 island, named " Aphroessa " by the Greek Commissioners. It was 

 stated to be 100 yards long by 50 wide, and to be daily increasing 

 in size. Volcanic eruptions had taken place in two localities, one 

 in the new island, and the other in what was called Mineral Creek, 

 which is about two-fifths of a mile distant, and which had been com- 

 pletely filled up with lava. Considerable concussions were experi- 

 enced at Patras and other parts of Greece, which were by some 

 attributed to an earthquake, and by others to volcanic explosions ; 

 but with these exceptions no earthquake had attended the eruptions 

 or the formation of the island. 



3. " Note on the Junction of the Thanet Sand and the Chalk, 



