§ 38. FOSSIL BEARS OF THE CAVERNS. 177 



Egerton, I am able to illustrate these remarks by an 

 extensive suite of specimens, exhumed from the deepest 

 recess in the cavern, by these distinguished geologists. But 

 the most interesting relic in my possession is a remark- 

 ably perfect skull of a bear, which belonged to my late 

 friend Mr. Parkinson, the author of that delightful work, 

 "The Organic Remains of a Former World."* 



Cuvier, who examined a very large collection of bones 

 from Gaylenreuth, determined that at least three -fourths of 

 the osseous contents of the caverns belonged to bears ; 

 and the remaining portion to hyenas, tigers, wolves, foxes, 

 gluttons, weasels, and other small carnivora. Most of the 

 bones which are referable to bears, belong to two extinct 

 species. The largest has the skull more prominent in front 

 than any living species, and is called Ursus spelceus, or bear 

 of the caverns ; the other has a flat forehead, and is named 

 Ursus priscus. The Hyena was allied to the spotted hyena 

 of the Cape, but differed in the form of its teeth and head. 

 Bones of the elephant and rhinoceros are also said to have 

 been discovered, together with those of existing animals, 

 and fragments of sepulchral urns of high antiquity, f 



38. Forstershohle (Forest Cavern). — This cavern, 

 which is situated in the same part of Germany, is remark- 

 able for the beauty of its stalactites and sparry incrustations ; 

 it varies in height from ten to thirty feet, and its greatest 

 width is about ten yards. In the side vaults or recesses, 

 which descend, at an angle of about forty -five degrees, into 

 the main chamber, the stalagmite has formed the appearance 



* Their Royal Highnesses the Princes George of Cumberland and 

 Cambridge, when inspecting my collection at Lewes, a few years since, 

 pointed out the skull and bones of the Ursus spelaeus as resembling 

 some fossils that had been exhumed from a fissure in limestone, in the 

 kingdom of Hanover. 



f See Medals of Creation, vol. ii. p. 853, for further details relating 

 to the fossil carnivora. 



N 



