126 AUSTEALIAN CAVE-BRECCIAS. [Ch. X. 



though the mammalian fauna consists of living species, the presence 

 of the reindeer, marmot, and some other northern animals, seems to 

 imply a colder climate than that of the Swiss lake-dwellings, in whicli 

 no remains of reindeer have as yet been discovered. The absence of 

 these in the old lacustrine habitations of Switzerland is the more sig- 

 nificant, because in a cave in the neighborhood of the Lake of Ge- 

 neva, namely, that of Mont Saleve, bones of the reindeer occur with 

 flint implements similar to those of the caverns of Dordogne and 

 Perigord. 



The state of the arts, as exemplified by the instruments found in 

 these caverns of the reindeer period, is somewhat more advanced 

 than that which characterizes the tools of the Amiens drift, but is 

 nevertheless more rude than that of the Swiss lake-dwellings. No 

 metallic articles occur, and the stone hatchets are not ground after 

 the fashion of celts ; but some of the bones are artistically carved, so 

 as to represent animals ; and the needles of bone are shaped in a 

 workmanlike style, having their eyes drilled with consummate skill. 



Australian cave-breccias. — Ossiferous breccias are not confined to 

 Europe, but occur in all parts of the globe ; and those discovered in 

 fissures and caverns in Australia correspond closely in character with 

 what has been called the bony breccia of the Mediterranean, in which 

 the fragments of bone and rock are firmly bound together by a red 

 ochreous cement. 



Some of these caves were examined by the late Sir T. Mitchell in 

 the Wellington Valley, about 210 miles west of Sidney, on the river 

 Bell, one of the principal sources of the Macquarie, and on the Mac- 

 quarie itself. The caverns often branch off in different directions 

 through the rock, widening and contracting their dimensions, and 

 the roofs and floors are covered with stalactite. The bones are 

 often broken, but do not seem to be water-worn. In some places 

 they lie imbedded in loose earth, but they are usually included in a 

 breccia. 



The remains found most abundantly are those of the kangaroo, of 

 which there are four species, besides which the genera Hypsiprym- 

 nus, Phalanyista, Phascolomys, and Dasyurus, occur. There are also 

 bones, formerly conjectured by some osteologists to belong to the 

 hippopotamus, and by others to the dugong, but which are now re- 

 ferred by Mr. Owen to a marsupial genus, allied to the Wombat. 



In the fossils above enumerated, several species are larger than 

 the largest living ones of the same genera now known in Australia. 

 The preceding figure of the right side of a lower jaw of a kangaroo 

 (Macropus atlas, Owen) will at once be seen to exceed in magnitude 

 the corresponding part of the largest living kangaroo, which is repre- 

 sented in fig. 111. In both these specimens part of the substance of 

 the jaw has been broken open, so as to show the permanent false 

 molar (a, fig. 110) concealed in the socket. From the fact of this 

 molar not having been cut, we learn that the individual was young, 



