﻿xxiv INTRODUCTION. 



the extremes of a series ; but at present it is safer to consider them two closely allied 

 species than as varieties of one and the same, 



§ 9, d. Insectivora. Genus Talpa. Species Talpa vulgaris. — The remains of the 

 common mole have been discovered in a raised beach near Plymouth, together with the skull 

 of a polecat, and in the fluviatile clay at Bacton, whence also those of Hyana spelcea, 

 TJrsus spelceus, Elephas primigenius, Hippopotamus major, and Rhinoceros lep tor Janus, have 

 been obtained. 1 



Genus Sorex. Species Sorex moschatus, Pallas = Myogalea moschata, Pischer. — The 

 fluviatile or lacustrine deposit at Ostend, near Bacton, in Norfolk, has afforded the only 

 remains of this the most gigantic of the shrews. In the absence of the means of com- 

 paring it with the recent skeleton, Professor Owen named and described it as an extinct 

 species under the name of Palaospalax magnus? In 1863 M. Lartet determined its true 

 affinities, and considers it identical in species with the animal described by the eminent 

 Russian zoologist. Dr. Pallas, under the name of Sorex moschatus, from the water-shed 

 between the rivers Volga and Don, in Southern Russia. 3 



Species Sorex vulgaris, Linn. — The common shrew has been found in Kent's Hole. 

 Its apparent rareness in the caverns is probably the result of its small size. Other remains 

 of shrews from Bacton and Ostend, in Norfolk, are perhaps referable to Sorex remifer and 

 Sorex fodiens, but " the dentition of the jaws is not in such a complete state as to allow of 

 an unequivocal determination." 



§ 9, e. Ruminantia. — Genus Bos. Subgenus Bison. Species Bison priscus, Owen. — 

 Just as at the present day the bison wanders in vast herds over the lower grounds of the 

 North American Continent, from north latitude 33° to 65°, so did the Bison priscus or 

 great fossil bison in Pleistocene Europe and Asia north of the Himalayas. Its remains 

 are most abundant in both the river-deposits and in the caves. The gravels of the Thames 

 furnish most unequivocal proof of its presence in the numerous skulls and horncores that 

 have been obtained from Grays Thurrock, Clacton, Ilford, Crayford, and Dartford. In 

 Yorkshire and Scotland also it has been recognised, and in Somersetshire we have detected 

 it in five out of eight ossiferous caverns of the period. It formed the prey of the hyenas 

 of Wookey Hole, and fell into the " swallow -holes and fissures" by which Banwell, 

 Bleadon, Uphill, and Sandford Hill caves were supplied with bones. The horncores 

 present considerable variations in size — one from Sandford Hill measuring 26 inches in 

 length, with a basal circumference of 16 inches, while a second from Banwell measures 

 but 135 in length, with a basal circumference of 12-5 inches. The examination of a 

 very large number of horncores and skulls of the fossil bison leads us to endorse Baron 



1 Prof. Owen, op. cit. 2 Op. cit. 



3 'Revue Archeologique,' 1863. 



