﻿INTRODUCTION. xxiii 



and Germany that we have examined there are hardly two that are alike. The frontal 

 development, the muscular ridges, the zygomata,, the size and even the form of the last 

 upper true molar, present us with points of difference that, perhaps, may be the result of 

 different food, locality, and sex. In the lower jaw, also, the relation of the angle to the 

 coronoid process, the length of the diastema between the canine and premolar 3, the absence 

 or presence of the small monofanged premolars 1, 2, or 3, afford materials for the 

 manufacture of species or varieties according to the views of the naturalist as to their value 

 in classification. Thus, the eminent French palaeontologist, M. de Blainville, considers 

 these differences of no specific value, and believes that the specific determination of U. 

 spelaus from TJ. ferox and U. Arctos to be by no means clearly proved. Professor Owen, 

 on the other hand, considers the spelaean bear to differ in species from both Ursus ferox 

 and U. Arctos, and endorses the validity of Goldfuss's second species from Gailenreuth — U. 

 priscus. Dr. Schmerling divides the remains of the bears he obtained from the caverns of 

 Liege into five species — If. giganteus Schm. TJ. Leodiensis, Schm., TJ. Arctoideus, Gold., 

 If. priscus, Gold., U spelaus, Gold. To this list of fossil species Marcel de Serres adds U. 

 Pitorii, and Mr. Denny, of Leeds, U. planifrons. The whole of these, with the exception 

 of TJ. priscus, are probably varieties of TJ. spelaus, dependent upon locality, food, 

 and sex. 



In the remains ascribed by Dr. Carte to the Polar bear ( TJ. maritimus) 1 from Lough 

 Gur, in Limerick, we can see nothing to differentiate the animal to which they belonged 

 from the spelaean bear. The proportions of the long bones and the position of the third 

 trochanter on the inner side of the femur are points of difference between these remains 

 and the recent Polar bear. 



The Ursus planifrons 2 of Mr. Denny, A.L.S., is probably a variety of Ursus spelaus 

 with small frontal sinuses. 



Species Ursus Arctos, Linn. — The second group of fossil remains may be considered to 

 belong to Ursus Arctos, the living European bear. It is differentiated from the U. 

 spelaus by the persistence of the small monofanged premolar one immediately behind the 

 canine, and many other points to be discussed in the article on the Ursidae. It occurs in 

 Wookey Hole, Oreston, Durdham Down, Hutton, Llandebie, Kent's Hole, and several 

 Welsh caverns, and in the deposits of the Thames Valley at Grays Thurrock, in Essex, 

 and Crayford, in Kent. 



The Ursus priscus of Dr. Goldfuss is probably a variety of this species. 



In conclusion, we are obliged to acknowledge that the evidence afforded by the remains 

 of the fossil bears is most conflicting, and that we consider it by no means impossible that 

 at some future time the interval between the U. spelaus on the one hand and U. Arctos on 



the other may be bridged over, and both turn out to be, as M. de Blainville has suggested, 



.- 



« 'Journal of Hoyal Dublin Society,' 1863. 



2 * Geol. and Polytechnic Soc. of Yorkshire,' 1864. 



