﻿Maxillary (PL XIII, fig. 1) 1 



Lower jaws, a pair of (PL XIII, fig. 3) 2 



Scapula 1 



A pair of humeri (PL XXII, fig. 1) 2 



A pair of ulnse (PL XXII, fig. 2) 2 



EELIS SPELiEA. 155 



Ilutioii Cave. 

 Bones of Whelp. 



Numbers. | Numbers. 

 Sterneber 1 



A pair of femora (PL XXII, figs. 7, 8) 2 



Tibia 1 



Calcaneum (PL XXII, fig. 10). 





•The skull and lower jaws, Pis. VI, VII, VIII, IX, were obtained either from Sandford 

 Hill or Hutton Caves. 



The accumulation of so enormous a quantity of the remains of the Lion in the caves 

 of so small an area may be accounted for by the peculiar position of the Mendip Hills, 

 that command fertile valleys on the north, and look out towards the south and west over 

 a plain which, in Post-glacial times, occupied a large portion of the Bristol Channel. 

 Around them were the feeding-grounds of incalculable numbers of the Reindeer, Bison, and 

 Horse, of the Mammoth and tichorhine Rhinoceros, and, therefore, we might expect to find 

 the carnivora present in very great abundance. There is evidence, indeed, that a larger 

 number, not only of Lions, but also of Bears and Hysenas, existed in the district than have 

 yet been proved to have lived in a similar area at any time in the past history of the earth. 



To the south of this district no leonine remains have been discovered as far as the 

 outcrop of the Devonian Limestones on the shores of Torquay and Plymouth. In the Brixham 

 Cave two phalanges 1 were found along with flint flakes and the remains of the Hysena, Bear, 

 and other animals ; in that of Kent's Hole, explored by the Rev. J. McEnery, an upper 

 jaw, four teeth, and an ulna ; 3 and in that of Oreston, near Plymouth, explored by Mr. 

 Whidby, three canines, one humerus (PL XVIII, fig. 1), one metacarpal, and two metatarsals. 3 



Nor were they less rare on the opposite side of the Bristol Channel in South Wales. 

 The researches of Col. Wood and Dr. Ealconer have resulted only in the discovery of an 

 upper jaw and five teeth (PI. XI, figs. 1, 2, 5) in the Cave of Ravenscliff, three canines 

 and a fragment of skull in that of North Hill Tor,* and a few fragmentary remains from 

 those of Spritsail Tor and Long Hole ; 5 from a cave on Caldy Island also a carnassial 

 has been obtained by the Rev. E. Smith. In North Wales, a cave at Cefn, in Denbighshire, 

 is quoted by Dr. Ealconer as containing the remains of Felis spelcea, but we have been 

 unable to submit them to a personal examination. 



These are all the cases of the occurrence of the animal in Great Britain revealed by 

 a careful search in every public and private museum and collection of note in the kingdom. 

 The absence, therefore, of the animal from certain districts cannot be accounted for on 



1 In the possession of the Koyal Society. 



2 In the British Museum, that of the College of Surgeons, and of the Geological Society, and in the 

 possession of the Earl of Enniskillen. 



3 In the British Museum, that of Leeds, and that of the Geological Survey of England. 



4 ' Palaeontological Memoirs of the late Dr. Falconer,' vol. ii, p. 458. 5 Op. cit., p. 525. 



