﻿172 PLEISTOCENE MAMMALIA. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



Family— FELIDtE. 



Genus — Felis. 



Species — Felis lynx, Lmnteus. 

 PI. XXIII. 



§ 1. Gisement. , § 3. Determination. 



§ 2. Description. i § 4. Measurements. 



§ 5. Conclusion. 



§ 1. Gisement. We are indebted to Dr. Ransom for the discovery of the remains of a Car- 

 nivore hitherto unknown in Britain, in a fissure that penetrates the Permian Limestone in 

 Pleasley Vale, in Derbyshire, termed the Yew Tree Cave. The conditions under which the 

 discovery was made are as follows : — " The cave is entered by a narrow opening, large 

 enough for one person to creep through ; the descent is a series of inclines and sudden falls, 

 which require the help of a rope and a long pole. The total depth is 70 feet, and the length 

 about 100 feet (of the part explored). It is everywhere narrow, and in some places so 

 much so that only a person of moderate obesity can pass. I was obliged to move side- 

 ways. The mud which fills the insterstices between the angular blocks at the floor of the 

 cave is red loam, interspersed with small fragments of the stalagmite. No rolled stones 

 were found, and no transported ones. Here and there the mud was hardened with in- 

 filtration of carbonate of lime ; this was particularly the case with that which lay upon the 

 projecting ledges of the walls. The osseous remains found were imbedded in the red 

 loam, and were best preserved when it was infiltrated with carbonate of lime. In some 

 parts the bones were very friable, and fell to pieces on the slightest attempt to remove 

 them. The number of fragments of bones in parts was so great as to form a large pro- 

 portion of the mud. The bones were not found rolled or worn ; they were much broken 

 in some parts of the cave, not in others — on the whole, not more so than might easily be 

 accounted for by the falling of stones, by which means, also, the stalagmite was much 

 broken. Only one bone was found which appeared to show marks of teeth. ... A 



