﻿FELIS LYNX. 173 



number of jaws of Wolf, and one which I take to be that of a Fox, were found ; also 

 numerous long bones and jaws of Roedeer, part of the skull and lower jaws of a Pig, 

 several jaws of the Watervole, and a still larger number which I have not yet determined. 



. . How the bones got there it is not easy to say, there were few or no indications 

 of the cave having been a den of wild animals, although it is possible that the expanded 

 portion near the mouth may have been so used at some time. In that case, the bones 

 found in the deeper parts must have been those which had been washed or fallen down, 

 or of animals which had run down in the ardour of the chase, as the steep part of the 

 fissure could not, I feel sure, be ascended by any animal which had once gone down. 

 This was illustrated by our finding the almost entire skeleton of a Dog in the deepest part 

 of the cave, so recent that the pupa-cases of the flesh-fly were still found perfect ; and 

 similarly in the new cave, which is shaped so as to form a capital live trap, I found great 

 numbers of rabbits' bones and hares' bones in each cave, clustered and lying together 

 as the animals died. No confident opinion founded on the position of the bones in the 

 floor of the cave could be formed as to their relative ages, as the dribbling of water 

 through the loose stones of the floor carries away and displaces the mud and objects 

 imbedded in it." 1 



It is clear, from this precise account given by Dr. Ransom, that the geological age of 

 the remains in the cave cannot be determined with absolute certainty. So far as the 

 internal evidence goes, they may be of Prehistoric, or even Historic, date with as great 

 probability as Postglacial ; but, nevertheless, there are two circumstances which render 

 the latter hypothesis the most tenable. In the first place, in a cave in the neighbourhood, 

 the tichorhine Rhinoceros, Mammoth, and Bison have been found ; and in the second 

 place, the Carnivore in question must have crossed over into Derbyshire while Britain 

 formed part of the mainland of Europe, or, in other w r ords, during the Postglacial epoch, 

 or very possibly before ; for it is impossible to suppose that it could have invaded our 

 island from Prance or Germany during Prehistoric times, and that it should have been 

 brought over by the care of man is most improbable. Its Postglacial age, therefore, may 

 be assumed with a very high degree of probability, although not with absolute certainty. 



§ 2. Descrijjtion. The remains (PI. XXIII) consist of a fragment of skull and a 

 lower jaw that most probably belonged to the same individual. The former pre- 

 sents the occipital bone in a perfect state of preservation, together with the basi- 

 sphenoid, tympanies, the zygomatic portion of the temporal, and fragments of the parietals. 

 The latter is a right ramus perfect with the exception of a small portion of the coronoid 

 process and the tip of the angle, and with all the teeth in situ, except the incisors. The 

 unworn condition of the teeth implies that the animal was an adult just coming into its 

 full prime. 



1 Brit. Assoc, Nottingham, 1866, Paper read before Section C. 



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