1894.] 



THE BRITISH NATURALIST. 



141 



as he existed in those early times. Not only have the various excava- 

 tions yielded these, but numerous other fragments of the cranium have 

 been gathered and utilised, besides a great number of single bones, and 

 in some instances the entire skeleton. 



At this time man was contemporary with — besides the existing 

 species of animals, some of which have partly disappeared or migrated — 

 the mammoth, Elephas primigenms ; the woolly rhinoceros, Rhinoceros 

 tichorhinus ; the gigantic Irish elk, Megaceros hibemicus ; the cave bear, 

 Urstis speloeus ; the cave hyena, Hycena spelcea ; cave tiger, Felis spelcea.; 

 the horse, Equus caballus ; the reindeer, Cevvus tavandus ; the elk, Cervus 

 alces; the musk ox, Ovibos moschatus ; the aurochs, Bison Europcens ; the 

 hippopotamus, Hip. amphibius ; and the cave lion, Felis leo spelcea, all of 

 which lived during the greater portion of the Quaternary period, and 

 many of which eventually became extinct. 



During the deposition of the lower gravels, these animals appear to 

 have had general sway and played the principal part. Man contested 

 and disputed the ground with them, while during the period of middle 

 alluvium, although the same animals existed, they were less formidable, 

 and were apparently gradually diminishing. At the period to which 

 we refer, the horse was predominating, adapting itself to the change, 

 and at the time when the lowest bed of the upper alluvium was 

 deposited, a great modification in the fauna is noted. The horse now 

 is almost a stranger, and his place is filled by the reindeer. 



All the remains of the human race referred to have been discovered 

 in Europe, and although reference has been made to other discoveries, 

 nothing reliable in data, as previously stated, exists to recommend them. 

 Asia, in the opinion of Quatrefages, is the continent whereon the human 

 species originated and whence it migrated ; and Falconer has reasoned 

 that if we seek for Tertiary man, the strata of and near the Himalayas 

 are the formations which must be examined for the proofs of his 

 existence. 



The earliest race respecting which we have any definite data is that 

 named the Canstadt, so called from the name of the village near which 

 the first human fossil was found. A portion of the skull — the dome — - 

 was discovered along with some animal bones, so far back as the year 

 1700 ; afterwards there was found near Dusseldorf a complete skeleton, 

 but unfortunately only a portion was saved from destruction by the 

 timely interference of Dr. Fulhrott, and so preserved to science. 



In the Neanderthal skull which belongs to this race, the frontal 

 sinuses have an exceptional development, and the superciliary ridges, 

 almost lost in the middle of the glabella, form a most strange protuber- 

 ance above the orbit. In all the crania of males belonging to this race 

 a greater development of the superciliary prominences which are so 

 striking in the Neanderthal example is found. 



