142 



REMAINS OF THE BEAR IN EAST YORKSHIRE. 



THOMAS SHEPPARD, F.G.S., 

 Hull. 



Amongst a valuable collection of specimens from the Bridlington 

 ' Crag-' acquired by the late Judge Bedwell and presented to the 

 Hull Museum on his death, is the tooth of a bear, in very good 

 condition. It bore a label in Judge Bedwell's writing to the 

 effect that this was the identical tooth described by Tindall, 

 from whom it was purchased. 



In the 'Geological Magazine,' Vol. I., 1864, page 142, Mr. 

 Edward Tindall contributes a note on ' The Present State of the 

 Bridlington Crag,' in which he refers to a Bear's tooth obtained 

 from the 'Crag' which he sent to the editor of that magazine 

 for inspection. The editor makes the following comment — 'The 

 tooth referred to is a canine tooth of the Brown Bear [Ursiis 

 arctos), hitherto only obtained from the Fens of Cambridgeshire.' 



Tooth of Bear {Ursus arctos). 



Mr. G. W. Lamplugh, F.G.S., informs me that upon the reprint 

 of this note in his possession Mr. Tindall has added in MS. — 

 'I have found teeth of Sharks, vertebrge of Fish, etc., etc., in 

 the above-mentioned deposit.' The record appears to have been 

 largely overlooked in later publications, and in the geological 

 memoir relating to the district no mention seems to be made of 

 it, though in the list of specimens from the Bridlington 'Crag' 

 given in Clement Reid's 'Geology of Holderness,' Ursus, sp. in 

 Judge Bedwell's collection,' is quoted and in all probability 

 refers to the tooth in question. There appears to have been 

 some doubt as to the genuineness of this record, which may 

 account for its importance having been largely overlooked. 



The gallery in the museum in which Judge Bedwell's collec- 

 tion was placed was some years ago inundated by water. This 

 resulted in the bear's tooth cracking and finally splitting in two. 

 A recent examination of the specimen has revealed the fact that 

 the cavity in the tooth is filled with the characteristic green 



Naturalist, 



