284 
KIRKDALE CAVE. 
mud or were invested in the stalagmite, the latter projecting " like 
the legs of pigeons through a pie-crust into the void space above, 
have become thinly covered with stalagmite droppings, whilst their 
lower extremities have no such encrustation, and have simply the 
mud adhering to them in which they have been embedded." Dr 
Buckland enumerates eighteen species of animals found in the cave, 
namely, hyaena, bear, wolf, fox, tiger, weasel, elephant, hippopotamus, 
rhinoceras, horse, ox, three species of deer, hare, rabbit, water-rat, 
and mouse. There were also several species of birds. On removing 
the mud, the floor of the cave was found strewn with the great 
quantities of teeth and bones, the latter in all instances broken into 
small fragments. On some of the bones marks may be traced which, 
on applying one to the other, fit exactly to the canine teeth of the 
hysena ; the hyaena's bones were also broken, The most common of 
the bones are those of the deer, hyasna, and rat. There is evidence 
that the probable number of individual hyaenas could not be less than 
two or three hundreds in the area explored. Many of them were 
young, and appear to have fallen a prey to the voracity of their 
elders ; others are the teeth of aged animals, worn down almost level 
with the jaws. Of the tiger, two large canine and a few molar teeth 
were discovered, they indicate that the animal was of a size exceed- * 
ing that of the Bengal tiger. The evidence of the bear rests on a 
single tusk. About ten elephants' teeth were found, and these were 
mostly of young animals. The teeth of hippopotamus were rare ; 
those of the rhinoceras considerably more common ; some of them 
very large, indicating full-grown animals. Teeth of deer occur in 
considerable numbers, and those of the water-rat are common. The 
bones of the remaining portion of the body are in so broken a con- 
dition that it is almost impossible to recognise any of them. From 
a consideration of these facts Dr. Buckland arrived at the conclusion 
that the cave at Kirkdale had been inhabited for a long succession of 
years as a den by hyaenas ; and that they, after killing their prey, 
dragged the bodies into the cave to be eaten ; and it is probable that 
the carcases of the weak or aged animals served as food for those 
younger and stronger. Dr. Buckland, after describing the cave and 
its contents, adduced evidence from caves, fissures, and diluvial 
