344 
Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. [Sess. 
VI. Notes on Bones found in the Creag nan Uamh Cave, 
Inchnadamff, Assynt, Sutherland. By E. T. Newton, F.R.S. 
A small collection of bones from Creag nan Uamh cave, Inchnadamff, was 
submitted to me for examination by my colleagues Drs Peach and Horne 
in the year 1890 ; but only a brief reference to the fauna of the cave 
was made by them in their short preliminary report [Brit. Assoc. Rep. 
for 1892, p. 720]. During the last few months this series of remains has 
been re-examined and some 36 distinct vertebrate forms recognised : 15 
mammals, 17 birds, 3 amphibians, and 1 fish. 
The presence among these remains of Reindeer, Bear, Northern Lynx, 
Arctic Lemming, and Microtus ratticeps show that the deposits of this cave 
are not of very recent origin, but that a considerable lapse of time must 
have taken place since they were accumulated ; indeed, it seems highly 
probable that some of these deposits (Bed 5) are of late Pleistocene age, 
although no characteristic extinct species has been observed. All the 
above-named mammals are living forms. The Reindeer and Bear are 
known to have been living in this country in historic times, and it is 
possible that the other three, although giving a boreal aspect to the fauna 
of the cave, may have continued to live in Sutherland until a much 
more recent date than is usually supposed. On the other hand, neither 
of these three species has hitherto been found in modern deposits in this 
country, and, in so far as the southern parts of Britain are concerned, 
may be taken as characteristic Pleistocene forms ; but the case is not quite 
the same for the north of Scotland. 
The Lynx is represented among these remains by a femur and a 
metatarsal bone, both of which agree with corresponding bones of a 
Northern Lynx in the British Museum except in being a little smaller, 
but in this respect they are like the bones of this species from Teesdale 
described by W. Davis ( Geol . Mag., 1880, p. 346). We have no evidence 
that the Lynx was living in Britain in historic times, although it may have 
lingered in the wilder parts of northern England and Scotland without 
being recorded. All the remains of Lynx yet discovered in Britain are 
from caves or rock fissures, and in no case have they been associated with 
extinct Pleistocene species. 
A single small canine tooth of a Bear from Bed 5 is scarcely sufficient 
for the definite determination of the species, yet it seems most probable 
that it represents the Brown Bear ( Ursus arctos) which was living in 
Britain in early historic times (a.d. 500-1000). 
