SCIENTIFIC SUMMARY. 
319 
and of small size. As the line was continued towards the present era, there 
was a gradual increase in size, and a diminution in the number of toes, until 
the present type of horse was produced The original ancestor of the 
horse, not as yet discovered, undoubtedly had five toes on each foot. The 
oldest member of the group now known is the Eohippus , which had four 
well-developed toes and the rudiment of another on each fore foot, and three 
toes behind. This animal was about as large as a fox, and its remains are 
from the Coryphodon beds, near the base of the Eocene. In the next higher 
division of the Eocene, another equine genus, Orohippus, makes its appear- 
ance. It resembled its predecessor in size, but had only four toes in front, and 
three behind. At the top of the Eocene, a third allied genus has been found 
( Epihippus ), which closely resembled Orohippus in its digits, but differed in 
its teeth. Near the base of the next formation, the Miocene, another equine 
mammal ( Mesohippus ) occurs. This animal was about as large as a sheep, 
and had three usable toes, and the splint of another, on each fore foot, with 
but three toes behind. At a somewhat higher horizon, a nearly allied genus 
( Miohippus ) has been found, which has the splint, even of the outer or fifth 
digit, reduced to a short remnant. In the Pliocene above, a three-toed horse 
( Protohippus ), about as large as a donkey, was abundant ; and still higher 
up a near ally of the modern horse, with only a single toe on each foot 
(Pliohippus) , makes his appearance. A true Equus, as large as the existing 
horse, appears just above this horizon, and the series is complete.” These 
remarks are illustrated with an interesting series of figures showing the 
structure of the fore and hind feet, the fore-arm, the leg, and the upper and 
lower molars in each genus. 
A Moravian Cave. — In an article communicated to the Academy of Sciences 
of Vienna, Dr. K. T. Liebe notices the contents of the cavern of Vijpustek, 
near Kiritein, in Moravia. The bones of Mammalia found in this cave repre- 
sent the following species : — Lynx vulgaris (lynx), Felis Catus (wild cat), 
Canis spelceus (Diluvial wolf), Canis familiaris (dog), Vulpes vulgaris (fox), V. 
lagopus (Arctic fox), Gulo borealis (glutton), Maries abietinum (pine martin), 
Fcetorius putorius (polecat), F. erminea (ermine), Vesperugo serotinus (Sero- 
tine bat), Arvicola sp. (vole), A. amphibius (water-rat), Lepus variabilis or 
timidus (mountain hare), G'icetus frumentarius (hamster), Myoxus Glis 
(dormouse), and Sciurus vulgaris (squirrel). Dr. von Hochstetter states that 
besides these seventeen species the cave contains remains of Elephas primi - 
genius (mammoth), Rhinoceros tichorhinus (woolly rhinoceros), Equus fossilis 
(horse), Bos priscus (aurochs), Cervus tarandus (reindeer), C. capreolus 
(roe-deer), C. eurycercus (?), Capra Ibex (ibex), TJrsus spelceus (cave bear), 
Felis spelcea (cave lion), and Hycena spelcea (cave hysena), so that twenty- 
nine species of mammals are known from the cave. 
A comparison of these bones with those obtained from the caves of 
Thuringia leads to some interesting results. It is clear that the cave of 
Vijpustek was a den occupied for long periods, now by families of hy senas, 
now by families of bears, and occasionally visited by cave lions, wolves, and 
lynxes ; whilst its numerous side-galleries, some of which probably opened 
directly into the outer air, harboured smaller beasts of prey, such as the 
polecat, marten, and glutton. A few animals, indeed, may have been floated 
as carcasses into the cave ; but the greater part of the remains are those 
