408 The late Mr. Hunter's Observations 
the open air ; this is evidently the case with the bones at pre- 
sent under consideration, those of the rock of Gibraltar, and 
those found in Dalmatia ; and from the account given by the 
Abb6 Spallanzani, those of the island of Cerigo are under 
the same circumstances. They have the characters of ex- 
posed bones, and many of them are cracked in a number of 
places, particularly the cylindrical bones, similar to the effects 
of long exposure to the sun. This circumstance appears to 
distinguish them from fossilized bones, and gives us some in- 
formation respecting their history. 
If their numbers had corresponded with what we meet 
with of recent bones, we might have been led to some opinion 
of their mode of accumulation ; but the quantity exceeds any 
thing we can form an idea of. In an inquiry into their his- 
tory three questions naturally arise : did the animals come 
there and die? or were their bodies brought there, and lay ex- 
posed? or were the bones collected from different places? 
The first of these conjectures appears to me the most natural ; 
but yet I am by no means convinced of its being the true one. 
Bones of this description are found in very different situa- 
tions, which makes their present state more difficultly ac- 
counted for. Those in Germany are found in caves. The 
coast of Dalmatia is said to be almost wholly formed of them, 
and we know that this is the case with a large portion of the 
rock of Gibraltar. 
If none were found in caves, but in solid masses covered 
with marl or limestone, it would then give the idea of their 
having been brought together by some strange cause, as a con- 
vulsion in the earth, which threw these materials over them ; 
but this we can hardly form an idea of ; or if they had all been 
