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REPOET ON THE EXPLORATION OF BRIXHAM CAVE. 
“ 1st. The detection, in considerable abundance in certain of the caves, of the remains 
of a species of Rhinoceros, equally distinct from the tichorhine species of Siberia and of 
the Glacial period generally, and from the leptorhine Rhinoceros of Cuvier, of the sub- 
apennine Elephant-bed and Lacustrine deposits of the Norfolk coast. I have seen nearly 
the entire series of the upper and lower teeth in situ in the jaws, and from one of the 
caves a considerable portion of the skeleton associated with teeth and cranial fragments. 
The characters distinctive of the form from the species above referred to are so pronounced 
and so constant, and the material so abundant, that 1 have no doubts on the subject. 
I have designated the species provisionally Rh. hemitoechus 'prisons*. The interest of 
the case is enhanced by its presumable relations to some important late investigations 
of M. Lartet, to which I shall refer in the sequel. 
“ 2nd. Abundant evidence in all the cave-districts of two extinct species of Elephant, 
viz. Elephas primigenius (Mammoth) of the Glacial period, and Elephas antiquus of the 
subapennine period (Norwich Crag and the Astesan) — the former commonly associated 
in the English caves with the tichorhine Rhinoceros, the latter with Rhinoceros prisons. 
I have not observed among the cave-bones any indications of remains of Elephas ( Loxodon ) 
meridionalis, nor undoubted remains of Elephas {Loxodon) prisons. 
“ 3rd. In one of the caves, where the evidence is tolerably conclusive that the bones 
were washed into a fissure about the same time, the following undoubted associations 
were seen : — 
Elephas ( Euelephas ) antiquus , 
Hippopotamus major , 
Rhinoceros prisons , 
without the admixture, so far as the collection went, of other species of the same genera. 
“ 4th. In other caves Elephas primigenius and the tichorhine Rhinoceros were observed, 
without the admixture of Elephas antiquus and Rhinoceros prisons. 
“ 5th. In one of the caverns the most important part of the skeleton of an Elephas 
antiquus was found together, supplying a desideratum of the European collections. 
“ 6th. In none of the caves were any specimens observed referable to the Rhinoceros 
leptorhinus of Cuvier, as I regard that species to be limited. 
“From what I have seen, I am strongly of the conviction that, with our present advanced 
knowledge, the thorough investigation of a well-filled virgin cave in England would 
materially aid in clearing up the mystery, either of the contemporaneity of the Pliocene 
mammalian fauna with the commencement of the Postpliocene fauna, or of the condi- 
tions and associations under which the former was replaced by the latter. M. Lartet, 
in a late communication to the French Academy, has thrown out a suggestion, the 
importance of which, if well founded, can hardly be overestimated, that the mixed 
* “ Having gone into a detailed examination of the remains, I find that the species Rhinoceros hemitoechus 
prisms is equally distinct from the existing African species and from Eh. leptorhinus and Rli. tichorhinus.” — H. F. 
For Dr. Falconer’s later observations on the Rhinoceros, see his ‘ Palaeontological Memoirs,’ edited by Dr. 
Murchison, vol. ii. pp. 309-403. 
