192 
THE TERTIARY AGE, AND 
cattle that had died in great numbers at that 
time ; and, having so settled the matter to their 
own satisfaction, they took little heed to the 
bones, but threw many of them out on the road 
with the common limestone. Fortunately, a gen- 
tleman, living in the neighborhood, whose atten- 
tion had been attracted to them, preserved them 
from destruction ; and a few months after the 
discovery of the cave, Dr. Buckland, the great 
English geologist, visited Kirkdale, to examine 
its strange contents, which proved indeed stran- 
ger than any one had imagined ; for many of 
these remains belonged to animals never before 
found in England. The bones of Hyenas, Tigers, 
Elephants, Rhinoceroses, and Hippopotamuses 
were mingled with those of Deer, Bears, Wolves, 
Foxes, and many smaller creatures. The bones 
were gnawed, and many were broken, evidently 
not by natural decay,' but seemod to have been 
snapped violently apart. After the most complete 
investigation of the circumstances, Dr. Buckland 
convinced himself, and proved to the satisfaction 
of all scientific men, that the cave had been a 
den of Hyenas * at a time when they, as well as 
* Among the other facts showing that Kirkdale Cave had 
been the den of these animals, and not tenanted as their home 
by any of the other creatures whose remains occurred there, were 
the excrements of the Hyenas found in considerable quantity by 
Dr. Buckland, and identified as such by the keeper of a menage- 
