KIRKPALE CAVE : COMPARATIVE ANATOMV. 
115 
Pip;eon, Lark, Snipe, and a small species of Duck. The bottom 
of the cavern , when the nnul was tirst removed, was found strewed 
all over like a do<>;-kennel, from one end to the other, with hun¬ 
dreds of teeth and hones of the animals just enumerated. They 
were found in the greatest quantity near its mouth, because it 
\vas widest there. 
Those of the larger animals, the Elephant, Rhinoceros, etc., 
were found co-extcnsively with the rest, in the inmost and small¬ 
est recesses. 
Here a difticulty may arise in the mind of the student to whom 
the subject is new. Mow is it possible amongst such a mass of 
fragments of hone, to distinguish those of a particular animal, 
or to determine that the remains of 23 different species, are asso¬ 
ciated in the same cave ? It is no part of our purpose to deliver 
instructions in comparative anatomy, but some general ideas may 
be given of the manner in which the investigation, (prosecuted 
with more zeal and success by Cuvier than by any other indi¬ 
vidual), is carried on. 
It is evident on the slightest consideration of the subject, that 
animals differ in their osteology, not much less than in their exter¬ 
nal appearance. The skull of an ox will be distinguished from 
that of a horse, by a person of the most ordinary cajiacity, and 
with nearly as much ease, as the living animals themselves to 
which they severally belonged. On a more careful examination, 
a marked dilTerence would be apparent, between the bones of the 
limbs, as well as those of the head. It is also evident that the 
dissimilarity in the bones of the limbs must be far greater, when 
herbivorous and carnivorous animals are comjiared ; the horse 
for example with the lion. 'I'he legs of the horse are fitted for 
motion in one plane, from which there is never any very great 
deviation. In those of the lion there is required a freer motion, 
that he may leaj) and bound in any direction, and bend his paws 
for the seizure of his prey. Any intelligent person, with some 
experience in this kind of investigation, would determine from 
the articulations of the joints, to which of the two races an ani¬ 
mal whose bone he held in his hand had belonged. But by those 
who have made comparative anatomy their particular study, it is 
found on a minute examination ; that the skeleton not only of 
each great class, but of every genus and species, has peculiarities 
of its own, and that these peculiarities extend through the whole 
frame, so that it is asserted that with a single bone before him, a 
skilful anatomist, will be able to reconstruct the animal. If it 
belong to a species still living on the earth, he will be able to 
designate that species. If it belongs to a species that is extinc*^, 
the anatomist will be able to determine its genus, and lie will 
then proceed to erect it into a new species. If it belong to an 
extinct genus, he will determine its order, and erect it into a new 
genus. 
Some exaggeration it may be cither suspected or fully believed 
