30 
ACCOUNT OF FOSSIL TEETH AND BONES 
similar fragment of an upper jaw (see Plate XIII. fig. 3, 4), where the 
second set of teeth are in the act of forcing out one of the first set, which 
is identical with those engraved in Plate VI. No. 22 , 23 , 24,25 ; and 
I have seen at least a dozen smaller fragments of jaws, which are nearly 
in the same state ; other teeth of the second set are found in various 
stages of advancement towards maturity, and the number of all these 
young teeth is much too great for us to attribute them to animals 
that may have died in early life from accident or disease. It seems 
more probable, and the idea is confirmed by the above statement of 
Mr. Brown, and by the fact of all the hyaenas’ hones in the den being 
gnawed and broken to pieces equally with the rest, that they were 
occasionally killed and devoured by the stronger individuals of their 
own species, and that both young and old were always eaten up after 
natural death. 
But, besides the evidence their teeth afford to show that the 
animals died at various periods of life, they present other appearances 
(and so likewise do the bones) of having passed through different 
stages and gradations of decomposition, according to the different 
length of time they had lain exposed in the bottom of the den, before 
the muddy sediment entered, which, since its introduction, has pre¬ 
served them from farther decay. This observation applies equally to 
the remains of all the animals. I have some portions of bone and 
teeth that are so much decomposed as to be ready to fall to pieces on 
the slightest touch; these had probably lain a long time unprotected 
in the bottom of the den; others still older may have entirely pe¬ 
rished ; but the majority both of teeth and fragments of bone are in 
a state of the highest preservation; and many thousands have been 
