RETROSPECT.

MYLODON.

Mylodon.[752]—By this name is designated a gigantic edentate animal, allied to the Sloth, and formerly described as a species of Megalonyx, an almost perfect skeleton of which has been obtained from a fluviatile deposit, a few leagues to the north of the city of Buenos Ayres, and is now articulatedand exhibited in the Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons of England.[753]The animal appears to have been imbedded entire, and soon after its death, for the parts of the skeleton were found but little displaced, and the very few bones that are wanting, are such as might easily have escaped the search of the collector. But this magnificent specimen of the extinct fauna of South America must be seen to be properly appreciated. The skeleton measures eleven feet from the fore part of the skull to the extremity of the tail, the latter being three feet in length; the circumference of the trunk around the tenth pair of ribs is nine feet nine inches; the Megatherium is eighteen feet in length, and its girth fourteen and a half feet. These particulars will serve to convey an idea of the relative size of these gigantic animals. From certain peculiarities in the construction of the skeleton of the Mylodon, Prof. Owen, perceiving from the teeth that it was a vegetable feeder, and probably lived on leaves and the tender buds of trees, and its enormous bulk and weight forbidding the assumption that it climbed up trees and suspended itself by the branches, like the diminutive existing Sloths,—assigns to this creature the task of uprooting and felling trees, and feeding upon the foliage of the forests it laid prostrate. A remarkable development of the substance of the bones of the skull is presumed to hare been a provision against the fatal effects of a fracture of the cranium, to which the Mylodon, from its supposed uprooting propensities, is conjectured to have been peculiarly exposed; and the skull of the specimen in the College bears proofs of having hadtwo fractures, from both of which the animal recovered. But whoever looks at the skeleton will perceive that the fore-feet are admirably adapted for seizing and wrenching oft the branches, and the hinder feet for clasping the trunk of a large tree; and there is nothing to forbid the supposition, that the animal could obtain a constant and ready supply of food, by climbing up the stem to a sufficient height, and wrenching off the branches. Prof. Owen states, that the Mylodon unites the two great groups of theUnguiculata(animals with nails and claws), and theUngulata(hoofed animals), for it has both hoofs and claws on the same feet.

[752]Signifyingmolar-tooth,—a name intended to express that the animal has only teeth adapted for grinding; but this term is equally applicable to all the other megatheroid animals.[753]See "Description of the Skeleton of an extinct gigantic Sloth (Mylodon robustus)," &c., by Richard Owen, F.R.S. Hunterian Professor of the Royal College of Surgeons, 1 vol. 4to. with twenty-four plates, 1842. The lithographs in this work, by Mr. Scharf, are of the highest excellence: the figure of the entire skeleton of the animal, on a scale of two inches to a foot, is admirable.

[752]Signifyingmolar-tooth,—a name intended to express that the animal has only teeth adapted for grinding; but this term is equally applicable to all the other megatheroid animals.

[753]See "Description of the Skeleton of an extinct gigantic Sloth (Mylodon robustus)," &c., by Richard Owen, F.R.S. Hunterian Professor of the Royal College of Surgeons, 1 vol. 4to. with twenty-four plates, 1842. The lithographs in this work, by Mr. Scharf, are of the highest excellence: the figure of the entire skeleton of the animal, on a scale of two inches to a foot, is admirable.

The dental organs consist of four molars on each side the lower, and five on each side the upper jaw. The teeth are implanted in very deep sockets, and are of the same size and form throughout, with a conical pulp-cavity at the base, indicating that their growth continued during the life of the animal. In structure they resemble those of the Megatherium and Sloth (Bradypus); being composed of a pillar of coarse dentine, traversed by numerous vascular or medullary canals, which is invested with a layer of very fine, dense dentine, with minute calcigerous tubes, and the whole surrounded by a thick coating of cementum: no enamel enters into their composition. (Owen.)

V. Fossil Rodents.—Of the mammalia termedRodentiaor Gnawers (seeWond.p. 143), of which the Mouse, Rabbit, and Beaver are examples, the remains of several genera are found in a fossil state; particularly in the caverns containing the bones of Carnivora. Dr. Buckland collected from Kirkdale Cave-bones of a species of Hare or Rabbit, Mouse and Water-Rat (Reliq. Diluv.pl. xi.).

In the eocene gypseous strata of France, two species of Dormouse and two of Squirrel have been found. From the tertiary sand at Epplesheim, with the bones of the Dinotherium,those of a species of Hamster or German Dormouse (Cricetus) were obtained.

Fossil teeth of a species of Porcupine (Hystrix) occur in the pliocene deposits of Tuscany.

Of the Beaver (Castor), some undoubted remains have been collected in this country. Those of a species apparently identical with the recent Beaver of the Danube, have been discovered in the fresh-water deposits of Essex,[754]Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, and Berks, and in Scotland; and the remains of the very large extinct species first observed in Russia (and named, by M. Fischer,Trogontherium,) have been found in the subterranean forest at Bacton, in Suffolk.[755]

[754]See Mr. Brown’s Paper on Copford,Quart. Geol. Journ.vol. viii. p. 188.[755]SeeHist. Brit. Foss. Mam.p. 184, &c.;Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.vol. iv. p. 42; andPetrif.p. 357.

[754]See Mr. Brown’s Paper on Copford,Quart. Geol. Journ.vol. viii. p. 188.

[755]SeeHist. Brit. Foss. Mam.p. 184, &c.;Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc.vol. iv. p. 42; andPetrif.p. 357.

FOSSIL MARSUPIALIA.

VI. Fossil Marsupialia.[756]—That the remains of an extinct species of giganticKangarooshould be found in the fissures of the rocks and in the caverns of Australia, a country in which marsupial animals are the principal existing mammalia, is a fact that will not excite much surprise; but that beings of this remarkable type of organization should ever have inhabited the countries situated in the latitude of the European continent and of Great Britain, would never have been suspected, but for the researches of the geologist. The fossil remains of this class discovered in Australia[757]occur in the pleistocene deposits of Darling Downs, Melbourne, &c. and in fissures and caves in the limestone of Wellington Valley, imbedded in red ochreous loam, and are often incrusted by stalactitic concretions. One of the species exceeds the largest existing Kangaroo,and its bones are associated with those of the Wombat, and other marsupial animals (Ly.p. 155).

[756]Marsupialia; animals that carry their young in a pouch (marsupium), as the Kangaroo.[757]Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1844, p. 223.

[756]Marsupialia; animals that carry their young in a pouch (marsupium), as the Kangaroo.

[757]Rep. Brit. Assoc. 1844, p. 223.

A species of Didelphys (Opossum) has been discovered in the gypseous limestone of Montmartre, and is figured and described by Cuvier (Oss. Foss.vol. iii. pl. lxxi.; see alsoBrit. Foss. Mam.p. 76). It consists of a considerable part of the skeleton of a small animal, imbedded in gypsum; the block containing the specimen has been split asunder, and some of the bones are attached to the surface of one moiety, and the remainder to the other. From the character of the jaws and teeth, Cuvier pronounced that the animal was related to the Opossum, and confidently predicted that the two peculiar bones which support the pouch in these animals would be found attached to the fore-part of the pelvis; accordingly he chiselled away the stone, and disclosed thesemarsupialbones; thus proving the truth of those laws of correlation of structure, which he was the first to enunciate and establish. But as there are true marsupials in which theossa marsupialiaare merely rudimentary, for example, in the Dog-headed Opossum, or "Hyæna" of the Tasmanian colonists (Thylacinus Harrisii), in which they are merely two small, oblong, flattened fibro-cartilages, imbedded in the internal pillars of the abdominal rings, and are only six lines long and three or four lines broad,—it follows that in a fossil state the pelvis of a true marsupial animal may be destitute of those appendages which are commonly supposed to be an essential character of the marsupial skeleton. Thus the fossil pelvis of the Thylacinus, had that species been long ago, as it is soon likely to be, extinct, would not have afforded the certain evidence of its marsupial character to which Cuvier triumphantly appealed in demonstration of the Didelphys of the gypsum quarries of Montmartre; yet the Thylacinus would not therefore have been less essentially a marsupial animal.[758]

[758]See Prof. Owen,Zoological Society’s Proceedings, Dec. 1844.

FOSSIL MAMMALIA.

In the Eocene sand at Kyson, near Woodbridge, in Suffolk, among other mammalian remains (Ly.p. 203), Mr. Colchester, of Ipswich, whose researches have been rewarded by many interesting fossils, found a fragment of the jaw, with one premolar tooth having two fangs, of a small animal (Didelphys Colchesteri, Owen); and which Mr. Charlesworth (Curator of the Philosophical Institution of York) ascertained to belong to a marsupial animal allied to the Opossum.[759]

[759]SeeMag. Nat. Hist.1839, p. 450;Rep. Brit. Assoc.1842, p. 73; andBrit. Foss. Mam.p. 71,fig.22.

But the specimens above described are far surpassed in interest by those discovered in the Triassic Bone-bed of Würtemberg and in the Oolite of Stonesfield; the latter consisting of several jaws and teeth of marsupial animals.

Triassic Mammalian Teeth.—In the thin layer of rolled bones, teeth, scales, and coprolite, so extensively spread over the top of the Trias and at the base of the Lias, both in England and in Würtemberg, and well known to collectors as the "Bone-bed" of Aust Cliff, &c. (Wond.p. 529), a few minutemammalianteeth have been discovered by M. Plieninger at Diegerloch, near Stuttgart, Würtemberg. They appear to have belonged to one or more small Insectivorous quadrupeds, and have been described by Plieninger and Jäger. Sir C. Lyell, in the Prefatory Note to his Manual, 1852, fully treats of these interesting and most ancient mammalian remains, and gives several exact figures of the teeth.

STONESFIELD MAMMALIA.

Fossil Mammalia of Stonesfield.[760]Lign.265. (Bd.pl. ii.Ly.p. 268.Wond.p. 510.)—The best known examples of the fossil remains of mammalia in the Secondary formations, and, excepting the teeth just mentioned, of the highest antiquity, according to our present knowledge ofthe earth’s physical history, are several mutilated lower jaws with teeth, of some very small animals, which are supposed to belong to insectivorous marsupial quadrupeds.[761]

[760]See Owen’sBrit. Foss. Mam.pp. 29-70, figs. 15-20; andPetrifactions, p. 401,et seq.[761]A small mammalian vertebra from Stonesfield is in Mr. Morris’s collection, and has been figured by Mr. Bowerbank,Quat. Geol. Jour.vol. iv. pl. i. fig. 4, and pl. ii. fig. 6.

[760]See Owen’sBrit. Foss. Mam.pp. 29-70, figs. 15-20; andPetrifactions, p. 401,et seq.

[761]A small mammalian vertebra from Stonesfield is in Mr. Morris’s collection, and has been figured by Mr. Bowerbank,Quat. Geol. Jour.vol. iv. pl. i. fig. 4, and pl. ii. fig. 6.

Lign. 265. Lower Jaws of Mammalia;nat.Great Oolite.Stonesfield.Fig.1.—Phascolotherium Bucklandi.The right branch of the lower jaw, seen from within, with seven grinders, one canine tooth, and three incisors.2.—Amphitherium Broderipii. The left branch of the lower jaw the inner side; the incisor and canine teeth are wanting The upper figures are enlarged views of three molar teeth.(Geol. Trans.2d ser. vol. vi. pl. vi.)

These most important organic remains have all been found in the oolitic calcareous flag-stones of Stonesfield: deposits which, as we have already had occasion to notice, teem with other relics of great interest. Two specimens of the natural size are representedLign.265, and will serve for reference to the collector who may visit that interesting locality.

The existence of undoubted mammalia in the secondary formations was first made known by Dr. Buckland (in 1823), who, upon the authority of Cuvier, stated that the two specimens then discovered at Stonesfield belonged to marsupials allied to the Opossum (Didelphys). These fossils were the left branches of two lower jaws; both were imbedded in the stone by the external surface, the inner side only being exposed. One of the specimens has ten molar teeth in a row; the other (the beautiful fossil,fig.1,Lign.265, now in the British Museum,) has seven molars, one canine tooth, and three incisors. Five other specimens have since been found.[762]

[762]SeeBrit. Foss. Mam.pp. 15-70, for ample details of their anatomical characters, and physiological relations.

TheAmphitheriumhad thirty-two teeth in the lower jaw, that is, sixteen on each side; it is presumed to have been insectivorous, and to have belonged to theplacentalmammalia. ThePhascolotheriumhad four true molar teeth, and three or four false molars, one canine, and three incisors in each branch of the lower jaw; and closely approximates tomarsupialgenera now restricted to New South Wales and Van Diemen’s Land. It is, indeed, as Professor Phillips first remarked, an interesting fact, that the other organic remains of the British Oolite correspond with the existing forms now confined to the Australian continent and neighbouring seas; for in those distant latitudes, theCestracionts,Trigoniæ, andTerebratulæinhabit the ocean, and theCycadeæandAraucariæflourish on the dry land (Wond.p. 894).

Thus we have evidence of the existence of the Marsupial order during the Secondary and Tertiary formations, a proof, as Dr. Buckland observes (Bd.p. 73), that this order, instead of being, as was once supposed, of more recent introduction than other orders of mammalia, was, in reality, the most ancient condition under which animals of this class first existed in the earlier geological epochs, and was coexistent with many other orders throughout Europe in the Eocene period; while its geographical distribution in the existing fauna is restricted to North and South America, and to New Holland, and the adjacent islands.

VII. Fossil Carnivora.—The fossil bones and teeth of numerous species ofCarnivora, the order comprising the mammalia which prey on other animals, of which theWeasel, Bear, Cat, Dog, &c. are examples, abound in fissures and caverns, in conglomerated rocks, and in drifted sand and gravel. The remains of the colossal Pachyderms, the Mastodons and Elephants, lie buried, for the most part, as we have previously shown, in the superficial alluvial deposits; but the Carnivora, although occasionally entombed with the Herbivora in superficial gravels and loams, are principally found imbedded in the floors of extensive caverns.[763]In many instances, such immense quantities of bones and teeth of individuals of all ages, and belonging to but one or two species, occur in certain caves, as to render it probable that these were for a long period the dens of the extinct species of Bears, Hyænas, &c. whose bones they enclose.

[763]Rep. Brit. Assoc.1842, sect. p. 62. For an account of the ossiferous caves of the Brazils, seePetrif.p. 483.

Another remarkable geological condition in which fossil bones of Carnivora occur, is that of an ossiferous conglomerate, orbone-breccia; that is, a conglomerate formed of fragments of limestone and bones, cemented together into a hard rock by a reddish calcareous concretion. This breccia is found in almost all the islands on the shores of the basin of the Mediterranean Sea; as for example, at Gibraltar, Cette, Nice, Cerigo, Corsica, Palermo, &c. The most celebrated of the bone-caves are situated in Franconia, and in many parts of the Hartz. That of Gailenreuth has long been known for its fossil treasures, which principally consist of the bones and teeth of two extinct species of Bears. One of these is equal in size to a large horse, and is termedUrsus spelæus(Bear of the Caverns); and skeletons have been found of all ages, from the adult to the cub but a few days old (seeWond.pp. 176, 177). There are numerous caverns in the neighbouring district, some of which are equally rich in the remains of Carnivora.[764]Similar fossils are alsofound in the consolidated gravel and drift in various parts of Germany, and in the fissures of rocks containing iron-ore, at Kropp, in Carniola.

[764]A highly interesting account of the Ossiferous Caves of the Hartz and Franconia, by Sir Philip Grey Egerton, Bart, was published in 1834,Geol. Proc.vol. ii. p. 94. See also Captain Montagu’s notice of the Sophienhöhle further on, at p. 820.

BONE-CAVERNS.

Even in Australia, caves with ossiferous breccia are numerous; but the bones belong to extinct marsupial animals of genera still existing in the country (seeRep. Brit. Assoc.1844;Petrif.p. 133; andWond.p. 188). In England, several caverns presenting similar phenomena have been discovered. That of Kirkdale, near Kirby Moorside, Yorkshire, is well known from the celebrity it acquired by the graphic illustration of its contents by Dr. Buckland.[765]This cave, or rather fissure, for its dimensions were too limited to merit the name of cavern, was situated in oolitic limestone; it was two hundred and fifty feet long, from two to fourteen high, and six or seven wide. The floor was occupied by a bed of indurated mud, covered over with a thick crust of stalagmite; the roof and sides being invested with a similar calcareous sparry coating, as is commonly the case in all fissures in limestone rocks.[766]From this cave were obtained numerous bones of Hyænas, associated with bones, more or less fractured, of Tiger, Bear, Wolf, Fox, Weasel, Elephant, Rhinoceros, Hippopotamus, Horse, Deer, Ox, Hare or Rabbit, Mouse, Water-rat, and fragments of skeletons of Ravens, Pigeons, Larks, and Ducks. Many of thebones exhibited marks of having been gnawed, and crushed by the teeth of some animals. From all the facts observed, and which are detailed by Dr. Buckland with his wonted graphic power, it is inferred that the cave was inhabited for a considerable period by Hyænas; that many of the remains found there were of individuals carried in and devoured by those animals, and that in some instances the hyænas preyed upon each other. The portions of bone referable to the elephant seem to prove that occasionally the large mammalia were also obtained for food; but it is probable that the smaller animals were either drifted in by currents of water, or fell into the chasm through fissures now closed up by stalactitical incrustations.

[765]Dr. Buckland’s celebrated work, "Reliquiæ Diluvianæ," contains an admirable description of these caverns and their contents, with numerous plates. The student, in consulting this volume, must separate thefactsfrom the diluvial theory, which, at the period of its publication (1823), they were supposed by Dr. Buckland and other eminent geologists to confirm.[766]For a general description of the cave at Kirkdale, seeWond.p. 179; and for details,Reliq. Diluv.pp. 1-19. The ossiferous caves at Kirkdale, Torquay, and Banwell are noticed,Petrif.p. 482.

[766]For a general description of the cave at Kirkdale, seeWond.p. 179; and for details,Reliq. Diluv.pp. 1-19. The ossiferous caves at Kirkdale, Torquay, and Banwell are noticed,Petrif.p. 482.

Kent’s Cave, near Torquay, Oreston Cave, near Plymouth, and several other caves in Devonshire, have yielded great numbers of bones and teeth of Carnivora and Pachydermata (seeReliq. Diluv.p. 67).

Kent’s Holeis the most productive ossiferous cavern in England, and its vicinity to Torquay renders it of easy access. An extensive collection of teeth and bones was obtained from this cave by the late Rev. J. MacEnery, comprising, in addition to the usual extinct Carnivora, skulls and teeth of Badger (Meles taxus), Otter (Lutra vulgaris), Pole-cat (Putorius vulgaris), Stoat or Ermine (P. erminius), &c. A selection of the choicest specimens in this collection is deposited in the British Museum.

In Glamorganshire, two large caverns, called Goat’s Hole, and Paviland Cave, containing numerous bones of Bear, Hyæna, Wolf, Fox, Rhinoceros, Elephant, &c., are situated in a lofty cliff of limestone, between Oxwich Bay and the Worm’s Head, on the property of Earl Talbot, fifteen miles west of Swansea (Reliq. Diluv.p. 82).

FOSSIL CARNIVORA.

In the western district of the Mendip Hills, in Somersetshire, there are several ossiferous fissures and caves. The most interesting are those of Hutton, on the northernescarpment of Bleadon Hill; and of Banwell, lying about a mile to the east of Hutton. They contain remains of two species of bear, one (Ursus spelæus) of immense size and strength; and of Tiger, Hyæna, Wolf, Fox, Deer, Ox, and Elephant.[767]

[767]See a Memoir "On the Caverns and Fissures in the Western District of the Mendip Hills," by the late Rev. D. Williams. Proc. Royal Society, June 2, 1831, p. 55.

From the caves at Hutton, the Rev. D. Williams obtained the milk-teeth and other remains of a calf-elephant, about two years old, and those of a young tiger, just shedding its milk-teeth; also the grinders of a young horse, that were casting their coronary surfaces; and remains of two species of hyæna.

But one instance of the fossil bones of Carnivora has been observed in the south-east of England. It occurred in a fissure in a quarry of sandstone at Boughton, near Maidstone; among other bones, the lower jaw of a Hyæna (see Frontispiece of Vol. I.), with the teeth, was obtained.[768]

[768]SeeMag. Nat. Hist.1836, vol. ix. p. 593; andQuart. Journ. Geol. Soc.vol. vii. p. 383.

In the modern silt of our alluvial districts, the remains of carnivorous animals, formerly indigenous to this island, are occasionally met with; and the skeleton of the Brown Bear (a species which inhabited Scotland eight centuries ago), and of the Wolf, whose extinction is of a yet later date, have been discovered. The Woodwardian Museum at Cambridge contains an entire skull of the Brown Bear (Ursus arctos), found in the Manea Fen of Cambridgeshire;[769]in an ancient fresh-water deposit, near Bacton, in Norfolk, the right lower jaw of the Bear of the Caverns (Ursus spelæus), has been discovered;[770]and the phalangeal bone of a large Bear has been found by Mr. J. Brown in the pleistocene deposits atCopford, Essex, with the remains of Beaver, Elephant, Stag, &c. (Geol. Journ.vol. viii. p. 187.)

[769]A beautiful lignograph of this specimen is given inHist. Brit. Foss. Mam.p. 77,fig.24.[770]Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam. p. 89.

[769]A beautiful lignograph of this specimen is given inHist. Brit. Foss. Mam.p. 77,fig.24.

[770]Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam. p. 89.

Thus the remains of fossil Carnivora discovered in England comprise several kinds of Bear[771](including the two species of the caverns of Germany,U. priscusandU. spelæus), and of Tiger, Hyæna, Wolf, Fox, &c.

[771]Petrif.p. 398. In thePict. Atlas, pl. lxxiii., is a good figure of a large Bear’s tooth. Teeth of Bear, Tiger, Hyæna, and Arvicola, are figured inLy.p. 161.

Although we cannot dwell on foreign localities of Carnivora, I may mention that the lacustrine pliocene formation of Œningen occasionally yields fine remains. A splendid specimen, obtained from that locality by Sir R. I. Murchison, displays almost the entire skeleton of a Fox-like animal, theGalecynus Œningensisof Prof. Owen.[772]

[772]SeeGeol. Trans.2d ser. vol. iii. pl. xxxiii.; andQuart. Geol. Journ.vol. iii. p. 55.

TheSeal, which is one of the marine carnivorous mammalia, also occurs in a fossil state in England. A femur of a species ofPhocahas been found, with the remains of a Monkey and Bat, in a tertiary deposit in Suffolk. In the tertiary strata of Malta an extinct species of Seal has also been discovered. In the bone-beds of New Zealand my son frequently found bones and teeth of Seals, probably of the species now inhabiting the South Pacific. (Petrif.p. 130.)

Of theInsectivora, the fossil remains of several genera occur. In England, the jaw with teeth of a large species of Mole (namedPalæospalax,[773]ancient mole), has been discovered in a lacustrine deposit at Ostend, near Bacton, on the coast of Norfolk, associated with bones of Elephant, Deer, Roebuck, and Beaver. This animal must have been as large as a hedgehog. The only part of the skeleton hitherto obtained is a portion of the left side of the lower jaw, containing six molars; its natural affinities have therefore been inferred from the characters of the crowns of the teeth.

[773]Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam.p. 25.

FOSSIL CHEIROPTERA AND QUADRUMANA.

TheCheiroptera(hand-wings) orBats, are mammalia which have the power of flight, from the bones of the phalanges or fingers being enormously elongated and giving support to a fine membranous expansion; they are rarely found fossil, although, from their habits of haunting and hybernating in fissures and caves, their skeletons often occur mingled in the earth of the floor of caverns, and imbedded in crannies of rocks, with bones of extinct animals.

The remains of a considerable portion of the skeleton of one species of Bat was discovered by Cuvier in the gypsum of Montmartre,[774]and another example in a gypseous deposit, at Köstritz, in Germany, with remains of extinct species of other mammalia. Two instances of British fossil Bats are recorded;[775]the one from Kent’s Cavern, collocated with the extinct Carnivora, and referred to the Horse-shoe Bat (Rhinolophus); the other from Kyson, in Suffolk, found in the same deposit with the remains of the Monkey, presently to be noticed.

[774]Discours sur les Révolutions de la Surface du Globe, par Baron G. Cuvier, 4to. 1826, pl. ii.fig.1.[775]Rep. Brit. Assoc.1842, andBrit. Foss. Mam.pp. 11-18.

[774]Discours sur les Révolutions de la Surface du Globe, par Baron G. Cuvier, 4to. 1826, pl. ii.fig.1.

[775]Rep. Brit. Assoc.1842, andBrit. Foss. Mam.pp. 11-18.

VIII. Fossil Quadrumana, or Monkeys.—The illustrious Cuvier, when commenting on the extraordinary fact, that among the innumerable fossil relics of the mammalia which peopled the continents and islands of our planet, through the vast periods comprehended in the tertiary formations, no traces ofManor of his works occur, emphatically remarked, that it was a phenomenon not less surprising, that no remains of the quadrumanous races, which rank next to Man in physical conformation, should have been found in a fossil state; and that the circumstance was the more remarkable, because the majority of the mammalia found in the younger and older tertiary strata have their congeners at the present time in the warmest regions of theglobe; in those intertropical climates where the existing quadrumana are almost exclusively located.[776]

[776]Discours sur les Révolutions de la Surface du Globe, p. 171.

Fossil Ape of France.—But the remains of this order have at length been discovered in the most ancient of the tertiary deposits, and under circumstances which admit of no doubt as to the antiquity of the fossils or the strata in which they were imbedded; and almost at the same time in France and in the Sub-Himalayas; and very recently in the Brazils and in England. The first European specimen was discovered at Sansan, near Auch, about forty miles west of Toulouse, by M. Lartet, with remains of the Rhinoceros, Deer, Antelope, Palæotherium, &c. It consists of the lower jaw, almost complete, with all the teeth, of an adult animal, of an extinct species, related to the long-limbed and tailed monkey, calledSemnopithecus, of which the Negro Monkey is an example. A fragment of another jaw has been found in the same locality.

Fossil Monkey of the Sub-Himalayas.—In the inexhaustible mine of fossil bones, discovered by British Officers in India, the upper jaw of an Ape was found by Messrs. Baker and Durand, and fragments of other jaws and some bones were subsequently collected by Dr. Falconer and Captain Cautley. These relics conjointly established the existence of a gigantic quadrumanous animal in the groves of India at the Eocene epoch, when the gigantic Tortoise, the lofty Sivatherium, and the colossal Mastodon tenanted the plains, and Hippopotami frequented the marshes and rivers. This fossil Ape also is related to theSemnopithecus.

Fossil Monkey of South America.—Dr. Lund, the eminent Danish naturalist, to whose indefatigable researches, and successful determination of the colossal Edentata, we have previously alluded, has discovered the bones of agigantic Ape, four feet in height, related to the Capuchin Monkey, in the ossiferous breccia of the caves of Brazil.

British Fossil Monkeys,Ly.p. 202.—The first fossil relic of a quadrumanous animal from the British strata was obtained in 1839, from a bed of Eocene sand, at Kyson, a few miles east of Woodbridge, in Suffolk, by W. Colchester, Esq. The first specimen found consisted of a small fragment of the right side of the lower jaw, with the last molar tooth entire in its socket; another relic is the crown of one fang of the first molar tooth, of the same species. These relics have been referred to an extinct species of Monkey, related to theMacacus, which has been namedMacacus eocænus, in allusion to the geological age of the stratum in which the remains were discovered.[777]In this Eocene sand have also been discovered the remains of a Bat (p. 813), and of a Marsupial (Didelphys, p. 805), and numerous fish-teeth (Lamna, p. 594); whilst in the clay overlying this sand were found the vertebra of a Serpent (Palæophis, p. 738) and several teeth of a Pachyderm (Hyracotherium, p. 791). Prof. Owen in theHist. Brit. Foss. Mam.p. xlvi. figures and briefly notices the relics of another species ofMacacus, from the newer pliocene, or pleistocene, brick earth at Grays, Essex.

[777]Owen, British Fossil Mammalia, p. 1, figs. 1, 3.

Fossil Human Bones.—In the Swabian Alps, human teeth and several perfect human skulls are said to have been found in deposits in which elephantine remains also occur. This subject was brought before the meeting of the German Association for the Advancement of Science at Tubingen, by Fraas and Jäger, and, if correctly reported, naturally leads to the conclusion that human beings were contemporaneous with the extinct elephants and some of the other large pachydermata in the regions referred to.

ON COLLECTING FOSSIL MAMMALIA.

On Collecting and Developing the Fossil Remains of Mammalia.—But few directions for the developing andrepairing of the fossil remains of mammalia will be required in this place, the suggestions already offered, and particularly those in vol. i. pp. 45-49, embracing full instructions on this head.[778]On the method recommended in p. 46, for strengthening the friable bones of the large mammalia, I may observe, that thedrying-oilis prepared by boilinglithargein oil, in the proportion of one ounce of the litharge to a pint of oil.

[778]Cement.—The following formula was given me by an eminent collector and developer of fossils:—Gum mastic, one ounce;Rectified spirit of wine, sufficient to dissolve it.Isinglass, one ounce, soaked in water until soft; then dissolve it in pure rum or brandy until it is in the state of stiff glue: add to this a quarter of an ounce of gum ammoniacum, well rubbed and mixed.Put the two solutions together in an earthen vessel, over a gentle heat; when thoroughly melted and united, put the mixture into smooth, well-corked bottles.Use.—Immerse the bottle in hot water until the cement is sufficiently liquid for use.

[778]Cement.—The following formula was given me by an eminent collector and developer of fossils:—

Gum mastic, one ounce;

Rectified spirit of wine, sufficient to dissolve it.

Isinglass, one ounce, soaked in water until soft; then dissolve it in pure rum or brandy until it is in the state of stiff glue: add to this a quarter of an ounce of gum ammoniacum, well rubbed and mixed.

Put the two solutions together in an earthen vessel, over a gentle heat; when thoroughly melted and united, put the mixture into smooth, well-corked bottles.

Use.—Immerse the bottle in hot water until the cement is sufficiently liquid for use.

The search for fossils of this class is attended with much less certainty of success than for other animal remains. In the following list, page 818, the localities most likely to be productive are enumerated; but we have no caverns, as in Germany, so rich in remains of this kind as to ensure the discovery of specimens by the casual visitor; for the treasures of the most productive cave, that of Banwell, are prohibited; the proprietor carefully preserving every fragment. A short residence near some of the best localities and daily research are required for obtaining interesting specimens. For example, a residence at Ryde, for a search in the fresh-water tertiary limestone at Binstead; at Torquay, for Kent’s cavern; or some other town or village near the other caves in Devonshire; Herne Bay, for the London Clay at Studd’s Hill, that produced the Hyracotherium; Woodbridge or Kyson, for the Suffolk mammalia; Walton andClacton, in Essex, for remains of Elephants in the pleistocene deposits of that coast.

In searching for bones and teeth in an unexplored cave, the following suggestions by Dr. Buckland will be found of great value. Select the lowest parts in the cavern or fissure into which any mud or clay can have been drifted or accumulated; and then break through the stalagmitic crust of the floor, and dig down into the silt and pebbles, &c. below, in which bones and teeth will be found, if the spot contains any relics of this kind. As a test for distinguishing the ancient bones found in these caves from those which may have been recently introduced, the tongue should be applied to them when dry, and they will adhere in consequence of the loss of their animal gluten, without the substitution of any mineral substance, such as we commonly find in the fossil bones of the regular strata. Human bones found in caves always possess too much animal gluten to adhere to the tongue when dry.[779]

[779]Dr. Buckland on Fossil Bones of Bears in the Grotto of Osselles, near Besançon, in France.Geol. Proc.vol. i. p. 22.

Along the eastern coast of England, and often off the mouth of the Thames, the fishermen dredge up teeth, tusks, and bones of Elephants; and good specimens may sometimes be thus procured. The Ramsgate fishermen employed in trawling in the North Sea and English channel, frequently bring up in their gear fragments of fossil bones of Mammoths, and other mammalia. From the bank of the Goodwin-sands, large tusks have been procured. On the shore near Herne Bay, very fine mammalian remains are occasionally obtained. In the Museum at Canterbury, there was (and I believe is) a good collection of fossil bones of large Pachydermata procured from the neighbouring coast. It is a remarkable fact, that immense quantities of the bones of Mammoths, or fossil Elephants, are strewn over the bed of the German Ocean and English Channel.[780]The late Mr.Woodward informed me, that the teeth and tusks of Elephants collected along the Norfolk and Suffolk coasts, within his own cognizance, must have belonged to upwards of five hundred individuals.

[780]Geol. Trans.2d ser. vol. vi. p. 161.

BRITISH LOCALITIES OF FOSSIL MAMMALIA.

Bacton, Norfolk. SeeOstend.

Banwell Cave, fifteen miles from Bristol, and three from Banwell Station. Bones and teeth of Bears, Hyænas, a Felis larger than the Lion; but chiefly of Deer and Oxen.

Berry Head, Devonshire; Cave. Carnivora; as Bear, Badger, Tiger, Pole-cat, Stoat.

Binstead, near Ryde, Isle of Wight.Upper Eocene.Fresh-water limestone. Teeth and bones of Anoplotherium, Palæotherium, Chæropotamus, Dichobune.

Brighton Cliffs. Between Kemptown and Rottingdean, in the beds above the Chalk.Pleistocene.Teeth and bones of Elephant, Horse, Deer, Oxen; jaw of a Whale.

Copford, Essex.Pleistocene.Elephant, Stag, Ox, Beaver, Bear, &c.

Crayford, Kent.Pleistocene.Elephant, Horse, &c.

Easton, a mile and a half north of Southwold. Mastodon tooth, and Carnivora.

Folkstone, Kent.Pleistocene.On the top of the west cliff and in the valley; bones of Elephant, Hyæna, Hippopotamus, Ox, Horse, Stag, &c. (Quart. Geol. Journ.vol. vii. p. 257.)

Grays, Essex.Pleistocene.Elephant, Monkey, &c.

Harwich, Essex.Pleistocene.Elephant’s teeth, &c.

Herne Bay. InLondon Clay; Hyracotherium, Chæropotamus. InPleistocenedeposits; Elephant, Whale.

Hoe, near Plymouth, raised Beach at.Pleistocene.Elephant, Rhinoceros, Bear, Deer, Whale, &c.

Horstead, Norfolk.Pleistocene.Mastodon tooth.

Hutton Caves, near Banwell, Somersetshire. Carnivora, Pachydermata, &c. See p. 783.

Isle of Man.Pleistocene.The gigantic Irish Deer (Cervus megaceros.)

Kent’s Cave, near Torquay. The most productive of the British ossiferous caverns (see p. 813). Bear, Badger, Tiger, Wolf, and other Carnivora; Rhinoceros, Elephant, and other Pachydermata.

Kirkdale, by Kirby Moorside, Yorkshire (see p. 783). I know not if any accessible part of this celebrated cave remains.

Kyson, near Woodbridge, Suffolk. On the side of the river Deben, about a mile from Woodbridge, in the parish of Kyson (Kingston). The strata consist of, 1. Red crag, the uppermost. 2. London clay, about twelve feet. 3. White and yellow sand. In this lower Eocene bed the relics ofMonkey,Didelphys, andBat.

Manea Fen, Cambridgeshire.Pleistocene.Skull of Bear.

Newbourn, Suffolk.Pleistocene.Mastodon tooth. Leopard.

Newbury, Berks.Pleistocene.In the peat and shell-marl, Boar, Ox, Roebuck, Stag, Beaver, Wolf, Ass, &c.

Norwich.Pleistocene.Mammoth’s teeth and bones.

Oreston Cave, near Plymouth. Carnivora, Wolf, Bear, Hyæna, &c.

Ostend, near Bacton, on the coast of Norfolk. In a lacustrine deposit of dark clay and greenish sand, with charred trunks and branches of trees. A section presents—1. Uppermost: Drift. 2. Black earth, with shells. 3. Reddish sand. 4. Norwich crag, in patches. 5. Chalk. Nos. 2 and 3 are lacustrine; and in these Pleistocene beds have been found Gigantic Mole (Palæospalax), Elephant, Deer, Roebuck, fossil Beaver (Trogontherium), jaw of Bear (Ursus spelæus). See Hist. Brit. Foss. Mam. p. 85.

Paviland Cave, fifteen miles west of Swansea; between Oxwich Bay and the Worm’s Head, Glamorganshire. Rhinoceros, Mammoth, Hyæna, Wolf.

Plymouth. Caverns near elevated Beach, at the Hoe. Elephant, Rhinoceros, Bear, &c.

Postwick, near Norwich.Pleistocene.Tooth of Mastodon.

Seafield, Isle of Wight.Upper Eocene.Palæotherium.

Southbourn, Sussex.Pleistocene.The plain of alluvial mud and clay, called the "Wish:" a section seen on the sea-shore between the Sea-houses and the foot of the chalk hills. Elephant, Hippopotamus, Deer, Horse, Ox.

Southwold, Suffolk.Pleistocene.Elephant, Rhinoceros, Horse, Deer, Mastodon: Otter, in Red Crag.

Stonesfield, near Woodstock, Oxfordshire.Great Oolite.The only known locality in England of remains of mammalia of the Secondary period. See p. 805.

Studd Hill, a mile westward of Herne Bay.London clay.Hyracotherium.

Swansea (Paviland Cave, near). See Paviland.

Wirksworth, Dream Cave. A perfect skull of Rhinoceros; in Dr. Buckland’s museum, at Oxford.

Woodbridge, Suffolk. At Kyson, near Woodbridge.Eocene.Teeth of Monkey, &c.

Note.—For notices of the occurrence of Mammalian Bones at Betchworth, Brighton, Dover, East Bourn, Folkstone, Maidstone, Marden, Peasemarsh, the valley of the Wey, Stonesfield Slate, Thames Valley, &c., seeQuart. Journ. Geol. Soc.vol. vii. (consult Index). Of foreign localities, Tibet, Upper Punjab, Siwalik Hills, Vichy, &c., are also referred to in the same volume.

BONE CAVES IN FRANCONIA.

⁂ Captain Willoughby Montagu having favoured me in 1844 with an account of the state of the principal caves in Franconian Switzerland, which he had lately visited, the subjoined extract may be useful to the continental traveller. The cave ofSophienhöhleappears to be highly interesting; the stalactites remaining uninjured, and the ossiferous floor in the state in which it was discovered; whilst the much-frequented caverns have been stripped of every relic by the spoliations of visitors during the last century and a half.

"The northern part of Bavaria, which is denominated 'Franconian Switzerland,' is situated about the centre of a triangle, formed between Bamberg on the N.W., Bayreuth N.E., and Nuremberg S.; the best road from this latter city diverging beyond Erlangen to the north.

"The nearest route from London is through Belgium, from Ostend or Antwerp, by the line of railroad which (since October, 1843) passes on from Liege and Verviers, by Aix-la-Chapelle to Cologne. Thence by steam up the Rhine, by Coblentz to Mayence, and again by railway to Frankfort. In summer there are steam boats up and down the Maine, as far as Wurzburg, daily, and higher up, between Schweinfurt and Bamberg, which latter distance is performed in eight hours going up. and five down. Or there is a diligence (eilwagen) from Frankfort direct to Nuremberg, from which place (or Bamberg, &c.) a carriage must be hired to Muggendorf, the principal village of that interesting district. It lies about half way on the post road between Erlangen and Bayreuth, and has two tolerable country inns; the people are civil, and moderate in their charges, at least for the freshest trout and good wine of Bavaria.

"This charming spot and neighbourhood attracts not only the geologist and lover of the picturesque, but also the angler, who findsexcellent fishing in the clear, rapidly-winding streams of the Wiesent, with its tributary waters, all of which are romantically placed in the suddenly deep dales of this table-land. The Wiesent flows through Forchheim into the Regnitz, westward, and this into the Maine, north.

"As to the time necessary to get there, during the summer days it would only require one to pass through Belgium to Aix, including the transit of this frontier into Prussia, with slight search of baggage. Then, in between four and five hours to Cologne, where the steamers generally wait for the arrival of these trains; and, taking the first boat up, it is possible to reach Bingen (if not Mayence late) the same evening. From Frankfort, by diligence, starting at 11A.M., and travelling all night, Nuremberg may be reached on the second day; and the centre of operations, about Muggendorf, on the fifth from quitting the sea-coast. In returning by the Maine,—from Wurzburg to Mayence maybe performed in one long day, and then on the Rhine, the descent being much quicker than the upward course against the streams, the return homewards may be accomplished in one day less.

"The nearest way to Ostend is by the South-Eastern Railroad to Dover, and embark for Belgium.

"The newly-discovered cave, calledSophienhöhle, lies on the right bank of a streamlet, which gives its name to a romantic and rocky valley,Ahorn-thal, and flows S.W. toward Gösweinstein, until it falls into the Wiesent. The situation of the cave is near Klaustemerhöhle, and opposite to Ludwigshöhle: and it is far easier of access than Gailenreuth, and may be inspected by ladies with the greatest facility. An intelligent female showed us through its lofty and interesting details. This cave is nearly 300 feet wide, and 150 feet in height. The quantity of fossil bones strewed about the floor was very great, notwithstanding many of the finest specimens had been removed, and were to be seen in the neighbouring castle of Count S——; added to this, the long, pendant curtains of stalactite, and the stupendous size of the cavern, contributed to make it appear to me far surpassing in interest that near Gailenreuth, calledZoolithen-Höhle, which I had visited the day before. The keys of this cavern—for this, as well as the other celebrated caves, is locked up, to guard against depredations—are kept at the large farm or steward’s house, hard by. The state of the weather prevented our visiting Forstershöhle (Forest Cavern), which lies further N.E. beyond the little town of Weischenfeld, near Zeubach; but which, we were informed, was equal in interest to this of Sophienhöhle. The tourist desirous of visiting this interesting district, will find Mr. Murray’s Handbook of Southern Germany an excellent guide: I can vouch for its accuracy."

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