it was suddenly destroyed by the deluge, or by some other great
catastrophe of nature, or whether it was ultimately exterminated
by the continued and successful persecution of its pursuers, as
has nearly been the case with the red deer within the recollection
of many of the present generation, I profess myself unable to form
any decided opinion, owing to the limited number of facts as yet
collected on the subject. On some future occasion I may, perhaps,
be induced to revert to so interesting a topic, should I have
opportunities of discovering any thing worthy of communication.
The following Table exhibits a comparative view of the measurements
of different parts of the skeletons of the Cervus Megaceros in
the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society, and in the Royal Museum
of the University of Edinburgh, with some parts of the Moose. The
measurements of the Edinburgh specimen are taken from Professor
Jameson’s memoir on _organic remains_, in the Supplement to the
Encyclopedia Britannica.
|R. D. Soc. |U. of Edin.| Moose
HEAD. | Ft. In. | Ft. In. | Ft. In.
| | |
Length of the head, | 1 8½ | 1 8¼ |
Breadth of the skull between | | |
the orbits. | 0 10½ | 0 9 |
Do. of skull at the occiput, | 0 8 | |
Diameter of the orbit, | 0 2⅜ | 0 2½ |
Distance between infra orbitar | | |
holes across the skull, | 0 7 | |
Length of alveolar processes | | |
of the upper jaw, | 0 6 | 0 6 |
Length of lower jaw, | 1 5½ | 0 3½ |
Diam. of foramen magnum, | 0 2 | |
| | |
HORNS. | | |
| | |
Distance between the extreme | | |
tips, measured by the skull, | 11 10 | |
Ditto, in a straight line | | |
across, | 9 2 | 6 8 | 3 7
Length of each horn, | 5 9 | 5 1 |
Greatest breadth of the palm, | 2 10 | |
Length of the beam, | 1 9 | | 0 6½
Ditto of brow antler, | 0 8¾ | |
Ditto of sur-antler, | 1 4 | |
Circumference of the beam | | |
at root of brow antler, | 1 0¾ | | 0 7½
| | |
BODY. | | |
| | |
Length of spine, | 10 10 | 9 8 |
Ditto of sternum, | 2 4 | |
Height to the upper extremity | | |
of the dorsal spines, | 6 6 | |
Ditto to the highest point | | |
of the tip of the horn, | 10 4 | |
| | |
EXTREMITIES. | | |
| | |
Greatest length of the scapula,| 1 6½ | |
Ditto breadth at the base, | 0 10¾ | |
Ditto depth of its spine, | 0 2¾ | |
Length of the humerus, | 1 4 | 1 3½ |
Ditto of ulna and radius, | 1 8 | 1 6 |
Ditto of carpus, | 0 2¾ | 0 2 |
Circumference of do., | 0 9½ | |
Length of metacarpus, | 1 0½ | 1 0½ |
Length of phalanges, | 0 7 | 0 6½ |
From anterior superior spine | | |
of one ileum to that of | | |
the other, | 1 4½ | 1 6½ |
From anterior superior spine | | |
to the tuber ischii, | 1 8 | 1 9½ |
Greatest diameter of | | |
foramen ovale, | 0 4 | 0 3 |
Least do. of do., | 0 2¾ | 0 2¼ |
Length of the femur, | 1 6½ | 1 5½ |
Ditto of tibia, | 1 6 | 1 6 |
Length of the tarsus, | | |
including the os calcis, | 0 8 | |
Ditto of the metatarsus, | 1 1¾ | 1 1¾ |
2. _Account of the Two Living Species of Elephant, and of the Extinct
Species of Elephant, or Mammoth._
1. ELEPHAS AFRICANUS.--_The Elephant with rounded skull, large ears,
grinders, having rhomboidal-shaped marks on their crown, which we
call the African Elephant_ (_Elephas Africanus_), is a quadruped
which has hitherto been found only inhabiting Africa. There can
be no doubt that it is this species which lives at the Cape, at
Senegal, and in Guinea; there is reason to believe that it also
occurs at Mosambique; but it is not certain that individuals of the
following species do not occur in this part of Africa. A sufficient
number of individuals have not been figured or compared, to know if
this species presents remarkable varieties. It is it that produces
the largest tusks. Both sexes are equally furnished with tusks, at
least at Senegal. _The natural number of the hoofs is four before,
and three behind._ The ear is very large, and covers the shoulder.
The skin is of a deep and uniform brown. This species has not been
domesticated in modern times. It appears, however, to have been tamed
by the ancients, who attributed to it less power and courage in
that state than to the following species; but their observations do
not appear to have been confirmed, at least in so far as refers to
magnitude. Its natural manners are not perfectly known; yet judging
of them by the notices of travellers, they appear to resemble in
every thing essential those of the following species.
2. ELEPHAS INDICUS.--_The Elephant with elongated skull, concave
forehead, small ears, grinders marked with undulating bands_, which
we call the _Indian Elephant_ (_Elephas Indicus_), is a quadruped
which has only been observed with certainty beyond the Indus. It
extends from both sides of the Ganges to the Eastern Sea and the
south of China. They are also found in the Islands of the Indian Sea,
in Ceylon, Java, Borneo, Sumatra, &c. There is still no authentic
proof that it exists in any part of Africa, although neither is the
contrary absolutely proved. The inhabitants of India having from
time immemorial been in the habit of taking this species and taming
it, it has been much better observed than the other. Varieties have
been remarked as to size, lightness of form, the length and direction
of the tusks, and the colours of the skin. The females and some of
the males have tusks which are always small and straight. The tusks
of the other males never attain so great a length as in the African
species[430]. _The natural number of the hoofs is five before and
four behind._ The ear is small, frequently angular. The skin is
commonly grey, spotted with brown. There are individuals entirely
white. The height varies from fifteen to sixteen feet. Its manners,
the mode of taking it, and of treating it, have been carefully
described by many travellers and naturalists, from Aristotle down to
Mr Corse Scott.
3. ELEPHAS PRIMIGENIUS, Blum, or MAMMOTH.--_The Elephant with
elongated skull, concave forehead, very long alveolæ for the tusks,
the lower jaw obtuse, the grinders broader, parallel, marked with
closer bands_, which we name the _Fossil Elephant_ (_Elephas
primigenius_, Blum.), is the _Mammoth_ of the Russians. Its bones
are only found in the fossil state. No person has seen in a fresh
state bones resembling those by which this species is peculiarly
distinguished, nor have the bones of the two preceding species been
seen in the fossil state.[431] Its bones are found in great number
in many countries, but in better preservation in the north than
elsewhere. It resembles the Indian more than the African species. It
differs, however, from the former in the grinders, in the form of
the lower jaw, and many other bones, but especially in the length
of the alveolæ and tusks. This last character must have singularly
modified the figure and organisation of its proboscis, and given it a
physiognomy much more different from that of the Indian species, than
might have been expected from the similarity of the rest of their
bones. It appears that its tusks were generally large, frequently
more or less spirally arcuate, and directed outwards. There is no
proof that they differ much according to differences of sex or
race. The size was not much greater than that to which the Indian
species may attain; it appears to have been still clumsier in its
proportions. It is already manifest from its osseous remains, that
it was a species differing more from the Indian, than the ass from
the horse, and the jackal and isatis from the wolf and fox. It is not
known what had been the size of its ears, or the colour of its skin;
but it is certain that, at least, some individuals bore two sorts
of hair, namely, a red, coarse, tufted wool, and stiff black hairs,
which, upon the neck and along the dorsal spine, became long enough
to form a sort of mane. Thus, not only is there nothing impossible
in its having been able to support a climate which would destroy the
Indian species, but it is even probable that it was so constituted
as to prefer cold climates. Its bones are generally found in the
alluvial and superficial strata of the earth, and most commonly in
the deposits which fill up the bottom of valleys, or which border
the beds of rivers. They scarcely ever occur by themselves, but are
confusedly mingled with bones of other quadrupeds of known genera,
such as rhinoceroses, oxen, antelopes, horses, and frequently with
remains of marine animals, particularly conchiferous species, some of
which have even been found adhering to them. The positive testimony
of Pallas, Fortis, and many others, does not allow us to doubt that
this latter circumstance has frequently taken place, although it is
not always observed. We ourselves have at this moment under our eyes
a portion of a jaw covered with millepores and small oysters.
The strata which cover the bones of elephants are not of very great
thickness, and they are scarcely ever of a rocky nature. They are
seldom petrified, and there are only one or two cases recorded in
which they were found imbedded in a shelly or other rock. Frequently
they are simply accompanied with our common fresh water shells. The
resemblance, in this latter respect, as well as with regard to the
nature of the soil, between the three places, of which we have the
most detailed accounts, viz. _Tonna_, _Cantstadt_, and the _Forest
of Bondi_, is very remarkable. Every thing, therefore, seems to
announce that the cause which has buried them, is one of the most
recent of those that have contributed to change the surface of the
globe. It is nevertheless a physical and general cause; the bones of
_fossil elephants_ are so numerous, and have been found in places so
desert and even uninhabitable, that we cannot suppose that they had
been conducted there by man. The strata which contain them and those
which are above them, shew, that this cause was aqueous, or that it
was water that covered them; and in many places these waters were
nearly the same as those of our present sea, since they supported
animals nearly the same. But, it was not by these waters that they
were transported to the places where they now are. Bones of this
description have been found in almost every country that has been
examined by naturalists. An irruption of the sea that might have
brought them from places which the _Indian elephant_ now inhabits,
could not have scattered them so far, nor dispersed them so equably.
Besides, the inundation which buried them has not risen above the
great chains of mountains, since the strata which it has deposited,
and which cover the bones, are only found in plains of little
elevation. It is not, therefore, seen how the carcases of elephants
could have been transported into the north, across the mountains of
_Thibet_, and the _Altaic_ and _Uralian_ chains.
Further, these bones are not rolled; they retain their ridges and
apophyses; they have not been worn by friction. Very frequently the
epiphyses of those which had not yet attained their full growth, are
still attached to them, although the slightest effort would suffice
to detach them. The only alterations that are remarked, arise from
the decomposition which they have undergone during their abode in
the earth. Nor can it with more reason be represented that the
entire carcases had been violently transported. In this case, the
bones would indeed have remained entire; but they would also have
remained together, and would not have been scattered. The shells,
millepores, and other marine productions which are attached to some
of these bones, prove besides that they had remained at least some
time stripped and separated at the bottom of the fluid which covered
them. The elephants’ bones had therefore already been in the places
in which they are found, when the fluid covered them. They were
scattered about in the same manner as in our own country the bones
of horses and other animals that inhabit it may be, and as the dead
bodies are spread in the fields.
Every circumstance, therefore, renders it extremely probable, that
the elephants which have furnished the fossil bones, dwelt and
lived in the countries where their bones are at present found. They
could only, therefore, have disappeared by a revolution, which had
destroyed all the individuals then living, or by a change of climate,
which prevented them from propagating. But whatever this cause may
have been, it must have been sudden. The bones and ivory which are
found in so perfect a state of preservation in the plains of Siberia,
are only so preserved by the cold which congeals them there, or
which, in general, arrests the action of the elements upon them. If
this cold had come on by degrees and slowly, these bones, and still
more the soft parts with which they are still sometimes invested,
would have had time to decompose, like those which occur in warm and
temperate countries. It would especially have been impossible that an
entire carcase, like that discovered by Mr Adams, could have retained
its flesh and skin without corruption, if it had not been immediately
enveloped by the ice which preserved it. Thus, all the hypotheses of
a gradual cooling of the earth, or of a slow variation, whether in
the inclination or in the position of the axis of the globe, fall to
be rejected.
If the present _elephants_ of _India_ were the descendants of these
ancient elephants, which have been preserved in that climate to
the present day, from their being there placed beyond the reach
of the catastrophe which destroyed them in the others, it would
be impossible to explain why their species has been destroyed in
America, where remains are still found, which prove that they had
formerly existed there. The vast empire of Mexico presented to them
heights enough to escape from an inundation so little elevated as
that which we must suppose to have taken place, and the climate there
is warmer than is requisite for their temperament.
The various _mastodons_, the _hippopotamus_ and the _fossil
rhinoceros_ lived in the same countries, and in the same districts,
as the _elephants_, since their bones are found in the same strata
and in the same state. Yet these animals very assuredly no longer
exist. Every thing therefore, Cuvier maintains, concurs to induce a
belief that the _fossil elephant_ is, like them, an extinct species,
although it resembles more than they one of the species at present
existing, and that its extinction has been produced by a sudden
cause, by the same great catastrophe which destroyed the species of
the same epoch.
3. _On the Great Mastodon, or Animal of the Ohio._
It appears that the _Great Mastodon_ or _Animal of the Ohio_,
was very like the elephant in its tusks and whole skeleton, the
grinders excepted; that it very probably had a proboscis; that
its height did not exceed that of the elephant, but that it was a
little more elongated, and had limbs somewhat thicker, with a more
slender belly. Notwithstanding all these points of resemblance, the
peculiar structure of its grinders is sufficient to constitute it
of a different genus from the elephant. It further appears, that it
fed much in the same manner as the hippopotamus and boar, choosing
by preference the roots and other fleshy parts of vegetables; that
this sort of food must have drawn it towards the soft and marshy
places; that, nevertheless, it was not formed for swimming, and
living often in the water like the hippopotamus, but that it was a
true land animal. Its bones are much more common in North America
than any where else. They are even perhaps exclusively confined to
that country. They are better preserved, and fresher, than any other
fossil bones known; and, nevertheless, there is not the slightest
proof, the smallest authentic testimony, calculated to impress a
belief that either in America, or any where else, there is still any
living individual, for the various accounts which we have from time
to time read in the journals respecting living mastodons, which had
been observed in the forests or plains of that vast continent, have
never been confirmed, and can only pass for fables.
NOTE
ON THE CAVES IN WHICH BONES OF CARNIVOROUS ANIMALS OCCUR IN GREAT
QUANTITIES.
The extraordinary accumulations of fossil bones in caves and caverns
in different districts, especially in those composed of limestone,
have for many years engaged the attention of inquirers; and, of
late, have afforded many interesting facts to the geologist and
zoologist. In England, as will appear from the following details,
many different fossil animals have been discovered in limestone
caves; but hitherto the caves in Scotland, which will probably be
found to contain interesting documents of an ancient population, have
not been examined. As the subject is a curious and interesting one,
we shall, in the following pages, principally from Cuvier’s great
work, lay before our readers a pretty full account of the different
caves, especially those that afford bones of carnivorous animals.
* * * * *
Numerous caves, brilliantly decorated with stalactites of every form,
succeeding each other to a great depth in the interior of mountains,
communicating together by openings so narrow as scarcely to allow a
man to enter them crawling, and which are yet found strewed with an
enormous quantity of bones of large and small animals, are without
dispute among the most remarkable phenomena which the history of
fossil remains could present to the contemplation of the geologist,
especially when we reflect that this phenomenon recurs in a great
number of places, and over a very extended space of country. These
caves have been the object of research of several naturalists,
some of whom have well described and figured the bones which they
contain; and even before they were explored by the naturalist, they
were celebrated among the common people, who, according to their
custom, added many imaginary prodigies to the natural wonders which
are really observed in them. The bones which they contain were long,
under the name of _fossil unicorn_, an important article of commerce
and materia medica, on account of the powerful virtues which were
attributed to them; and it is probable that the desire of finding
these bones contributed much to the more accurate knowledge of these
caves, and even to the discovery of several of them.
The most anciently celebrated is the cave of _Bauman_, situated in
the country of _Blankenburg_, which belongs to the Duke of Brunswick,
to the south of the city of that name, to the east of _Elbingerode_,
and to the north of the village of _Rubeland_, the nearest inhabited
place, in a hill which forms one of the last declivities of the
_Hartz_ toward the east. It has been described by many authors, among
whom we shall particularly mention the great _Leibnitz_, in his
_Protogæa_, pl. i. p. 97, where he gives a map of it, borrowed from
the _Acta Eruditorum_ 1702, p. 305.
Its general direction is east and west, but the entrance faces the
north. It is very narrow, although it is under a pretty large natural
vault. The first cave is the largest. From this to the second, one
must descend by another narrow passage, at first by creeping, and
afterwards by a ladder. The difference of level is 30 feet. The
second cave is the richest in stalactite of all forms. The passage
to the third cave is at first the most difficult of all, and we have
to climb with hands and feet; but it afterwards enlarges, and the
stalactites of its walls are those in which the imagination of the
curious has pretended to see the best characterized figures. It has
two lateral dilatations, of which the map of the _Acta Eruditorum_
makes the third and fourth caves. At its extremity, we have still to
ascend, in order to arrive at the real third cave, which forms a sort
of portal. _Behrens_ says, in his _Hercynia curiosa_, that it cannot
be reached, because it would be necessary to descend more than 60
feet; but the above mentioned map, and the description of _Von der
Hardt_, which accompanies it, describe this third cave under the name
of the Fifth, and place beyond it a narrow passage, terminated by two
small grottoes. Lastly, _Silberschlag_, in his _Geogony_, adds, that
one of these grottoes leads to a narrow passage, which, descending
much, leads under the other caves, and terminates in a place filled
with water. There are still many bones in these remote and little
frequented parts. Most of those bones which are in collections from
this cave, or which have been described, are of the bear genus.
A second cave, nearly as celebrated as the former, and very near,
is that which is named, after the _unicorn, Enihornshæle_, at the
foot of the chateau of _Scharzfels_, in a part of the Electorate
of Hanover which is named the Dutchy of _Grubenhagen_, and nearly
upon the last southern declivity of the _Hartz_. It has also been
described by _Leibnitz_, as well as by _M. Deluc_, in his Letters
to the Queen of England. The entrance is 10 feet high, and 7 broad.
We descend vertically 15 feet into a sort of vestibule, the roof of
which lowers to such a degree, that, at the end of 60 feet, we are
obliged to creep. After a long passage, we come to two other caves,
according to Leibnitz; but Behrens adds three or four, and says,
that, according to the country people, we might penetrate nearly two
leagues.
_Bruckmann_, who gives a map of this cavern (_Epistol. Itin._ p.
34.), represents only five caves, arranged nearly in a straight line,
and connected by extremely narrow passages. The second is the richest
in bones; the third, which is the most irregular, has two small
lateral caves; the fifth is the smallest, and contains a fountain. Of
the bones which have been taken from it, some are in the possession
of M. Blumenbach and other naturalists; and others have been figured
by _Leibnitz_ and _Mylius_. They belong to the bear, hyena, and tiger
or lion genera.
The chain of the Hartz also presents some other caves of less
celebrity, although of the same nature mentioned by Behrens in his
Hercynia curiosa, namely,
The cave of _Hartzburg_, under the castle of the same name, above
_Goslar_ to the south. We do not know why Büsching disputes its
existence. It is true that Behrens cites J. D. Horstius erroneously,
for having seen bones of various animals taken from it; for Horstius
speaks only (_Obs. Anat. dec._ p. 10.) of the cave of _Scharzfels_.
The cave of _Ufftrungen_, in the county of _Stollberg_, to the south
of the castle of that name. It is named in the country _Heim-knohle_,
or _Hiding-hole_. Behrens thinks that fossil bones might be found in
it.
Another cave of the same neighbourhood, is named _Diebsloch, Thieves’
Hole_. Skulls have been found in it, which were supposed to be human.
We shall not speak here of those caves of the Hartz in which bones
have not been discovered. And even those in which they have been
found, are, at the present day, almost exhausted, it being only by
breaking the stalactite that any can be obtained, so much of them had
been taken away for selling as medicines.
The caves of _Hungary_ come after those of the Hartz, with reference
to the remoteness of the time at which they have been known. The
first notice of them is due to _Paterson Hayn_, (Ephem. Nat.
Cur. 1672, Obs. cxxxix. and cxciv.) _Bruckmann_, a physician of
_Wolfenbüttel_, afterwards described them at length. (_Epistola
Itineraria_, 77, and _Breslauer Sammlung_, 1725, First Trim. p.
628.) They are situated in the county of _Liptow_, on the southern
declivities of the _Carpathian mountains_. They are known in the
country by the name of _Dragons’ Caves_, because the people of the
neighbourhood attribute to those animals the bones which occur in
them, and with which they have been acquainted from time immemorial;
but all those which have been figured by authors belong to the Bear
family, and to the species which is named the _Great Cave Bear_
(_Grand Ours des cavernes_).