Page:A Treatise on Geology, volume 2.djvu/84

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A TREATISE ON GEOLOGY.
CHAP. VI.

rather certainly, be extended to the Irish elk, of which the perfect specimens appear to be of comparatively modern date; but various fragments, apparently of the same species, have been detected in the ossiferous caves and gravel of northern regions, which contain the mammoth and rhinoceros. It will depend upon farther research, whether this conclusion may be extended to the extinct elephant, hippopotamus, and rhinoceros, and to the living stag, ox, horse, and wolf. Concerning these latter animals, we can only affirm, that it has been found impossible to distinguish, by any constant marks, the specimens found in ancient caverns and gravel beds, from those now living in the same regions.