Page:Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 31.djvu/78

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32
J. PRESTWICH ON THE QUATERNARY PHENOMENA

32 J. PPvESTWICH ON THE QUATERNARY PHENOMENA It was in the lower part of this deposit that the mammalian remains were found. I am informed that they were extremely numerous, and that a very large number of teeth of elephant were obtained at the time ; but, with the exception of the few specimens preserved by Capt. Clifton, and the specimens sent to the Geological Society, I have been unable to trace any of them. They are, with few exceptions, in a very fragmentary state. Mr. Busk, who has had the kindness to examine them, reports that " They include a well-marked molar of Elephas antiquus and frag- ments apparently of a large molar of E. primigenius. " The remainder appear to belong to the horse (fig. 1), and, from the pattern of the teeth, of the ancient form termed Equus fossilis by Owen (Br. Foss. Mamm. p. 383), characterized by the somewhat greater plication of the enamel folds — a distinction perhaps of no very great importance, but showing a tendency towards the still more complicated pattern of Eq. plicidens, probably another form, from the Oreston fissures. " In his account of the Bruniquel cave, Professor Owen calls a very similar form Eq. spelceus. " The third figure of the three (fig. 1, c) very closely represents that shown in fig. 7. pi. 57 of the Bruniquel memoir. Eig. 1. — Teeth of Horse (Equus fossilis?). a, b. Upper molars. c. Lower molar. fi In condition all the bones appear to be of extreme antiquity ; and they are more abundantly infiltrated and coated with oxide of manganese than any I remember to have seen." Besides some species which cannot be determined, the list consists of:— Slephas antiquus. Equus spelaeus ? Elephas primigenius ? Cervus. Equus fossilis ? Bos. The pebbles and mammalian remains were confined to the small area before named in the Admiralty quarries ; but the red loam may be traced from the tank in the Verne, at a height of 450 feet, to the old quarry opposite the new prison church, where it is at a level of 360 feet — a distance of five sixths of a mile. I could not find a