Page:Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 33.djvu/700

596 The Wild Cat (Felis catus ferus). Three lower jaws from the Cave-earth and one from the stratum above the stalagmite belong to the Wild Cat. One is remarkable for its massive character and large size, in which points it far surpasses any of the recent Wild Cat's with which I have had the opportunity of comparing it. The thickening of the inner alveolar border, and the implantation of the molar series in the outer edge, prove that this feline does not belong to the Felis caffer described by Mr. Sanford and myself in the Palseontographical Society's Memoirs ("British Pleistocene Mammalia," part iv. p. 121). The rest are also larger than the recent Wild Cat's, as may be seen by the following Table of measurements (in inches):—

The Spotted Hyæna (H. crocuta).—The remains of the Spotted Hyænas consist principally of jaws and teeth of all ages; and those from the Cave-earth are, for the most part, in fragments.

Two skulls, a scapula, and a cervical vertebra were obtained from the Red Sand. On a comparison of the two skulls with those of the recent H. crocuta in the College of Surgeons, which belonged to the collection made by Captain Gordon Cumming in S. Africa, I am unable to detect any points of specific value. If any thing, the larger of the two fossil skulls, possessing the sutures and teeth of the adult, is smaller than the larger of the two recent, as may be seen from the following measurements (in inches):—