have sometimes been given of this effect. Considering how much fuel is required to consume a corpse, it is impossible to suppose that, in these cases, the combustion is occasioned by the inflammable nature of alcohol, or of hydrogen, which may be supposed to be evolved; and again, the ordinary products of the combustion of animal matter is a very spongy, black, shining charcoal, fetid, and incinerating only at a very high temperature, whilst in spontaneous human combustion the temperature produced is so low as not to inflame neighbouring bodies.

M. Julia de Fontenelle, therefore, considers this case of combustion to depend upon a very advanced and putrid degeneration of the system, which suddenly produces very combustible substances at the expense of the muscular fibre, &c. and these inflaming, spontaneously, (by means of the opposite electricities, &c.) cause the resulting effect. This degeneration is considered as presenting a perfect analogy with vegetable putrid fermentation and putrefaction. The putrefaction of vegetables is known to occasion the developement of so much heat as sometimes to cause their inflammation.

These human combustions do not depend upon the combination of the oxygen of the atmosphere, because, 1st., there is not sufficient heat evolved; 2nd., there is not the production of a charcoal requiring a high heat for its incineration; 3rd., there are no ammoniacal products formed. The effects appear to depend altogether upon a new arrangement of the elements previously existing in the human body.-Bull. Univ. C. xv. 245.

26. Method of stopping Hæmorrhage from Leech-bites.-Occasionally leech-bites, left to themselves, bleed excessively, even so much as to endanger life; and cases have occurred where all the usual means of stopping the issue of blood, when tried, have failed. The Marquis Ridolfi then says, that the application of the cupping-glass to the point from which the blood escapes is always successful. He uses a very small glass when the hæmorrhage proceeds from a single bite, and a larger one when it issues from several near to each other. Almost immediately on the application of the glass the blood forms a clot over the bite, which suspends the hæmorrhage. The formation of this clot takes place with great 'facility, even in subjects in whom the blood is very thin and aqueous. The glass is allowed to remain on for a few minutes, until the integuments become tumefied. Care must be taken in removing it not to disturb the coagulum, as only the fluid part of the blood should be emptied, and the glass is to be applied again and again, until the hæmorrhage has completely ceased.-Med, Rep. ii. 75.

27. Arabian Mode of curing Fractured Limbs.-The Orientals will never consent to have a limb cut off. Their practice is to lay the limb upon an oiled mat, after reducing the bones, and the

inclose it in a case of gypsum, or plaster of Paris, an operation which they perform much in the same way as is practised by statuaries to take the cast of a limb. They first pour the plaster of Paris under the limb, until it rises to such a height as to touch the whole lower surface, filing up all inequalities, so as to form a sort of bed, placing, at the same time, a few hollow reeds at proper distances, and in such positions as to serve to conduct away, through the plaster, any fluid that might collect in the gypsum case, from the wounds, &c. When this becomes firm, which it does in a very short time, the limb is next covered with the same plaster of Paris, so as to inclose it completely, and, on hardening, to form a light case, or plaster boot, to keep the parts in as natural a position as possible. They next make a sort of furrow, or channel, in the soft plaster, on the upper surface, to receive such vulnerary fluids, during the treatment, as they think conducive to the cure, and which filter through the gypsum, to humect the leg at pleasure. To render this upper shell more easily removed or changed during the cure if necessary to examine the state of the parts, &c., they make deep incisions into the soft plaster, both lengthwise and across, though not quite through, by means of which the upper case is removed without disarranging the limb. The firmness of the lower part, or bed, makes the removal of the whole boot practicable, should such a measure at any time be found expedient.

It will be remembered that Baron Larrey has lately practised a somewhat similar mode of treatment for fractured limbs with much success. The Baron does not make use of a case of plaster of Paris, but surrounds the limb with bandages which have been soaked in some glutinous matter, which forms nearly as firm an envelope as plaster of Paris.-Med. Journ. xxxii. 175.

28. On some New Species of Fossil Hyenas, discovered in the Cavern of Lunel Viel, near Montpelier. By MM. Jubes de Crietol and A. Bravard.-Among the fossil animals, the hyæna is one of those which has been most frequently met with in the superior strata of the tertiary formations. They have been found in France, England, Germany, Hungary, Italy and Switzerland, most frequently in the caverns which were their former dens. In some places the number of the individuals of this species is truly surprising; still more than one species has not hitherto been met with, and upon that M. Cuvier bestows the name of the fossil hyæna. This hyæna, the strongest and the largest which ever existed, approached, as appears from the dimensions of its skeleton and the form of its teeth, the hyæna of the Cape, the spotted hyena, which is also the largest and most fierce of the living ones; the fossil species, however, surpass it considerably. A second species of living hyena, smaller and less strong than the Cape hyæna, is the hyæna of the Levant, the striped hyena, which had not as yet been found in a fossil state. M. Cuvier insists principally upon this circumstance, when he says, "All the heads and lower jaws of hyænas from Germany, England, and

France are of one and the same species, and contain teeth altogether similar to that which, I may say, is applicable to them all.' Professor Buckland, who has had greater opportunities than any other person of examining fossil hyænas, has, likewise, stated that the striped one is never met with in a fossil state, so that it was not without astonishment he saw the one we showed him. We have, in fact, met with the striped hyæna, or at least a species very nearly allied to it, in the cavern of Lunel Viel, which it formerly inhabited, as well as the fossil hyæna, a denomination now insufficient, since there are at least two species of fossil hyænas; we say, at least two species, for it appears to us that there exists a third; but prior to examining the motives which induce this belief, we must detail the characters which enable us to recognize the striped fossil hyæna.

Although the skeleton of the Cape hyæna and that of the Levant have nearly the same specific characters, still there are sufficiently decided differences to distinguish one from the other: the head and the teeth, for example, offer sufficiently sure characters; but among the teeth, one in particular carries with it a certain decisive mark, sufficient of itself alone to distinguish the Cape from the Levant hyæna: it is the last molar of the lower jaw, called la carnassiére, and that is the very one which we found in a fossil state. The difference between these molar teeth in the two species is this: in the Cape, as in the fossil hyæna, this molar has two cutting lobes (Fig. 1.) and a tubercle at its posterior part; in the striped living hyæna, and in the individual of this species, which we found in a fossil state, (Fig. 2.) this last inferior molar has also two cutting lobes, but the tubercle behind is larger; and beside, an essential character, which is wanting in the hyæna of the Cape and in the fossil one hitherto known, is, that the posterior lobe has at the base of its interior face a prominent tubercle (a), which is found only in the striped living hyæna and in the analogous fossil one. Here, in our opinion, are very simple and easily distinguishable characteristics, which sufficiently prove the existence of a new fossil hyæna, which we shall denominate the striped fossil hyena, or hyana of Montpelier, in opposition to the received names of striped living hyæna, or hyæna of the Levant. We have sufficient grounds, as has been seen, for connecting our hyæna with the striped one, but we do not, on that account, absolutely declare it to be the same species; we only think it is to this last it ought to be inferred, rather than to any other, on account of the identical character of the teeth, which it is known are among quadrupeds what is most constant, and least subject to the variations so frequent in the colour of their skins and in their dimensions.

As for habits, it is probable, they must be the same with those of hyænas of the present day, only, on account of its greater height and strength, it may be presumed it was more formidable, and, perhaps, was not contented with devouring the putrid carcases of other animals, but even fiercely attacked them; for the modern hyæna, in

spite of its voracity, is so great a coward, that, according to Dr. Sparmann, it is only in extreme cases it will contend with a common dog of the African planters. "Altogether, voracious as it is," says this traveller, "it dares not attack, openly, either oxen, cows, or horses, nor any other large animal, as long as they seem disposed to resist, and evince no sign of fear; but, on the other hand, it has the art to attack them unexpectedly, uttering at the same time a strange and horrible cry. It is well known," he adds, “that in dark nights they are met with round the butcheries of the Cape, where they devour the bones, the skins, and all that is thrown there, carrying away with them what they are unable to eat. But this very gluttony of the hyæna, and its disposition to consume all that comes in its way, is it not a striking instance of the prudent economy of nature? The flowery plains of the Cape would soon become hideous, and strewed with the carcases of the innumerable animals which pasture and die there in such rapid succession, if nature had not visibly charged the hyæna to clear the stage. I might have said the hyæna alone, for the lions and the tigers never eat the bones, and are not fond of carcases. We may add to these observations, that the hyæna, in spite of its astonishing voracity, is capable of supporting hunger for a long time; the cowardice with which it attacks living animals also announces that it is destined to hasten the end of every animal worn out by age, or sick, or lame; to consume the other remains and refuse of the animal kingdom; but that it is not designed to destroy the animals necessary for the propagation of their species." This description will show that the bones accumulated in the cavern of Lunel Viel, having the evident marks of teeth , prove the habits of the hyæna of Montpelier to have been the same as those of the animal at the Cape of Good Hope, and that, like these last, they carried away and devoured the bones of every other sort of animal. The great quantity of their excrements in this cavern proves that they lived there, and that, as in Africa, they carried thither the carcases of elephants, rhinoceroses, wild boars, and stags, which inhabited the country round. They inhabited caves like those now existing. Buffon states that the hyæna takes up its abode in dark caverns, and

*

These marks are so well preserved and so perceptible in some pieces, that it may be known by what species of tooth they were bit. Thus traces of the incisors, the false molars, and the carnassières may be recognised. The teeth, which were not worn down, have left on the bones marks which resemble the stamp of a conical sharp punch. The traces of the incisors are like grooves, or parallel furrows; they are seen only in the spongy parts of the bone. The false molars, worn and mutilated at their point, have produced prints shaped like small stops, or semicircles, which succeed each other, because these molars, by compressing the bones, made at first many consecutive round holes, which holes finished by dividing into two portions where the tooth pierced into the bone more deeply. The carnassières, the last of the molars, left marks similar to what the repeated blows with a chisel would have done, cutting in the same place. Mr. Buckland, who examined them with us, found them exactly resembling what he had seen in other caverns, and what are at present taken by living hyænas. His experiments on this subject are too well known for us to detail them here.

in the clefts of rocks. Besides it is now the opinion of most philosophers, of Mr. Buckland and M. Cuvier in particular, that these hyænas lived in the caverns wherein they are found to be buried. Relative to the bones of caverns M. Cuvier writes, "All these bones and these teeth are accumulated on the ground, broken and gnawed, and on them are even found traces of the teeth by which they were broken. Likewise excrements, which have been recognised as perfectly similar to those of the hyæna, have been found there. The most abundant deposit of hyæna bones that has been seen is the cavern of Kirkdale, in Yorkshire, where their number is marvellous. It is found, nevertheless, that the habits of this ancient hyæna resemble those of the modern one; and Mr. Buckland has happily applied to his cavern of Kirkdale this passage of Busbequius, which seems to describe it. "Sepulchra suffodit, extrahitque cadavera, portatque ad suam speluncam, juxta quam videre est ingentem cumulum ossium humanorum veterianorum et reliquorum omne genus animalium." If the hyænas of Kirkdale have not heaped up human bones with those of the many herbivorous animals of which their cavern is full, it is because they found neither dead nor living men in their vicinity; and this fact may be considered as an additional proof that our species did not dwell with the animals, which I now bring to light." We may apply this remark to the cavern of Lunel Viel, which, visited by men well versed in anatomy, has never disclosed any human remains. But, nevertheless, as in other caverns, the animals found there resemble more nearly those now alive; they date from an epoch posterior to the age of the paleotheriums and anoplotheriums, to which there are at present none analogous, and the discovery of hyænas, similar to the modern ones, also confirm the principle laid down by M. Cuvier, that in the caverns the carnivori approach more nearly than elsewhere those now upon the earth. The causes then were, doubtless more similar to those now operating; and a single revolution separates that epoch from the one in which we live. It is in, fact, to this last revolution of the globe that the immense inundation, which partially filled the caverns and the clefts in the calcaire grossier (London clay,) and oolite formation, which are found in almost every part of Europe, with mud and gravel, must be attributed. These extensive currents have left in the environs of Montpelier very considerable deposits which may be easily recognised; a loose bed, a diluvial stratum which has not been covered by any other; a calcareous earth, argillaceous, of a light red colour, which is found on the surface, and abounds in flints, gravel, calcareous and quartz pebbles, from a chain of mountains which border the Mediterranean. At Cette, this diluvium rests on the oolite formation, and penetrates the clefts of the dolomite, which forms the lower part of the mountain of Cette, where it is hardened by the stalactites, and forms the osseous fissures described by M. Cuvier. Around Montpelier it rests on the upper marine formation, and the upper fresh-water calcareous formation;