DISCOVERY OF MAMMALIAN REMAINS AT GREAT YELDHAM. 117
of the fossils themselves. It is due to the efforts of Mr. Wade and
Mr. Goodchild that these remains have been preserved, and not
destroyed like others found in this pit some years ago. Among the
specimens preserved by Mr. Wade, and those still in the hands of the
workman at the pit, we were able to detect evidence of six distinct
forms of mammals, some of which are now extinct, and are charac-
teristic of the Pleistocene Age, as the Elephant and Rhinoceros,
while others are of interest as being of somewhat rare occurrence in
beds of this age, as the Brown Bear and the Roebuck. The extinct
Ox and the Red Deer are among the commonest of Pleistocene
forms.
" The Elephant is represented by a fragment of a tooth, insufficient
for definite determination, but probably belonging to Elephas
primigenius (Mammoth). The Rhinoceros is, undoubtedly,
Rhinoceros leptorhinus ; portions of a lower jaw with grinding-
teeth have been found. The extinct Ox (Bos taurus, var. primigenius)
is almost certainly represented by some large grinding-teeth and foot-
bones ; but the characteristic skull and horn cores have not been met
with. Many fragments of the antlers and limb bones of the Red
Deer (Cervus elaphus) were among the remains, and seem to be
more abundant than those of any other species. The Roebuck
(Capreolus caprea) is shown to be present by a single antler, which is
interesting as this animal is by no means common in Pleistocene beds.
The Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) is another somewhat rare form in
beds of this age, and does not seem to have been hitherto recorded
in Essex. Although once a native of Britain, the Brown Bear appears
to have been exterminated some time before the Norman Conquest.
The four upper grinding teeth and a canine tooth of this Bear, which
have been found here, are in a perfect condition, and make one
hopeful that more complete specimens of Pleistocene mammals
will yet be met with at Great Yeldham.
" Thanks to the generosity of Mr. C. Wade, examples of all the
species above mentioned are now preserved in the Museum of
Practical Geology, Jermyn Street, London."
As regards the age of the deposits at the Great Yeldham Brickyard,
there can be no doubt that they should be classed (as Mr. Whitaker
has done in the Memoir on Sheet 47) as Post Glacial, in the sense
of being of later date than the Chalky Boulder Clay which covers
the surface of most of northern Essex, except where, in the valleys of