38 Mr. Henry Walker's Lecture:
II.
THE MAMMOTH AND HIS COMPANIONS AT
HOME.
"Stay, you imperfect speakers, tell me more."
Macbeth, Act I., Scene iii.
The curious and heterogeneous assemblage of fossil
animals found lying together in one common grave in the
Valley of the Roding at Ilford might well perplex and
bewilder the beholder. Here on the slope of a little
tributary to the Thames, within sight of tall chimney-
stacks and railways, and within sound of the roar of the
million-peopled city, lie side by side the strangely-mingled
remains of wild, uncouth creatures of other climates and
unknown times. Some of them evidently belong to an
obsolete world. Year by year the number has been
enriched by fresh discoveries, and even now the mysterious
collection may be incomplete.
But it is time we turned our attention to the problems
these remains suggest. How shall we begin the enquiries
they force upon us? We shall do well in the first place to
look a little more closely at the list of the animals them-
selves, and see into what groups they may possibly be
resolved. The following are the species which have so far
been identified and named by our palaeontologists :—
Mammoth, or Great Hairy Elephant .. Elephas primigenius.
Southern Elephant (straight-tusked) .. Elephas antiquus.
Rhinoceros (fleece-clad, two-horned,
stout-limbed) .. .. .. .. Rhinoceros tichorhinus.
Rhinoceros (small-nosed, one-horned,
slender-limbed) .. .. .. Rhinoceros leptorhinus.
Rhinoceros (big-nosed, two-horned,
slender-limbed) .. .. .. Rhinoceros megarhinus.
Great Hippopotamus .. .. .. Hippopotamus major.
Wild Horse .. .. .. .. Equus caballus.
Irish Elk .. .. .. .. .. Megaceros Hibernicus.
Stag .. .. .. .. .. .. Cervus elaphus.
Roe .. .. .. .. .. .. Cervus capreolus.