GEOLOGY. 285 



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It would thus appear that the human remains from the Bruniqucl 

 cave stand high in the scale of organization, and do not exhibit the 

 features of an inferior or transitional type. 



Exploration of Caverns in the Province of Perigord, France. 

 Within a comparatively recent period the existence of certain caves, 

 ri'.-h in fossil remains, has been ascertained in the Province of Peri- 

 gord, France. They occur chiefly on the banks of tributaries of the 

 river Dordogne (which reaches the sea a little north of Bordeaux). 

 During the past year one of these caverns, namely, that of Eyzies, 

 was bought by Messrs. Lartet and Christy, the well-known geologists, 

 and carefully explored. 



These gentlemen divided the floor of the cave into compartments, 

 and, with a generosity worthy of all praise, they have sent specimens 

 of the blocks thus obtained, weighing 500 Ibs. and upwards to the 

 principal museums in Europe. 



The floor of this cavern was found to consist of a compact mass of 

 earth, charcoal, flint weapons and tools, bones, needles, &c. which have 

 been hardened into a solid agglomerate, chiefly by the action of the 

 calcareous droppings from the roof of the cave. This agglomerate, or 

 breccia, as it is technically styled, formed an artificial floor to the cave of 

 various thicknesses, from three inches to ten inches. In fact, the evidence 

 seems complete that the cave in question was for many years the abode 

 of an ancient people, who were accustomed to throw down, or leave upon 

 the floor, the bones and other remnants of their feasts, very much in the 

 manner of the Esquimaux and other savages of the present day. With 

 these, weapons and industrial implements naturally became mingled. The 

 animal bones found, were, as in the cave of Bruniquel, principally those 

 of the reindeer. 



At some period subsequent to the human occupancy of the cavern a 

 flood has rushed through it, bringing in its course, and leaving in the cave, 

 a number of boulder stones. These have been fixed to the artificial floor 

 of breccia by the slow but unfailing mason, the droppings from the chalk 

 strata overhead. 



Messrs. Lartet and Christy from their explorations of this cave announce 

 the following conclusions : That a variety of the human race inhabited 

 the caves in the region since called Perigord at the same time as the 

 reindeer, the aurochs, and other animals which are now only found in ex- 

 treme latitudes ; that this people had no knowledge of the use of metals, 

 their only arms arid tools being either of broken and unpolished flints, or 

 of bones or horns of animals ; that they lived *upon the produce of the 

 chase and by fishing ; that they had no domesticated animal, neither dog 

 nor cat, else some portions of the bones and sinews that have been found 

 would have been gnawed, and some remains of the dog would have been 

 discovered ; and that they were clothed in skins, which were sewn with 

 bone needles and string made out of the sinews and tendons of the legs 

 of their prey. 



Exploration of a Cavern containing tlie Remains of Man and ex- 

 tinct Animals in tlie Pyrenees. During the past year also Messrs. 

 Garrigou and Martin, two French naturalists, have published the result of 

 their exploration of a cavern called Espelugues, situated in the Commune 

 of Lourdes and the department of the Hautes Pyrenees. From their 

 report we derive the following particulars : 



