1859.] Mr. Petigelly on Ossiferous Caverns of Devonshire. 149 



the lambent blue flame of the latter element was visible for some time 

 after the circuit was completely broken, and the ferruginous scintilla- 

 tions had ceased. The other metals occasionally found in meteorites, 

 such as cobalt, zinc, or lead, will of course burn with their distinct 

 flames ; and the silicates, though incapable of combining with oxygen, 

 may give out an intense light when strongly heated. This was demon- 

 strated by placing the fragment of the meteoric stone that fell at 

 Triguerre in the oxy-hydrogen blowpipe, when it began to fuse, and 

 became brilliantly incandescent. In all these observations on the 

 colours displayed by them there is nothing antagonistic to the idea 

 that these luminous meteors are produced, as some have certainly been, 

 by the combustion of such solid masses of metal and stone as occasion- 

 ally strike the earth ; but we are not yet in a condition to deduce its 

 composition from the colour of any particular meteor. 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING, 



Friday, May 21, 1859. 



The Lord Wensleydale, Vice-President, in the Chair. 



William Pengelly, Esq. F.G.S. 

 On the Ossiferous Caverns and Fissures of Devonshire. 



The limestone districts of Devonshire abound in caverns. These are 

 of three kinds, chambers, tunnels, and shafts ; their walls being either 

 lined, angular, corroded, or eroded. 



The following caverns were briefly noticed by Mr. Pengelly : — 

 the Pixies' Hole at Chudleigh, the Chudleigh "Cavern," the Ug- 

 brooke fissures, the Ogwell Cavern, the caverns at Buckfastleigh, 

 Oreston, Yealmpton, and Ansty's Cove, near Torquay ; the celebrated 

 Kent's cavern, also near Torquay ; the " Ash Hole," near Brixham ; and 

 finally, the recently discovered cavern on Windmill-hill, Brixham. 



In November 1837, some waste lands on Windmill-hill, Brixham, 

 were sold, when a small piece was bought by a dyer named Philp, 

 who immediately commenced quarrying, with the intention of building 

 upon it. In January 1858, the workmen came upon a hole, at first only 

 the size of a man's hand, but which soon became large enough to per- 

 mit Mr. Philp to enter. He proceeded as far as fifty feet, and brought 

 out bones, of which he forthwith made an exhibition, and thereby 

 attracted the attention of local geologists. The cavern was speedily 

 visited by Sir R. I. Murchison, Drs. Falconer and Percy, Professor 

 Ramsay, Mr. Prestwich, and other eminent geologists. The Royal 



Vol. III. (No 30.) m 



