248 Dr Mantell's Illustrations of the Connexion 



of animals, yet the circumstances under which such colloca- 

 tions have occurred have generally, upon a rigid examination, 

 failed to establish the synchronism of the human and quad- 

 rupedal remains. Assemblages of this nature have been 

 observed in various ossiferous caverns in England, and on 

 the Continent, and in South America. It will suffice for 

 my present purpose to select the following instance, which 

 has lately been communicated to the Geological Society of 

 London, because it presents an epitome of the various facts 

 which bear on this problem. 



Every one knows that near Torquay, in Devonshire, there 

 is a chasm or fissure in the limestone strata, named " Kent's 

 Hole," which has long been celebrated for the quantities of 

 fossil bones belonging to extinct species of bears, hyenas, 

 lions, tigers, &c., that have from time to time been dug up 

 from its recesses. These remains occur in a bed of reddish 

 sandy loam, which covers the bottom of the chasm, or cavern, 

 to a thickness of twenty feet. The teeth and bones are for 

 the most part in an excellent state of preservation. The 

 principal chasm is 600 feet in length ; and there are several 

 lateral fissures of less extent. A bed of hard, solid stalagmite, 

 from one to four feet thick, is spread over the ossiferous 

 loam,^nd covered with a thin layer of earth, with here and 

 there patches of charcoal mixed with human bones, and 

 coarse earthen vessels. 



On breaking through the sparry floor, the red loam, con- 

 taining teeth and bones, is brought to view ; and imbedded 

 in itf and at a depth of several feet, and intermingled with re- 

 mains of extinct bears and carnivora^ there have been dis- 

 covered several flint knives, arrow and spear heads, and 

 fragments of pottery. The stone implements are of the kind 

 usually found in early British tumuli, and doubtless belong 

 to the same period ; yet here they were unquestionably 

 collocated with fossil bones of immense antiquity, and be- 

 neath the impermeable and undisturbed floor of the cavern 

 which was entire till broken through by the exploration that 

 led to the exhumation of these relics. This discovery gave 

 rise to many curious speculations, because it was supposed 

 to present unequivocal proof that man, and the extinct car- 

 nivora, were the contemporary inhabitants of the dry land, 



