-48 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST.. [Dec. 



The following is the method of exploration which has been 

 observed from the commencement, and which it is believed affords 

 a simple and accurate method of determining the exact position 

 of every object which has been found : — 



1st. The black soil lying or accessible between the masses of 

 limestone on the surface was carefully examined and removed. 



2nd. The limestone blocks occupying the surface of the de- 

 posits were blasted and otherwise broken up, and taken out of the 

 cavern. 



3rd. A line, termed the datum line, is stretched horizontally 

 from a fixed point at the entrance to another at the back of the 

 chamber. 



4th. Lines, one foot apart, are drawn at right angles to the 

 datum line, and therefore parallel to one another, across the 

 chamber, so as to divide the surface of the deposit into belts 

 termed parallels. 



5th. In each parallel the black mould which the limestone 

 masses covered is first examined and removed, and then the stalag- 

 mitic breccia, so as to lay bare the surface of the cave earth. 



6th. Horizontal lines, a foot apart, are then drawn from side 

 to side, across the vertical face of each section, so as to divide the 

 parallel into four layers or levels, each a foot deep. 



Finally each level is divided into lengths, called yards, each 

 three feet long, and measured right and left of the datum line as 

 an axis of abscissa. 



In fine, the cave earth is excavated in vertical slices or 

 parallels four feet high, one foot thick and as long as the chamber 

 is broad, where this breadth does not exceed 30 feet ; each 

 parallel is taken out in levels one foot high ; and each level in 

 horizontal prisms three feet long and a foot square in the sec- 

 tion, so that each contains three cubic feet of material. 



This material, after being carefully examined in situ by 

 candle-light, is taken to the doorway and re-examined by day-light, 

 after which it is at once removed without the cavern. A box is 

 appropriated to each yard exclusively, and in it are placed all the 

 objects of interest which the prism yields. The boxes, each 

 having a label containing the data necessary for defining the 

 situations of its contents, are daily sent to the honorary secretary 

 of the committee, by whom the specimens are at once cleaned and 

 packed in fresh boxes. The labels are numbered and packed 

 with the specimens to which they respectively belong, and a record 

 of the day's work is entered in a diary. 



