ON RAINS CAVE, LONGCLIFFE, DERBYSHIRE. 



235 



these stalagmites dijiped and died out towards the central region, 

 passing belOw the charcoal layer in doing so. 



From this date we were decidedly more fortunate. The 

 foot-strips below these stalagmites were rich in both animal 

 and human bones, potsherds, charcoal, and flints of no great 

 interest. On March 13th our work brought us to the entrance 

 (below F, Plan) of the small N.E. cave, the passage to which, it 

 will be remembered from the first report, was small and descending. 

 We now found that the floor of this passage was the surface of a 

 huge fallen block. It fell previous to the accumulation of most of 

 the soil we had so far dug into, and had dammed it back from 

 the small cave, which otherwise must have been filled up. On its 

 under-surface is (for most of this block is still in situ) a thick 

 layer of stalagmite, formed while it was part of the side of the 

 cave. The water now drips from the roof above, and, by the date 

 we are dealing with, had given rise to a rather large stalag- 

 mitic boss on its apex. But of greater interest was the discovery 

 at this point of the general bedding of the floor deposits. 



Figs. 5 and 6. 



One result of our diggings in the right region was to leave a 

 vertical section along the middle line of the higher ground on the 

 left. Towards the end of the cave this face presented a succession 

 of four distinct deposits ; and having now the clue we could 

 readily trace them forwards for a considerable distance, becoming 

 more and more indistinct and (except the lowest bed, which we 

 never cut through) thinner. A fair idea of these deposits may be 

 obtained from the Section we have already more than once referred 

 to. But it must be remembered that this Section is diagrammatic, 



