38 ON RAINS CAVE, LONGCLIFFE, DERBYSHIRE. 



regions. The result is that while the forehead is broad it is some- 

 what low. When viewed from above, the broad forehead tends to 

 give an oblong character to the skull, rather than the egg-shape of the 

 Haddon Fields long skull described in the last volume of the Journal. 

 The sutures are quite open on the outer table, and partially so on the 

 inner ; this, together with a certain glossiness of the bone, and the 

 moderate wear of the teeth, points to its owner as of early middle life. 

 The jaw, if the fragment alluded to does belong to this skull, is massive 

 and decidedly masculine ; other details point to the latter conclusion. 

 The nasals have a remarkable forward spring — indicating a pronounced 

 " Roman " nose. So far as the writer can recollect, this skull is 

 similar to one from Longlow, in the Bateman collection at Sheffield. 

 It has been suggested that a plate of this skull should be introduced, 

 but when this cave is properly excavated, the missing fragments of this 

 and the other skulls may be found, hence it is better to defer the illus- 

 trations. Several measurements are here given — 



Greatest width ... ... ... 55 in. 



Minimum frontal width ... ... ... y]6 in. 



Maximum „ ,, ... ... ... 5 in. 



Frontal arch ... ... ... ... 575 in. 



Height of orbit ... ... ... ... i"3i in. 



Height of face (nasal suture to alveolar margin) ... 2-75 in. 



All the above, together with other fragments are ancient ; the or- 

 ganic matter has disappeared, and only the mineral constituents of the 

 bone are left. But it is otherwise with several fragments of another 

 skull, evidently that of a powerful youngish man. These fragments are 

 so new-looking that it is difficult to think that more than a century 

 can have passed since they were clothed with flesh and endued with 

 life. How came they in the cave ? Do they explain some mysterious 

 disappearance that was once " all the talk " of the district ? Are they 

 the silent witnesses of some terrible tragedy? 



Unfortunately the positions and circumstances of these remains 

 were not noted, hence many valuable inferences are lost. It is 

 evident from the number of missing parts, that much of the skeletons 

 still remain in the cave. Fragments of at least six have been found 

 in the bone-heap — there being jaws, whole or in part, for that number 



