54 Notes on WiltsJdre Geology and, Paleontology. 



river gravels^ and cave earths, and the brick clays and loams, in all 

 of which are found abundantly the remains of mammalia, now ex- 

 tinct. Within a mile-and-a-half of Bradford I have found in the 

 gravels near the railway Eleplias primigenius, Ovibos moschatus, now 

 known only within the Arctic circle, Rhinoceros, &c., whilst in the 

 illustrative Blackmore Museum, at Salisbuiy, Reindeer, Marmot, 

 Lemming, and other Arctic genera may be seen. The works of man 

 indicate his advent at this period, but we still desire a fuller know- 

 ledge of early man himself. This will, without doubt, come. But 

 I have detained you too long, and will conclude by saying that the 

 Oolitic table-lands of this district indicate the very latest periods of 

 intense cold which this county experienced. Fresh water deposits oc- 

 cupied the summits of the hills around. This is only to be accounted 

 for by periodic accumulations of frozen snow in the long winters. 

 As these melted the water passed down through the numerous fissures 

 to be found in the great Oolite, filling them, as is often the case, with 

 an ochreous muddy deposit, carrying with it the bones of animals of 

 a more recent period than those previously referred to, whilst large 

 glaciers were also detached from the sides of the valleys to melt in 

 the lower levels, carrying with them moraine materials derived from 

 the higher grounds. The fissures referred to often contain the bones 

 of animals of this later period. Thus at least 200 feet above our 

 present rivers I have repeatedly found Arvicola or Water Rat. At 

 Monkton Farleigh at one spot I found about half a cart-load of the 

 dismembered bones of Frogs. At Combe Down I found the entire 

 skeleton of two horses, and at Box, 60 feet below the surface, the 

 limb bones and vertebrae of Bison, which, though now extinct, lived 

 on to these later times. 



