162 CAVES AND CAVE DEPOSITS. 
tion which make a child notice things, which, as they say, it 
ought not to see, and the inquiring turn of mind which makes 
them say ‘‘ what’s that?” are habits good in themselves, and 
to be cultivated, but under discipline. In a general way the 
boy who generally picks up a fossil on the gravel walk is the 
boy who will detect the queer absolute clause which looks as if 
it didn’t belong to the rest of the sentence, or find out where 
something had gone wrong in a long calculation. By such 
considerations I would lead up to the defence of offering to the 
general public lectures on all sorts of odds and ends of know- 
ledge, simply because they tend to cultivate an enquiring turn of 
mind, from the gratification of which much innocent pleasure is 
derived, and there can be no doubt that we may pry into the 
secrets of the queer old folk who lived in the caves long ages 
ago, we may open their cupboards and find out all we can 
about them without offending anybody. 
I have selected the subject of caves, as it is one of general 
interest, and can be easily followed without any extensive tech- 
nical knowledge, while it involves the consideration of questions 
of very wide bearing—such as that of the earliest appearance of 
man in our area, at any rate, if not on the earth. Recent 
explorations in our district, and the inferences drawn by some 
of the explorers from the observations made, render this a 
fitting time to bring the matter before the Society for 
discussion. 
I propose, therefore, to give a sketch of the various kinds of 
caves and cave deposits, and to discuss their mode of forma- 
tion and the nature of the evidence upon which theories as to 
their age have been founded. 
To bring the subject clearly before you, I will describe, in 
detail, one special example where thé whole process has been 
observed by myself, and might again be watched. 
There are artificial as well as natural caves, and many natural 
caves modified by man. In quite recent times, the soft New 
Red Sandstone has been scooped out into cells and summer- 
houses. The chalk has been excavated from.very early times 
in the search for flint, and traces of sojourn in such pits are not 
wanting. We need not stop seriously to discuss the suggestion 
that Fingal’s Cave was excavated by man. The rock-hewn 
tombs around Jerusalem, the catacombs of Italy and Egypt, are 
artificial caves. 
All along the Vezére and other cliff-margined valleys in the 
South of France we see the natural caves and rock-shelters, 
modified sometimes by man, walled up and still occupied as 
store-houses, or even as dwellings. History tells us that those 
caves were frequently held by troops during the long occupa- 
tion of that part of France by the English. The Rock of 
Tayac, like Gibraltar, ‘‘a kind of fortress entirely hollowed out 
