Z OF THE CAVE AT KIRKDALE. 



to 6x a date later than the deluge to the Hyena'* 

 den at Kirkdale, and to conclude their inhabiting it 

 has been since that great revolution. 



The oolitic limestone beneath the floor of the cave 

 is full of the spoils of marine animals; spines of e- 

 chini, ammonites, pectens, muscles, oysters, turhi- 

 nated shells and others of various descriptions, are 

 found here, and in other places of the solid rock. I 

 have an oyster's shell from Cockshot-hill, near 

 Kirkbv-Moorside, with the enamel on the inside of 

 the valve as perfect as when the tish was in it ; and 

 in those places where the edges of the rock have 

 Jong been exposed to the action of the elements, 

 the stone being softer than the shells has been de- 

 composed, and left the shells projecting on the edges 

 of the rock, displaying their internal structure in 

 all the perfecti on of modern shells, presenting to 

 view their chambers and septa, the stony matter 

 having been separated from them ; which he w that 

 they are real shells, and not the mere sport of nature. 

 We rind also fossil wood in similar situations. I 

 have a piece which I brought from Deepdale, near 

 Kirkby-Moorsitle, exhibiting the circles of growth, 

 and giving proof of its being fossilized wood. 

 These things prove the recent formation of that 

 rock in which these remains are found, and that 

 it must have been produced since the primitive 

 rock, as there was then no vegetables nor animals, 

 to be mixed with the earth. Tni* formation, there- 

 fore we assign to the action ot the wateis upon the 

 earth, when the crust of it was broken op ; then 

 this cave or perforation in the rock was made, and 



