96 NATU^Afc HISTORY OF 



been opened by quarrymen, at Oreston, near Plymouth, 

 several of which had bones, such as of Elephant, Rhino- 

 ceros, Ox, Horse, Hyaena, and abundant coprolite, de- 

 noting, that they had been the dens of Carnivora. 

 Among them we detected the upper portion of a 

 humerus of man, which was immediately thrown away 

 upon being pointed out to the possessor ! * Other caverns 

 exist in the Plymouth Hoe; and, no doubt, also be- 

 neath the present level of the sea, for several teeth of 

 Elephants have been washed up by the surf. Other 

 deposits have been found at Yealm bridge, and most 

 of the bones applied to mend the roads, before scientific 

 men had notice of the discovery. Those at Kitley, we 

 believe, have not been disturbed ; but eastward, human 

 bones, with their usual accompaniments, have been 

 collected from a cave near Brixham, by the Rev. Mr. 

 Lyte and Mr. Bartlett. There were, in this deposit, 

 shreds of pottery, like those of the caverns of Bize, in 

 France; and it is said the locality bore evidence of 

 smoke, which renders it probable, that it had once been 

 inhabited by troglodyte savages. Fragments of pottery 

 were discovered by Captain M'Adam, in the escarp- 

 ment of calcareous breccia, at least 200 feet above the 

 level of the sea, and about 100 beneath the vertex, five 

 miles north of Monte Nuovo, near Naples; and not 

 within the sphere of action, when that crater rose out 

 of the earth. 



* This is not the only instance of the kind. Collectors, 

 in the plenitude of ignorance and prepossession, determined 

 that human bones were of no consequence. See Appendix. 



