ADVERTISEMENT. 



THE following memoir describes the fossil vertebrates, shells, and indications of 

 human occupation discovered during the excavation of a cave in the West Indian 

 island of Anguilla. 



The remains were first obtained in 1868, and brief notices of them have been 

 made at various times since, but the publication of the full account was delayed in 

 the hope that other objects might be added to the collection. The death of the 

 gentleman who procured the specimens, and other causes having shown that no 

 further exploration was practicable, the memoir was prepared and submitted to 

 the Smithsonian Institution, for publication, in 1878. 



The other works in progress prevented the publication until the present time, 

 but the interval has been taken advantage of by the author to revise the manu- 

 script and superintend the preparation of the plates. 



The importance of the subject presented is shown by the following considera- 

 tions : 



First It is the first investigation of the life of the cave age in the West Indies. 



Second It gives the first reliable indication of the period of submergence, and 

 hence of separation of the West Indian islands. 



Third It furnishes the first evidence as to the antiquity of man in the West 

 Indies. 



Fourth It describes some very peculiar forms of animal life not previously 

 known. 



The illustrations have been made particularly full on account of the archaeolog- 

 ical interest attaching to those animals, which were probably the contemporaries 

 of the earliest men of tropical America, and in order to avoid the necessity of any 

 subsequent presentation of the same subject. 



SPENCER F. BAIRD, 

 Secretary Smithsonian Institution. 



WASHINGTON, April, 1883. 



(iii) 



