NoveMBER 19, 1896] 
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‘camera on the polar axis of a siderostat, and driving | 
it by clockwork. In this way each plate could be exposed | 
for forty minutes without any intervention on the part of | 
the observer; but little result was obtained, in con- 
sequence, most probably, of the great amount of dew 
that was deposited on the lens. 
Five plates exposed on the 12th, between 12h. 55m. 
a.m. and 4h. 8m. a.m.—Greenwich mean time —showed 
no trace whatever of any meteor ; and eye observations 
made during the same interval, but with occasional 
breaks, were not very fruitful as regards results, only 
about twenty meteors in all being recorded, and not even 
all these Leonids. The evening of the 14th was very 
cloudy, but towards midnight the weather cleared, and 
turned out eventually very fine. Four plates were exposed 
consecutively between th. 20m. a.m. and 4h. 20m., but 
no trail was caught, although a few trails were observed 
to pass in the range of ‘the wide- angle lens. It was 
found, however, impossible to keep the moisture away, 
although special precautions were taken on this evening 
toshield the lens. More strict attention was paid, how. 
ever, to eye observations, and an almost continuous watch 
during the interval (three hours), mentioned above, was 
not devoid of results. In all, thirty-two meteors were 
seen: nineteen of these were judged as Leonids, ten as 
Andromedes, and two as sporadic. At 2h. 37m. a.m. a 
fine meteor was observed to pass a little to the north, 
and parallel to the belt, of Orion. Five short trails of 
-distinct Leonids were observed near the radiant point. 
The most brilliant meteor of the evening, or rather of 
the morning, was that which appeared at 4h. 17m. a.m. 
Commencing in the northern part of the constellation of 
Hydra (about ¢Hydreze), it moved in the direction of Jupiter, 
passing a little tothe south of Regulus, skirting 7 Leonis, 
and vanishing near ¢ Ursee Majoris. Its trail must have 
been quite 45° in length, being brilliant with a bright 
stellar nucleus. As this meteor’s path was included in 
the region that was being photographed at the time of 
its appearance, it was a great surprise to find no sign of 
its trailon the plate. The general idea gathered from 
these two watches was that the Leonids were not more 
abundant than usual; in fact, one was surprised at the 
apparent dearth of these bodies. W. J. S. LOCKYER. 
Almost exactly at 11 p.m., on November 1896, I 
saw in the east a remarkable meteor. Castor and Pollux 
were practically in a vertical line, and the meteor ap- 
peared a short distance below Pollux, moving horizontally 
in a direction from right to left (south to north, as it were), 
z 
1 
Certainly the most interesting, because unique, cave 
yet visited by him is the “ Mouthe Cave.” It is situated 
near the hamlet of La Mouthe, in the neighbourhood of 
Saint-Cyprien, and was discovered by M. Rivitre quite 
accidentally on September 2, 1894. The cave had been 
emptied, as was thought, by the owner, M. Lapeyre, 
| forty-nine years before, and had been used as a b: urn for 
| passage was explored by MM. 
at right angles to a line produced through the stars | 
named. Curiously enough, the produced path of the 
meteor would lead to a position not far from the radiant 
point of the Leonids ; but the direction of motion was 
centripetal, not centrifugal, as regards this radiant. The 
bright head of the meteor was soon extinguished, leaving 
behind it a very beautiful evanescent trail of tiny purple 
sparks. JI saw no meteors coming from the radiant in 
Leo. GG, i. WeIIMELL. 
Cardiff. 
THE MOUTHE CAVE. 
ey a recent number of La Revue Scientifique, an 
interesting account was given by M. Riviére of his 
anthropological work in connection with the ‘‘ Mouthe 
Cave.” 
M. Riviére has done much research in this direction, | 
and chiefly in the districts of Saint-Cyprien, Bugue, and 
Montignac. He has explored and studied minutely the 
caves of Pageyral, Combarelles, and Rey, about which 
he hopes to publish a volume, as the excavations are now 
<omplete. During his work he has come across some 
very curious finds. 
NO. 1412, VOL. 55] 
| 
storing beetroot and potatoes during the severe winter 
months. The rubbish cleared out of it was thrown on 
the neighbouring fields ; it consisted chiefly of bones, 
teeth, and cut flints, but the latter only could be found 
by M. Riviere. After a lapse of half-a-century, it is not 
surprising that the other remains had decayed and dis- 
appeared in the soil. 
Returning to the cave later, in company with M. G. 
Berthoumeyrou, M. Riviere found at the furthest ex- 
tremity several quaternary hearths, quite wafouched. On 
removing a little of the soil, the explorers came across 
reindeers’ teeth and pieces of bone; also a sea-shell, 
with a small hole, as if it had once been bored for 
suspension. 
The work was not continued till the following year 
(1895), when in April, while levelling the floor, the slope 
formed by the hearths was slightly disturbed, and brought 
to light a semicircular hole, which proved to. be the 
opening to a very narrow passage. A few days later the 
E. and G. Berthoumeyrou, 
but not without great difficulty, it being little more than 
twelve inches high and twenty inches wide. The curious 
drawings, described later, were not seen till a distance of 
ninety yards had been reached. 
Later, M. Riviére had a cutting made of dimensions 
strictly necessary for reaching the drawings more easily, 
and ascertaining the different epochs at which the cave 
was inhabited. 
In the middle of July, some results of the exca- 
vations were sent to the Academy of Sciences, consist- 
ing chiefly of rubbings of a drawing of an animal 
resembling a bison or auroch. Three weeks later 
M. Riviére returned to La Mouthe, in order to commence 
a thorough and methodical exploration of the cave. All 
the earth, on being taken from the cave, was carefully 
sifted, so that nothing should be lost ; bones, teeth, and 
flints were found. The work lasted a month, and was 
taken up in March and April of this year, and again in 
August and September. 
The cave is at an altitude of about 200 yards, and 130 
yards above the railway, which is about two miles away. 
Tt is situated at the top of a hill, the semicircular 
entrance being nearly eleven yards wide and a little over 
three yards high. The hamlet of La Mouthe is about 
320 yards away, and the orientation of the cave is east- 
south-east. The rock is of very impure limestone, mixed 
with clay, and containing grains of quartz. 
The following are the results at which M. Rivicre has 
arrived concerning the age and former inhabitants of the 
cave, which has been inhabited by man at two distinct 
epochs. 
(1) At the Neolithic epoch, since the upper surface is 
formed entirely of hearths containing cinders and coal, 
with bones of animals belonging to the present geological 
epoch, numerous pieces of coarse pottery, human bones, 
of which some seem to have belonged to one person, 
besides a good number of cut flints. 
(2) At the Quaternary epoch, geologically speaking, for 
this upper surface rests on a fairly thick stalagmite which 
separates it from hearths which are much more ancient ; 
the latter fact being proved by the fauna found by M. 
Riviére (Ursus spelzeus, Hyena, &e. In this under- 
layer many cut flints were found, also weapons and 
instruments in bone. Amongst the latter may be 
mentioned a long fine needle, about six inches long, almost 
perfect ; also bones engraved with figures, and teeth, 
bored, as if once used for amulets. No pottery, however, 
