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NA TURE 



[June 7, 1906 



IRISH CAVE EXPLORATIONS. 



^OR knowledge of the Irish fauna in Neolithic and 

 early historic times has been greatly extended by 

 recent researches into the cave remains of Ireland. These 

 have been carried out during the past few years by a com- 

 mittee, under the auspices of the British Association and 

 of the Royal Irish Academy. Two reports on these investi- 

 gations have been published in the Transactions of the 

 latter. The first dealt with the exploration of the caves 

 of Kesh, in the county Sligo, and the second, which has 

 just been issued, with that of the county Clare caves. 

 The committee is now at work further south, in the county 

 Cork. 



The Clare caves, which are situated about thirty miles 

 from the sea coast, among beautiful surroundings, in a dis- 

 trict of crags and lakes, lie in the lands of Edenvale and 

 Newhall. Our illustration shows the entrance to two of 

 these caves (marked a and' b) in a steep ridge of rock 

 overlooking an ancient track, known as the Pilgrims' Road, 

 which leads from Ennis to Killone Abbey and the Holy 

 Well. The others lie barely a mile to the west of these. 

 All the caves have been formed by the solvent action of 

 water on the limestone in which they occur. Several of 

 them are of great extent, with complicated ramifications. 

 They are mostly about too feet above sea-level. They 

 differ from many of the great English caves in the absence 



seemed to show signs of having been artificially fractured, 

 indicate the possible contemporaneousness of man with 

 these deer, but the evidence in this case is not conclusive. 

 The bear, however, was clearly coexistent with man, and 

 probably lingered on in Ireland long after the Irish elk 

 and the reindeer had become extinct. A knee-cap of a 

 large bear, showing the incisions of a knife, was found in 

 one of the caves, and other bear bones were obtained from 

 the upper layer along with charcoal and the remains of 

 domestic animals. Unfortunately all the cave deposits had 

 been greatly disturbed by burrowing animals, such as 

 badgers and foxes, which inhabited them chiefly in recent 

 times. 



Some of the caves show traces of human occupation of 

 long continuance in early times, while others may have 

 been used as shelters for short periods. Scrapers and flint 

 flakes, bone pins, and stone implements occurred, while 

 a gold bracelet, and another, richly decorated, of bronze, 

 were found. Of bronze, also, was a buckle engraved with 

 an interlaced pattern and plated with silver. One of the 

 most remarkable of the objects discovered was a lamp, the 

 receptacle being hollowed out of a round stone, not carved 

 in any pattern, but with deep grooves round the sides. 

 Of these and other objects the plates illustrating the re- 

 port give a good idea. Together with the implements, 

 numbers of human bones were found, although there is no 

 evidence that the caves had ever been used as places of 

 burial. The bones revealed nothing 

 which might lead us to suppose that 

 they belonged to a different race 

 from that inhabiting Ireland at the 

 pri'sent time ; but their study elicited 

 the fact that some of them belonged 

 to individuals who habitually 

 assumed the squatting position com- 

 mon to all primitive peoples. 



R. F. SCHARFF. 



NEW PILOT CHARTS. 



' N these days of perpetual and 



[K. n-clch. 

 (A) and Eldci-Eush Cave (b), Newhall. 



of a well-marked stalagmite floor, and of their early cave- 

 fauna, including the rhinoceros, hippopotamus, cave-bear, 

 hysena, &c. The deposits are composed, as a rule, of two 

 easily distinguishable strata. The upper one, generally 

 consisting of brown earth, contains charcoal associated 

 with the bones of domestic animals, while the second is 

 often of a very tenacious nature, and includes many re- 

 mains of the bear and reindeer, Irish elk, and Arctic 

 lemming. 



Of particular interest is the occurrence of the Arctic fox 

 and of the wild cat. The former of these is exceedingly 

 rare in England, and had not been known to occur in 

 Ireland, while as to the latter, it has been held as doubtful 

 whether it ever inhabited Ireland. Several jaws and teeth 

 were found, however, which agreed, not with the Scottish 

 wild cat, but with that commonly met with throughout 

 the African continent, and popularly known as the Caffer 

 cat. 



More than 2000 bones of birds were obtained, comprising 

 fifty-eight species, the most noteworthy of which is the 

 crane. The Welsh traveller, Giraldus Cambrensis, stated 

 that when he visited Ireland in the twelfth century cranes 

 were to be met with in flocks, and it is of interest that 

 this account of their presence has been verified by the 

 discovery of these remains. 



The occurrence of a shed antler of the Irish elk, and of 

 long bones of this species and of the reindeer, which 



NO. 1 9 ID, VOL. 74] 



feverish haste, which is charac- 

 teristic of life at sea as well as on 

 shore, the desirability has been 

 realised of introducing modifications 

 in the method of conveying practical 

 information for the use of seamen. 

 Formerly, men had more leisure to 

 wade through the bulky volumes 

 known as sailing directions when 

 they wished to clear up any point 

 in doubt. Now, with less time to 

 spare, the demand is for the concen- 

 trated essence rather than the minute details of the facts, 

 and this is one of the objects in view in the production of the 

 several pilot charts originated on both sides of the Atlantic 

 within recent years. Many subjects have to be dealt with, 

 and the space is strictly limited, so that the mariner has 

 before him on his chart-room table all the essential 

 features of the particular subjects. 



Two pilot charts are published by the Deutsche Seewarte 

 at Hamburg, one for the North Atlantic and Mediterranean 

 area, issued monthly, the other for the North Sea and 

 Baltic region, issued quarterly. They are elaborately and 

 e.xcellently got up, and in the quality of their varied con- 

 tents afford further evidence of that 1;horoughness character- 

 istic of German investigators. The face of each Atlantic 

 chart (36 inches by 27 inches) is covered with information 

 of immediate concern in navigating a ship — the mean direc- 

 tion and force of the prevailing winds in every 5° square ; 

 the northern and southern limits of the trade winds ; the 

 paths and the intensity of storm systems ; the regions of 

 mist and fog ; the dust atmosphere off Africa ; the tropical 

 rain area ; the set and velocity of ocean currents ; ice ; 

 derelicts; steamship and sailing-ship routes and great circle 

 tracks ; copious remarks bearing on all these subjects ; 

 variation curves ; and illustrations of the storm-warning 

 signals adopted by countries on both sides of the ocean. 

 The whole of the back is devoted to articles, with or with- 

 out illustrations, discussing subjects of general interest to 



