TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 59 



fathoms in leugtb. The depth to which these deposits extend has not yet been 

 ascertained. At Monte Poui mine calamine forms the cap of the rich lead deposit. 



The ore is a mixture of the silicate and carbonate of zinc. 



The author considers that the deposits are being worked in too recldess a 

 manner. 



On some Mammalian Remains from the suhmerged Forest in Barnstaple Baij, 

 Devonshire. By Henry S. Ellis, F.R.A.S. 



The author exhibited a collection of bones, teeth, charcoal, masses of 03'ster and 

 cockle shells, flint flakes and cores, nnbrokeu flints, masses of peat and clay, broken 

 pebbles, and specimens of bog-oak and other trees, foimd by him in a certain part 

 of the submerged forest in Barnstaple Bay ; also a part of a stake of the row referred 

 to in the paper. The paper was illustrated by a map and sections. 



The submerged forest is situated outside the Northam Pebble Ridge, and is of 

 considerable extent ; but the bones, flint flakes, charcoal, and shells have as yet 

 been foimd in a spot (only a few yards square) at the northern end of it, at a dis- 

 tance of about 200 yards fi'om the Pebble Ridge, and about 300 yards from the 

 newly-erected baths. 



The author states that during the last few years patches of clay and peat have 

 become exposed on the surface of the previously smooth sandy beach of Northam 

 — that whilst on a visit to the adjacent newly -built watering place, Westward Ho, 

 in the summer of 1866, he discovered large quantities of flint flakes imderneath 

 some of the patches refen-ed to — that in the summer of this year (1867) he found, 

 near the same spot, the bones, teeth, charcoal, &c. exhibited to the Section. 



The author's diagram showed that the patches of clay and peat were laid bare, 

 and stood eight or nine inches above the level of the sand, and at about that depth 

 the flint flalces are found imbedded in the clay ; that the bones, teeth, and charcoal 

 are in some places mixed with them, but generally underlie them, and that the 

 large masses of cockle-shells and comminuted oyster-sheUs lie underneath the 

 whole. 



Some of the bones and teeth have been examined by an eminent comparative 

 anatomist, who pronoimces most of them to be those of Cerrus elaphus, and sug- 

 gests that a fragment of one of them belonged to some bird. The bones are, for 

 the most part, in good condition, having sharp fractures, and some of them appear 

 not to have lost their animal matter. The flint flakes and cores are generally 

 admitted to be remarkably good specimens of the well-known type described by 

 Sir John Lubbock, as those of the first stone period. The flakes vary in length 

 from half an inch to two inches (those found in the peaty clay are purple, but those 

 ixom. near the masses of cockle- and oyster-shells are opaque-white). All have 

 very keen edges, and are not serrated, a fact which doubtless arises fi-om each 

 flake being separately imbedded in clay. Some of the patches of peaty clay con- 

 tain roots and prostrate branches of trees, and others leaves of a large Iris, in 

 perfect condition, only faded in colom-. The common yellow Iris, or flag {Iris 

 2)seudo-acorus) grows luxuriantly in the immediate neighbourhood. 



The author mentions that deers' antlers have been occasionally dredged up in 

 the bay, and quotes a local tradition that the oak-trees used for the roof and seats 

 of the church of Braimton (which is situated on the northern edge of the delta of 

 the Taw) grew in a forest which formerly occupied the site of the Northam 

 Burrows, and that the trees, when felled, were drawn to the church by reindeer. 

 A species of red deer still exists in its wild state on Exmoor. 



The author submits that the collection is of interest on account of the various 

 objects, in such a good state of preservation, having been foimd associated together 

 iu a locality which is covered by the sea at eveiy tide to a depth of at least twelve 

 feet, and at so great a distance from the present boundary of dry land. He admits 

 tliat the burial of the bones in peaty clay underneath sand would naturally tend to 

 their long preservation and protection; but he thinks the general belief of the 

 parishioners of Northam, that the sea is constantly and rapidly encroaching on the 

 land, is worthy of much consideration in forming an estimate of the remoteness of 

 the period when man left those interesting indications of his existence. 



