ON KENT’S CAVERN, DEVONSHIRE. 51 
6 feet. In its structure it was commonly granular, except at and near 
its junction with the walls of the Cavern, where it frequently consisted of 
thin erystalline lamine, and was extremely hard and tough. Numerous 
angular masses of limestone were found in it, and some of them were of 
great size; but there were no incorporated blocks of old stalagmite. 
Tn the northernmost or first eight foot-parallels in this Division, the Cave- 
earth occupied each entire section, from the bottom of the Modern Stalag- 
mitic Floor to the base of the lowest or fourth foot-level. It was of the 
ordinary type, and, like that in every other branch of the Cavern, contained 
large blocks of limestone and of old stalagmite, as well as lumps of breccia, 
such as had presented themselves in the adjacent Hall. 
In the more southerly parallels there was found at the base of the section, 
and extending quite across it from end to end, a deposit, in situ, of a new 
type, on which the Cave-earth at once rested. This proved to be a rock- 
like breccia composed of red earth, angular pieces of limestone, subangular 
and rounded pieces of grit in considerable numbers, blocks of crystalline 
stalagmite, and bones, all cemented into a firm and hard concrete; in 
short, with the single exception of its being undisturbed, it was of precisely 
the same character as the loose lumps previously met with in the Lecture 
Hall. In each succeeding parallel it rose higher and higher in the section, 
the overlying Caye-earth gradually thinning out. 
Six feet south of its first appearance, this Breccia was found to be imme- 
diately overlaid by a Floor of Crystalline Stalagmite nearly 2 feet thick, 
which separated it from the Cave-earth above ; in short, there were in this 
parallel, in the same vertical section, two Floors of Stalagmite, each imme- 
diately overlying the accumulation of detritus on which it had been formed. 
From this point to the end of the Eastern Division of the Chamber every 
parallel disclosed the two Floors; but with every additional foot southwards, 
the intermediate band of Cave-earth became thinner and thinner, until, 
before the southern wall was reached, it altogether disappeared, and the 
Modern Floor rested at once on the Older one. These two accumulations of 
stalagmite were commonly distinguishable by their different structures,—the 
upper being granular except when near the wall of the Cavern, the lower 
invariably crystalline. 
In a few of the southernmost parallels, the materials at the bottom of the 
sections were not cemented, and there were but few bones mixed with them. 
In all other respects they were identical with the concrete immediately above. 
It has been already stated that the Modern Floor of Stalagmite was every- 
where continuous. Instead of this being the case with the Older Floor, it 
usually extended from each end of the section several feet towards its centre, 
but in all cases terminated more or less abruptly, leaving an interspace, 
sometimes as much as 7 feet wide. 
In this branch of the Cavern, where the conditions were at once so novel 
and so variable, the work was watched with the utmost care, and accurate 
measurements and descriptions were frequently made. The following sec- 
tions from different parts of the Chamber will show in a general way the 
succession of the deposits, in descending order :— 
Sxcrron I. Near the northern end of the Eastern Division of the South- 
west Chamber. Length 21 feet at the top, and 11 feet at the bottom. Di- 
rection from W. 5° N. to E. 5° S. (mag.). 
First, or uppermost: Modern Floor of Stalagmite, granular, continuous, 
contained large masses of limestone; thickness varied from 28 to 36 inches. | 
Second: Caye-earth, typical, contained a considerable number of large 
