380 REPORTS ON THE STATE OP SCIENCE. 



N.W. half was 2-5 feet at the bottom of the fosse, 4 feet at the iron-ore 

 layer, and 6 feet at the surface. The silting consisted of 05 foot of peaty 

 turf, 0-7 foot of black mould, and 0-5 foot of dark brown mould at the 

 bottom. 



Towards the S.S.E. of this cutting the ditch was shallow, and although 

 hollows (sometimes 0-25 foot deep) were observed in places in the iron-ore 

 layer, it had not been penetrated here as at the N.W. end of the cutting. 



CtMings 5 to 10 were made for the same purpose of endeavouring to 

 trace a fosse. The iron-ore floor was reached at an average depth of 

 \'l foot, but it had not been penetrated. In these cuttings the iron-ore 

 was sometimes fully \ inch in thickness, and exhibited bulbous projections 

 or knobs on the upper surface ; as would be expected, roots of grass, &c., 

 had not penetrated it, but formed a tangled compressed mass on its surface. 



Cuttings 11 and 12.— In the cornfield on the E. the plough had 

 almost obliterated all traces of the vallum. A slight dip in what re- 

 mains of the vallum was noticed, and thinking it possible that an entrance 

 existed on this side of the circle approximately in line with the central 

 monolith and the western entrance, I caused these two cuttings to be 

 made, 5^ by 4 feet and 13| by 4 feet respectively, one on each side of 

 the depression above referred to. The result was disappointing ; no 

 relics were discovered, and no trace of a ditch was found, the iron-ore 

 being reached at an average depth of 1-5 foot below the surface. 



IV. Summan/ and Conclusions. 



The Stones. — From eleven cuttings and excavations made in the 

 immediate vicinity of four standing and seven recumbent stones and 

 from other evidence we are able to establish the following conclusions : — 



1. That all the monoliths (originally probably 28 in number) formed 

 a circle 146^ feet in diameter and stood upright, about 16^ feet apart. 



2. That two recumbent stones have disappeared since 1879, when 

 Messrs. Lukis and Borlase made their plan. 



3. That Stone XVI, now almost prostrate, probably leaned to no 

 very great extent in 1879, when Lukis and Borlase classified it as a 

 standing stone. 



4. That Stone VII is a little outside the line of the true circle, and 

 that Stone XI has probably been moved a few feet southward since 

 its fall. 



5. That the central Stone No. I originally stood eccentrically on 

 what is now its S.S.E. end. 



6. That it is uncertain what were the original positions of Stones 

 VIII, XVII, and XVIII, and whether Stone V belongs to the circle. 



7. That the recumbent Stones Nos. Ill, XII, and XIV, and the 

 standing Stone No. IV stood in holes cut for their reception, the average 

 depth of the holes being 2-9 feet from the present surface. 



8. That evidence was obtained that one Stone (No. Ill), with a 

 pointed base, was partly supported by a packing of rough blocks of 



granite. 



It is surprising that even four stones remain standing (No. VII still 

 being vertical), considering the nature of the surface deposits and the 

 subsoil. 



The Vallum and Fosse.— The crest of the vallum, which is 224 feet 

 in diameter, was probably intended to be concentric with the true line 



