ON rent's cavern, DEVONSHIRE. 39 



reason which will shortly appear, the Superintendents have given the name 

 of the " Charcoal Cave." This passage the Committee proceeded to explore 

 before undertaking the Arcade. 



It extends on the whole in a southerly direction for a distance of upwards 

 of 50 feet, varying from 5 to 13 feet in breadth, and throughout the 

 first half of its length maintaining a tolerably uniform height of from 9 to 

 10 feet. At 16 feet from the entrance it sends off a branch in an easterly 

 direction, and at 26 feet a second branch towards the south-west; re- 

 solving itself, in short, into three passages, which ultimately reiinite, and 

 may conveniently be termed the " Northern," " Central," and " Southern " 

 branches. They have all, but especially the northern, the aspect of long- 

 coutinued watercourses fretted by the subsequent and unequal action of 

 acidulated water. Mouths of " flues " present themselves in the roofs and 

 walls ; but none of them have any traces of earthy matter, and few are lined 

 with stalactite. The branches are subject to a very copious drip very soon 

 after rains, but no portion of it enters through the flues just mentioned. 



At 18 feet from the entrance of the Cave a thin layer of black matter, 

 among which charcoal was conspicuous, was observed lying on the surface of 

 the Stalagmitic Floor, where it covered an area of about 2 square feet. It 

 was thought to be probably the remains of a fire kindled by some recent 

 visitors to the Cavern, though the place seemed an unlikely one for such a 

 purpose, the roof being no more than 4 feet above the floor before the exca- 

 vation, and the narrow passage being very seldom entered by visitors. The 

 whole of the material was carefully collected, and, on being washed and 

 examined, yielded the foUomng assemblage of objects : — Small rough pieces 

 of stalagmitic matter ; bits of charcoal, some of them incorporated in the 

 stalagmitic matter just mentioned ; upwards of a dozen small pieces of very 

 coarse friable pottery, of a reddish colour, without any trace of ornamenta- 

 tion, and in all probability parts of one and the same vessel ; two unworn 

 lower "wisdom teeth" of a human subject; a few entire phalangeal bones, 

 apparently of an individual barely mature ; part of an ulna, of a pelvis, of a 

 vertebra, of ribs, and numerous small fragments of bone ; an almost perfect 

 left lower jaw of a fox, containing the canine tooth and five molars ; a few 

 incisors and bones of small rodents. 



In accordance with the practice invariably followed since the commence- 

 ment of the exploration, the water in which the objects just mentioned were 

 washed was passed through a fine sieve for the purpose of detecting minute 

 objects of interest. This water was almost black from the fine matter held 

 in suspension, and which, on being deposited and dried, proved to be fine 

 silt coloured with charcoal. 



As earlier explorers of the Cavern had in one place in this Cave attempted 

 to break through the Stalagmitic Floor at a point further in than the spot 

 occupied by the black material, and must have frequently trampled on it, 

 there is no difficulty in accounting for the broken condition of the pottery, 

 the charcoal, and most of the bones. It is scarcely necessary to observe that 

 the Charcoal Cave takes its name from the patch of black matter just 

 described. 



Mr. Charles Rodway, a distinguished dentist of Torquay, to whom the 

 human teeth mentioned above were submitted, was so good as to furnish the 

 following note respecting them : — 



"Torquay, June 11, 1872. 

 "Mt dear Sie, — I have examined the two teeth you brought me, and 

 they are right and left inferior * detites sapientice ' of a human being. They 



