ON FLINT AND CHERT IMPLEMENTS PROM KENt's CAVERN. 209 



When the cavern-haunting habits of the Hyaena are remembered, it can 

 scarcely be unsafe to conclude from the absence of any trace of him in the 

 Breccia that he was not an inhabitant of Britain during the era of that de- 

 posit. The same argument can by no means be applied with equal force to 

 the Horse, Ox, Deer, &c., whose absence is equally pronounced ; for it may 

 be presumed that their bones occur in caverns at least mainly because their 

 dead bodies were dragged there piecemeal by the Hyasna ; and this could not 

 have occurred before his arrival. The Ursine remains met with in the 

 Breccia present no difficulty, as the Bear, like the Hy£ena,is a cave-dweller*. 



The fact that though he was not a member of the British fauna during the 

 era of the Breccia, he had become very prevalent during that of the Cave-earth, 

 may probably be taken as indicating that after, but not during, the period of 

 the Breccia, Britain was a part of continental Europe, and thus rendered his 

 arrival possible. If this be admitted, it follows that the early men of Devon- 

 shire saw this country pass from an insular to a continental state, and again 

 become an island. 



The Superintendents of the work, struck with the great development of the 

 Breccia in the innermost parts of the cavern, as well as with the numerous 

 remains of Bear which it contains, are strongly inclined to the opinion that 

 there must be an external entrance hitherto unsuspected, and at present 

 choked up, in the direction in which the work is progressing. It must be 

 admitted that this would solve several problems of interest ; but the complete 

 exploration of the cavern can alone show whether or not such an entrance 

 exists. 



The Flint and Chert Implements found in Kenft Cavern, Torquaxj, 

 Devonshire. By W. Pengelly, F.R.S., F.G.S. 



[A Communication ordered by the General Committee to be printed in exfenso.] 



Though there are said to be persons capable of believing that the so- 

 called flint and chert implements, found in Kent's Hole and other caverns^ 

 are merely natural products, it is nat mj intention in this brief paper to say 

 one word on that question. It has been treated so fully and so ably by 

 various writers as to deprive me of any pretence for attempting to add any 

 thing to the literature of the subject, and also of any hope that such additions 

 as I might be able to make would convince those stiU remaining in a sceptical 



* Dr. A. Leith Adams, M.A., F.R.S., F.G.S., so well known aa a naturalist and cavern- 

 explorer, has been so good as to favour rae with the following note on the habits of the 

 Brown Bear of the Himalayas : — " The Brown Bear of the Western Himalayas hybernates, 

 choosing chiefly caverns and rock-crevices, which it abandons in spring to wander about ; but 

 old individuals, when nO longer equal to the same amount of exertion, take to a secluded life, 

 and usually select a cavern on a rocky mountain-side, at tlie base of which there is abundant 

 verdure and shade, with a pool or spring, where they bathe frequently or recline during 

 the heat of the day to escape annoyance from insects. Sucli retreats are easily discovered 

 by the animal's footprints on the soil and turf. They are seen like steps of sUiirs lo iding 

 from the pool in the direction of the den, being brought about by the individual always 

 treading in the same track. Thus these patriarchs or liermit bears spend their latter years 

 in one situation, pursuing the even tenor of their ways to the little stream or pc>nd below, 

 and grassy slopes to feed on the rank vegetation, returning regidarly to the caverns where 

 they end their days." — See Wanderings of a Naturalist in India, Western Himalayas, and 

 Cashmere, pp. 232-241 &c. 



1873. r 



