ON KENT rf CAVERN, DEVONSHIRE. T^; 



due, no doubt, to acidulated water, as the surfaces are mucli fretted. Holes, 

 having the aspect of mouths of small watercourses, open out of the walls and 

 roof in various places ; and about midway in the Second Reach the roof rises 

 into a small water- worn dome, from the apex of which a cylindrical flue ascends 

 iuto the limestone, and, like the watercourses just mentioned, is quite 

 empty. 



There were but scanty traces of a Stalagmitic Floor in the First Reach, in 

 which, however, the earlier explorers had here and there broken ground ; 

 but throughout the entire length of the Second Reach a Floor of Granular 

 Stalagmite extended from wall to waU, varying from 10 to 24 inches in 

 thickness ; and at about 10 fest from its entrance there was also a portion of 

 a Floor of Crystalline or old Stalagmite adhering to the left wall, whence it 

 probably never extended to the opposite side. It was about 15 inches thick, 

 below and almost in contact with the Granular Floor, but separated from it 

 by a layer of Cave-earth about one inch thick. 



The mechanical deposits in the First Reach were the usual thin layer of 

 Cave-earth above, and the Breccia of unknown depth below ; but in the 

 Second Reach the space beneath the Stalagmitic Floor was mainly occupied 

 with large loose masses of limestone, some of which required to be blasted 

 more than once in order to remove them. The spaces between them were 

 filled with Cave-earth or Breccia, with comparatively few specimens of any 

 kind. 



The upper surface of the Cave-earth was almost perfectly horizontal in the 

 First Reach; but in the Second there was a gradual and total ascent of 27 

 inches, giving a mean gradient of about 1 in 7 for that Reach. 



Matthews's Passage yielded a total of 49 " finds," consisting of specimens 

 which may be thus distributed : — 



In the Cave-earth. — 26 teeth of Hytena (some of them in portions of jaws), 

 2 of Bear, 1 of an immature Mammoth, 1 of Fox, and a considerable 

 number of bones, many of them being more or less broken and a few of 

 them gnawed. 



In the Breccia. — 100 teeth of Bear and a large number of bones, including 

 many good specimens. The richest " finds " were met with in a small 

 narrow recess in the outer angle at the junction of the two Reaches, where 

 the teeth and bones lay huddled confusedly together, suggesting that a rush 

 of water had probably carried them to the spot they occupied. 



No trace of man was detected in any part of this branch of the Cavern. 



The exploration of Matthews's Passage, begun on 11th July, 1876, was 

 completed on 31st August, having occupied about 7 weeks : and operations 

 were commenced in the Bear's Den on 1st September. 



In looking over the work accomplished, and the discoveries made, since 

 the Eleventh Report was presented at Bristol in 1875, the following note- 

 worthy facts present themselves : — 



1st. In their Eleventh Report the Committee sketched the distribution in 

 the Cavern of the remains of the various species of Mammals which characterize 

 the Cave-earth. Of this sketch the following is a brief summary: — The 

 Hyaena had been met with wherever the Cave-earth was found ; the Hare had 

 not been detected anywhere in the " Western Division " of the Cavern — 

 that most remote from the external entrances ; the Badger, Wolf, and Ox 

 had not been found beyond the " Charcoal Cave ; " and relics of Horse, 

 Rhinoceros, Deer, Fox, Elephant, and Lion had not appeared beyond the 

 " Long Arcade." 



