ON Kent's cavern, Devonshire. 3 



the " Granular, Stalagmitic Floor," for a distance of 18 feet from the entrance, 

 a small quantity of " Cave-earth " uniformly presented itself, beneath whicli 

 lay the "Breccia," occasionally separated from it by remnants of the more 

 ancient, or the " Crystalline, Stalagmitic Floor " in situ — but that from the 

 point just named, up to that reached when the Tenth Report was drawn, 

 there was no Cave-earth ; so that the two Stalagmites lay the one imme- 

 diately on the other, with the Breccia (that is, as far as is known), the 

 oldest of the Cavern deposits, beneath the whole. 



At the commencement of the exploration of this Gallery, the deposits so 

 very nearly reached the roof as to induce the belief that a very few feet at 

 most was aU that the workmen had before them. In short, no one suspected 

 the existence of this branch of the Cavern. As the work advanced, how- 

 ever, the unoccupied interspace between the roof and floor became gradually 

 larger, until on the 6th of August, 1875, John Clinnick, the workman 

 already mentioned, forced himself through, and, after proceeding about 

 50 feet, as he estimated, entered a large chamber, of which he brought back 

 such a glowing description as to induce one of the Superintendents to follow 

 him, when he found the workman's description by no means too^ highly 

 coloured. The Chamber, probably one of the largest in the Cavern, is beau- 

 tifully hung with stalactites, and has numerous stalagmitic " paps," some of 

 them four feet high and of almost cylindrical form, rising from a floor of 

 the same material. 



The work iu Cliunick's Gallery was very difficult, as the two stalagmites 

 were not only extremely hard and tough, but had an aggregate thickness 

 amounting frequently to fully four feet ; and the very contracted height 

 and breadth of the Gallery prevented the meu from working to the best 

 advantage. 



The state of the Floor was a puzzHng study. The older, or lower, _ or 

 Crystalline -Stalagmite was broken in places near the left wall along a line 

 parallel with it, and the fragments, occasionally considerable sheets, were 

 raised some inches above their original level at their margin most remote 

 from the wall and depressed at that nearest to it, whilst every thing remained 

 intact at and adjacent to the opposite wall of the narrow Gallery. The dis- 

 turbance occurred obviously before the commencement of the formation of 

 the upper or Granular Stalagmite ; for not only was this less ancient floor 

 undisturbed, but the fragmentary and tilted sheets of the older floor just 

 mentioned passed in some instances obliquely through it, rising above its 

 upper surface on one side and projecting below its base on the other. 

 Adjacent to the left wall, at a point where the Floor was unbroken, a pap 

 (which had evidently lost its top) reached the height of 16 inches and was 

 still standing erect. Though var5-ing somewhat in diameter, it may be said 

 to be cylindrical in form, and at the top it measured 10 inches in circum- 

 ference. Almost in contact with it, but lying horizontally at its base, and 

 completely enveloped in the Granular Stalagmite, was a fragment of, no 

 doubt, the same pap, 10 inches long ; whilst on the opposite side of the 

 standing portion was a third fragment, 5 inches long, terminating in a cone, 

 and firmly held to the spot by stalagmitic matter. There can be no doubt 

 that the three pieces are portions of one and the same pap, of which the 

 shorter piece was the conical apex, the unbroken column having been at least 

 31 inches long. Phenomena such as these are calculated to induce specu- 

 lations respecting the causes which produced them and the time they repre- 

 sent. In the case just mentioned, we have, first, the deposition of the 

 Breccia, or oldest of the Cavern-deposits, so far as is certainly known ; thia 



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