8 hepokt — 1877. 



cast at a distance of 23 feet from the Bear's Den; and at 11 feet further it 

 expands into a small Chamber, the floor of which is a pavement of bloeks of 

 limestone, some of them of considerable size. The Gallery varies from to 

 8 feet high, and from 1*5 to 4 - 5 feet wide, and has obviously bceu a -water- 

 course. Ground had been broken here and there by the earlier explorers 

 up to 11 feet from the Bear's Den. Everywhere further in there was a 

 continuous unbroken Floor of Stalagmite, from 1-5 to 3-5 feet below the 

 limestone roof; but at 3 feet beyond the point at which, as already stated, 

 the Gallery turns eastward, an unoccupied interspace was found. between 

 the lower surface of this Floor and the top of the underlying deposit. At 

 first this hiatus did not exceed a foot, but as the work progressed it gradually 

 reached 4 feet. 



The underlying deposit was exclusively the Breccia, or, so far as is known, 

 the oldest the Cavern contains. Its upper surface formed a continuous 

 declivity, so great that at the small Chamber previously mentioned the level 

 was 103 inches below that of the nearest part of the Bear's Den — a mean 

 gradient of 1 in 2"5. For the first 9 feet the thickness of the Breccia was 

 not more than from 3 to 3 - 5 feet, the limestone floor being everywhere 

 reached within tbese limits; but elsewhere the ordinary four-feet sections 

 failed to disclose the limestone. 



The "finds" met with in the Tortuous Gallery up to tho end of August 

 L877 were but 14 in number, and the objects they contained were of but 

 little importance: G of them were met with in the first or uppermost foot- 

 level (all near the entrance), 2 in the third, and 6 in the fourth (all at 

 some distance from the entrance"). They included, besides bones and bone- 

 chips, 14 teeth of Bear, some of them being in portions of jaws, and 1 of 

 Horse. The latter was found on the surface, near the Bear's Den, with 3 

 bits of coarse, friable, black pottery. A "core" of black flint — in nil pro- 

 bability a " strike-light " of the present century — was found under the same 

 conditions about a foot from them. 



On reviewing the work of the last eleven months the Superintendents 

 cannot but express disappointment at not having found the very large 

 number of choice specimens which Mr. MaeEncry's glowing description 

 had led them to expect in the Bear's Den. Nevertheless the discoveries 

 they have made not only justify his description, but show that in that branch 

 of the Cavern the osseous remains were almost entirely confined to the 

 uppermost foot of the Breccia, and mainly to its actual surface. So long as 

 the lower levels remained untouched, the belief that they were equally rich 

 would have naturally prevailed; and it cannot be doubted that in disposing 

 of this belief very satisfactory work has been done. 



The Committee have again to state that since their last Beport was pre- 

 sented they have found no relic of Machairodus latidens. It is satisfactory, 

 however, to know that since the last Meeting of the Association the crown 

 of a canine tooth of this species has been found, by the Bev. J. M. Mello, in 

 ltobin-Hood Cave, Creswell Crags, Derbyshire. 



