586 REPORTS ON THE STATE OP SCIENCE. — 1916. 



the slender needle or bodkin through the tough thick hides, pins for fastening 

 the skins they wore, and perforated badgers' teeth for necklaces or bracelets- 

 nothing of the kind has been found in the breccia. In short, the stone took, 

 though both sets were unpolished and coeval with extinct mammals, represent 

 two distinct civilisations. It is equally clear that the ruder men were the more 

 ancient, for their tools were lodged in a deposit, which, whenever the two 

 occurred in the same vertical section, was invariably the undermost.' 



The deposits differed very markedly in character, being frequently separated 

 by stalagmite, a breaking up of which and partial clearing out of the breccia 

 having preceded the deposition of the cave-earth; my father, therefore, drew 

 the inference that there must have been a period of time between the two, 

 incapable of compression within narrow limits, and representing a great 

 chronological interval. 



The trouble of inspecting the dieinteTring of the cavern-remains from their 

 resthig-place, and the patience and skill required in identifying them, can 

 hardly be estimated by those who have not undertaken similar work. In 1896 

 Professor Boyd Dawkins write« thus of William Pengelly's labours : ' Day by 

 day, except when the work was stopped, he visited the cave and recorded on 

 maps and plans the exact spot where each specimen was found, for no less 

 than sixteen years. The vast collection of palaeolithic implements and fossil 

 bones, each of which bears traces of his handiwork, is represented in most of 

 the museums in this country, and the annual reports, listened to with so much 

 pleasure by crowds at the meetings of the British Association, are the most 

 complete that have ever been published. It may be objected that the accumu- 

 lation of so much evidence of the existence of man in the Pleistocene age in 

 the South of England was unnecessary. It was, however, necessary to sweep 

 away the mass of prejudice, and this could best be done by repeating the 

 evidence. Had this not been done, man would not occupy the recognised position 

 which he now holds in the annals of geology.' 



As already stated, the cavern has now passed into private hands, and Dr. 

 Duclpyorth writes in 1912 : ' A visit to Kent's Cavern will convince even the 

 uninitiated that this treasury is by no means exhausted. And a word of protest 

 must be uttered against the seemingly indiscriminate disposal of bones and 

 possibly also of implements which seems to proceed daily. On Jime 20, 1912, 

 a fine flake of Magdalenian aspect was obtained. Two days later when I visited 

 the cavern a new passage of about twenty-five feet in depth had just been 

 broken into. It is therefore expedient to impress upon all who are interested 

 in prehistoric archaeology the sad fact of this continual leakage and the loss of 

 material of the greatest possible value.' 



Professor Keith, 'who inspected Kelnt's Hole somewhat later, also felt 

 the advisability of- securing a site of such national importance, as its further 

 careful investigation might be a gre^t boon to science. 



The Chairman said that as to the value and scientific importance of the 

 caves so ably worked by Pengelly there can be no question, and it would 

 certainly be a calamity if anything happened to the caves at the hands of the 

 vandals. He himself had recently received some bones and teeth from a 

 friend, not at all interested in geology, who obtained them from a person at 

 Torquay, who had taken them from the cave a little while ago. The National 

 Trust or some other body should take the question of the future preservation 

 of the Torquay caves in hand. Possibly the Torquay Naturalists' Society 

 might do something. 



Mr. Mark L. Sykes considered that the work carried out by the late Mr. 

 Pengelly at Kent's Cavern was of the highest importance, as having given 

 positive and unimpeacJiable proof of the enormous antiquity of man, such as 

 has been exceeded and probably approached by no other "evidence. iFor the 

 cave to pass into the hands of irresponsible persons, Avho had neither the know- 

 ledge nor appreciation of its value, was nothing lees than a calamity, especially 

 in view of the statements which had been made as to what is now being done 

 tliere. Immediate steps should be taken to secure the cave in the interests of 

 science, and he felt thie so sti'ongly that he was prepared to take active personal 

 steps, and participate in raising sufficient funds for the purchase and preserva- 

 tion of the cave and placing it under proper control, so that further investis;ations 

 may be conducted on a systematic and scientific basis. 



