TRANSLATIONS AND SELECTED ARTICLES. 3S3 



bum groecum, which, assuming that the cave at the time was more 

 damp than that at Kirkdale, would be trodden down on the floor by 

 the hyaenas, instead of presenting a rounded form. The stone also 

 itself exhibits tooth-marks, and probably was gnawed by the hysenas, 

 like the necrosed antlers, for amusement. Dogs are very fond of 

 exercising their teeth in this way. This discovery also proves that 

 violent watery action had but small share, if any, in filling the cave ; 

 for in that case the soft Album groecum would have been removed from 

 the stone. 



The section made in cutting this passage presented irregular layers 

 of peroxide of manganese, full of bony splinters, and in general 

 covered by a layer of bones in various stages of decay. These layers 

 disappeared in the upper portion of the passage. There were masses 

 of prismatized stalactites scattered confusedly through the matrix. 

 After excavating the vertical branch as far as we dared (for the large 

 stones in it made the task dangerous), we were compelled to leave off, 

 having penetrated altogether only SI feet from the cave's mouth. In 

 this vertical branch, the bones, stones, and red earth are cemented 

 together by carboxiate of lime, — a circumstance which added materially 

 to the difficuity of the excavation. 



A short distance from the entrance the cave gives off a lateral 

 branch to the left, which tends obliquely upwards, and is abruptly 

 closed by stalagmite. This forms a marked contrast to the rest of 

 the cave, being covered with stalactite and stalagmite, and free from 

 debris ; while the other parts are, full of debris, and at the same time 

 free from any but the merest traces of carbonate of lime, except in 

 the case of the vertical branch above mentioned, where, however, it 

 does not assume a stalagmitic form. 



There are numerous caverns in the vicinity which, in all probability, 

 are connected with the one under notice, and which, to say the very 

 least, are parts of the same great system, and all open upon the same 

 ravine. And even this probably is but a cavern unroofed by the 

 chemical action of the carbonic acid in the air, by which the insoluble 

 carbonate of the stone is changed into the soluble bicarbonate, and 

 conveyed away atom by atom. It probably was the main trunk fed 

 by numerous tributaries, now represented by caverns, all of which 

 are dry, with the exception of that at the head of the ravine, through 

 which the drainage still passes, though not to the same degree as 

 formerly. 



