Suhjacent to the Boulder-clay. 307 



helova and above, accompanied by a continual sinking, would assume 

 just that complexity of arrangement the beds display, which, at first 

 sight, appears quite unintelligible, and which, I believe, no other 

 explanation will satisfactorily account for. The probable derivation 

 of these white-clays from the dissolution of the limestone, suggests 

 the question as to whether the beds of pure white impalpable clays, so 

 largely composing the Lower Tertiaries, may not have had a similar 

 origin from the dissolution of the Chalk before being transported and 

 inters tratified with other materials. 



VI. DiSCOVEKY OF A Hy^NA-DEN, NEAR LaUGHAKNE, 



Cakmarthbnshire. 

 By Henry Hicks, Esq., M.D. 



THE announcement of the discovery of a Hyaena-den, near Laug- 

 harne, may possibly be of some interest to those of your readers 

 who may be inclined to visit the bone caverns of South Wales during 

 the approaching summer. In the autumn of last year J. E. Allen, 

 Esq., of Albert Terrace, Eegent's Park, London, was good enough 

 to send me word that, during a few days' stay at Laugharne, he had 

 discovered some fragments of bones in a limestone cavern known as 

 the " Coygan cave ; " adding, at the same time, that it was not known 

 in the district that any one had hitherto found bones there, or that 

 it had ever been explored for that purpose. 



Accordingly, we arranged to meet there soon afterwards, and 

 during our exploration were so fortunate as to obtain numerous 

 fragments of bones, teeth, jaws, etc., and at the same time we were 

 able to satisfy ourselves that it had evidently been at one period 

 a Hyaena-den, until then unexplored. I have since visited the 

 cavern several times, and exhumed a large number of bones be- 

 longing to Hycena spelcea. BJdnoceros tichorhinus, Elephas primigenius, 

 Equus, Cervus tarandus, Cervus (small var.). All the bones were 

 forwarded to W. Boyd Dawkins, Esq., F.E.S., for examination, and 

 he has kindly determined the species, and sent me the following list 

 with some notes on our joint collections : — 



Hycena spelcea, six jaws with teeth, also separate teeth and bones. 

 Bhinoceros tichorinus, numerous teeth and bones. 

 Elephas primigenius, six teeth (or parts of), portions of tusks and bones. 

 Cervus tarandus, shed antler-guard, etc. 



(small var.), jaw, etc. 



Equus, numerous teeth, etc. 



He says, " all these remains were derived from a Hysena-den, and 

 were introduced by those animals in every case. The lower jaws 

 are in every case without angle or coronoid process, and the Ehino- 

 ceros humeri, tibiae, and radii, are gnawed in exactly the same 

 manner as those from Wookey Hole. The teeth, also, of the Hysenas 

 indicate every variety, from the whelp to the adult in the decline of 

 life. A lower jaw belonging to Mr. Hicks shows remarkably the 

 results of the diet of the hyaenas on their teeth. The first of the 



