﻿Section C. — Address by Mr. W. Pengelly, President. 423 



verities, the British Association, in 1864, ap]3ointed a Committee to make 

 a complete, systematic, and accurate exploration of the Cavern, in which 

 it was known that very extensive portions remained entirely intact. This 

 Committee commenced its labours on 28th March, 1865 ; it has been 

 reappointed, year after year, with sufficient grants of money, up to the 

 present time ; the work has gone on continuously throughout the entire 

 thirteen years ; and the result has been, not only a complete confirmation 

 of Mr. MacEnery's statements, but the discovery of far older deposits than 

 he suspected — deposits implying great changes of, at least, local geogra- 

 phical conditions ; changes in the fauna of the district ; and yielding 

 evidence of men more ancient and far ruder than even those who made 

 the oldest flint tools found in Kent's Hole prior to the appointment of the 

 Committee . 



The Cavern consists of a sei'ies of chambers and passages, which resolve 

 themselves into two main Divisions, extending from nearly north to south 

 in parallel lines, but passing into each other near their extremities, and 

 throwing off branches, occasionally of considerable size. 



The successive deposits, in descending order, were : — 



1st, or uiDpermost. Fragments and blocks of limestone from an ounce 

 to upwards of 100 tons weight each, which had fallen from the roof from 

 time to time, and were in some instances cemented with carbonate of lime. 



2nd. Beneath and between these blocks lay a dark-coloured mud or 

 mould, consisting largely of decayed leaves and other vegetable matter. It 

 was from three to twelve inches thick, and known as the Black Mould. 

 This occupied the entire Eastern Division, with the exception of a small 

 chamber in its south-western end only, but was not found in the other, the 

 remoter, parts of the Cavern. 



3rd. Under this was a Stalagmitic Floor, commonly of granular texture 

 and frequently laminated, from less than an inch to fully live feet in thick- 

 ness, and termed the Granular Stalagmite. 



4th. An almost black layer, about four inches thick, composed mainly of 

 small fragments of charred wood, and distinguished as the Black Band, 

 occupied an area of about 100 square feet, immediately under the Granular 

 Stalagmite, and, at the nearest point, not more than 32 feet from one of 

 the entrances to the Cavern. Nothing of the kind has occurred elsewhere. 



5th. Immediately under the Granular Stalagmite and the Black Band 

 lay a light red clay, containing usually about 50 per cent, of small angular 

 fragments of limestone, and somewhat numerous blocks of the same rock 

 as large as those lying on the Black Mould. In this deposit, known as the 

 Cave-earth, many of the stones and bones were, at all depths, invested 

 with thin stalagmitic films. The Cave-earth was of unknown depth near 

 the entrances, where its base had never been reached ; but in the remoter 

 parts of the Cavern it did not usually exceed a foot, and in a few localities 

 it " thinned out " entirely. 



6th. Beneath the Cave-earth there was usually found a Floor of Sta- 

 lagmite having a crystalline texture, and termed on that account the 

 Crystalline Stalagmite. It was commonly thicker than the Granular Floor, 

 and in one instance but little short of 12 feet. 



7th. Below the whole, occurred, so far as is at present known, the oldest 

 of the Cavern deposits. It was composed of subangular and rounded 

 pieces of dark red grit, imbedded in a sandy paste of the same colour. 

 Small angular fragments of limestone, and investing films of stalagmite, 

 both prevalent in the Cave-earth, were extremely rare. Large blocks of 

 limestone were occasionally met with ; and the deposit, to which the 

 name of Breccia was given, was of a depth exceeding that to which the 

 exploration has yet been carried. 



Except in a very few small branches, the bottom of the Cavern has 



