OSSIPEEOUS CAVE OF BRIXHAM. 



495 



Horse. Species undetermined ; a few remnants. 



Cervus Tarandus. The cranial box of the skull, found 

 near the surface by the owner, on the first discovery of the 

 cave ; and a very fine entire antler, embedded superficially 

 in the stalagmite, near the intersection of the galleries E E 

 and F F, over the ' Ebur chasm.' Fragments of antlers of 

 other Deer, species undetermined. 



JJrsus spelceus. Lower jaws of young and old individuals, 

 with numerous detached canines and other teeth, in fine 

 preservation. A superb specimen of the bones of left hind 

 leg, comprising the femur, tibia, and fibula, folded together, 

 with the patella and astragalus in situ. These were found 

 near the ' Ebur chasm,' and the other parts of the skeleton 

 may be looked for when that portion of the cavern is dug up. 1 



Hymna spelwa. Teeth, fragments of the skull, lower jaws, 

 and other bones. 



The above is nothing like a complete list of the animal 

 remains found in the cave ; but, considering that the work- 

 ings have hitherto been restricted to the least productive 

 and superficial deposits, it will suffice to show that the 

 anticipations formed of the cavern were not too sanguine, 

 and that the excavations are well worthy of being followed 

 up vigorously. Some of the results already arrived at are of 

 great general interest. 



5. Human Industrial Remains (?).— Several well-marked 

 specimens of the objects called ' Flint-knives,' and generally 

 accepted at the present day as the early products of rude 

 Keltic or Pre-Keltic industry, have been exhumed from 

 different parts of the cavern, mixed in the ochreous earth 

 indiscriminately with remains of Rhinoceros, Hy&na, and 

 other extinct forms. One of these so-called ' Flint-knives ' 

 was brought up from the deposit No. 2, from a depth of thirty 

 inches below the superficial Stalagmite No. 1. We failed in 

 detecting evidence that these so-called ' Flint-knives ' were 

 of a different age, as regards the period of their introduc- 

 tion, from the bones of the extinct animals occurring in the 

 same stratum of cave-earth, or that they were introduced 



1 In a letter to Mr. (now Sir John) 

 Lubbock, dated May 2i, 1863, Dr. Fal- 

 coner writes as follows: — 'The Report 

 on the Brixham Cave was drawn up by 

 me on Sept. 9, 1858. All the circum- 

 stances connected with the entire leg of 

 cave bear — femur, with tibia and fibula 

 folded together, and ball of astragalus 

 partly dislocated — and its position in 

 comminuted shale, below the ochreous 

 cave "earth, and above a well defined 



flint implement, were determined by me 

 at Torquay and Brixham on September 

 2. Mr. Pengelly gave us the data. . . . 

 I identified the remains and the flint, 

 and drew the inference that the leg must 

 have been introduced with its ligament 

 at least fresh, after the flint manufac- 

 tured by the hand of man had been in- 

 troduced into the lower cave deposit.' — 

 [Ed.] 



