504 



OSSIFEROUS CAVES OF GOTVER. 



caverns resorted to by Carnivora. ~No coprolites of Hyaena 

 were observed in any of the floor deposits. 



5. Above tbe stratum of red-earth and breccia a bed of 

 stalagmite of very irregular thickness, under which, and 

 partly embedded in it, was found the portion of an Elephant's 

 tusk, which measured 5^ feet in length with a girth of 24 

 inches. This tusk lay about 4 feet above the bones of Ele- 

 phant in the lower deposit. 



6. Above this bed of stalagmite, another bed of breccia, in 

 most places cemented throughout by stalagmite, and con- 

 taining entangled bones, chiefly of Ursus and Bos, and mostly 

 entire ; but which could rarely be extracted unbroken. It 

 varied from 1 to 2 feet in thickness. 



7. The uppermost bed of stalagmite, forming a very 

 regular deposit, which ranged generally from 9 inches to 1 

 foot in thickness, but m some places extended to upwards of 

 2 feet. Colonel Wood informs me that some remains of 

 Ursus were found occurring in the stalagmite. 



8. A superficial deposit of dark-coloured alluvial earth, 

 about a foot thick, containing the bones of Bos, Gervus, 

 Cants Vulpes, together with horns of Red Deer and Roebuck, 

 the latter in one instance bearing distinct marks of having 

 been wrought by human hands. Recent shells were also 

 found in this stratum, consisting chiefly of Patella vulgata, 

 Mytilus eclulis, Purpura lapillus, and IAtorina litorea. These 

 appear to have been brought into the cavern by birds as 

 food. 



' ]STo remains of man were found below the upper stalag- 

 mite. In the mud above it were pieces of ancient British 

 Pottery.' l (Starling Benson.) 



(b.) Organic Remains. — It is not my intention now to enter 

 on a detailed identification of the different species of mam- 

 malia ftrand in ' Bacon Hole,' nor to analyze the conditions 

 under which they were associated. I shall confine myself to 

 such as appear to be most significant, as positive indicators of 

 the age of the deposits. Sir Charles Lyell, so recently as in 

 the supplement to the last edition of the ' Manual,' states 

 that 'to what part of the Pliocene period the cave animals of 

 Great Britain should be chiefly referred is still a vexed 

 question.' The large Pachydermata, belonging to the genera 

 Elephas, Rhinoceros, and Hippopotamus, are of the most 

 weight in their indications, and it is of the last importance 

 to discriminate with precision the species to which the re- 

 mains occurring in the caves belong. The vagueness which 



1 The above summary of the cave de- 

 posits is mainly a condensed abstract of 



Mr. S. Benson's excellent description. 



