530 OSSIFEROUS CAVES OF GOWEE. 



eating a comparatively modern date, while some of the mam- 

 malia tended to put the ossiferous beds of the caverns back 

 to a period not far removed from that of the Norwich Crag. 

 On examining the bone collections from ' Paviland ' and 

 ' Spritsail-Tor,' the perplexity of the case was increased by 

 my observing among them conditions in some respects pre- 

 cisely the converse of what I had seen in ' Bacon Hole ' and 

 ' Minchin Hole.' Remains of B. tichorhinus were compara- 

 tively abundant both in ' Paviland ' and in ' Spritsail-Tor,' 

 while the species occurring in ' Bacon Hole ' and ' Minchin 

 Hole ' was wanting. On the other hand, remains both of Ele- 

 phas antiquus and E. primigenius were encountered in ' Sprit- 

 sail-Tor,' while, as a general rule, the associated herbivorous 

 and carnivorous genera and species were, with certain local 

 anomalies, the same throughout the caverns. Hence the 

 question was suggested : ' Does this limited peninsula of 

 Gower comprise ossiferous caves referable to distinct geo- 

 logical periods ? or are all the mammalian remains contained 

 in them referable to one and the same period ? ' 



On paying a second visit to Gower, in the autumn of 1858, 

 I became acquainted with the fact, that transported blocks 

 occurred on the highland of Cefn Bryn, and I observed beds 

 of gravel on the southern slope of the old red sandstone 

 conglomerate. I became very desirous that these boulders 

 and gravels should be examined by some observer of au- 

 thority, having special familiarity with that walk of investi- 

 gation, and in discussing with my friend Mr. Prestwich the 

 various bearings of the Grower case, I impressed upon him 

 the importance of his paying a visit to the cave district. This 

 object he accomplished last autumn, and the results are 

 given in the notes hereto appended, with which he has 

 favoured me. 



But in the interval between my first visit, in 1858, and Mr. 

 Prestwich's late reconnaissance of the Gower district, I had 

 opportunities of examining the cave collections of the Mendips 

 in the Museum at Taunton and in Mr. Beard's possession 

 near Banwell, the remains of the Devonshire caverns at 

 Torquay and Plymouth, the Durdham Down collection at 

 Bristol, the Cefn collection formed by the late Mr. Lloyd 

 and now in the possession of Colonel H. W. Williams Wynne, 

 and the Kirkdale collection at York, besides gleanings from 

 all these and other localities in the British Museum and in 

 the rich collection left by Buckland at Oxford. I had also 

 seen the indubitable remains of E. antiquus and E. primi- 

 genius, associated in the beds of marine volcanic Tufia, at 

 Monte Sacro and other localities in the environs of Borne. 

 The result was to prepare me for a great change of opinion 



