260 LECTUKE IX. 



The cave of Loinbrive, say tlie authors, is about 4,000 

 meters in length. It consists of a series of wide halls, which 

 are connected by long and narrow passages. Here and there 

 are side galleries. In some parts the roof is so low that we 

 must creep through. The entrance has been widened by a 

 small tunnel. Tourists have for a long time visited the cave ou 

 account of the stalactite formations. The ground and the walls 

 Fig. 84. Section of tlie Cave of Lombrive. 



a, h. Section of, passing throufrh the Cave. c. Interior of the Cave. 

 1. Stalactites. 2. Stalagmite crust of the floor. 3. Ossiferous clay. 4. 

 Plastic clay. 5. Gravel, with small pebbles. 6. Large rolled stones. 



exhibit traces of having been scooped by water, presenting 

 stripes, furrows, and deposits of gravel, sand, mud, and bluish 

 clay. The deposits are also found in the small side grottoes, 

 which frequently lie above the level of the chief cave. They 

 contain bones, and are here and there covered by stalagmite, the 

 surface of which resembles the surface of the sea ruffled by a 

 light breeze. 



The cave has two entrances, at a little distance from each 

 other, through which the waters escaped, in a direction indi- 

 cated by a gradual elevation of the floor of the cave backward, 

 but especially by a perpendicular precipice, which abruptly 

 divides the cave into two portions. Five fire-escape ladders are 

 requisite to ascend this precipice. Above it there is a long 

 narrow passage, from which but little water escaped, so that 

 the posterior and wider portions of the cave formed at one time 

 a large pond, in which the most interesting deposits were 



