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THE EDINBURGH JOURNAL OF NATURAL HISTORY. 



MISCELLANEOUS. 



ACCOUNT OF AN OSSIFEROUS CAVERN AT YEALMTON BRIDGE, NEAR 

 YEALMTON, DEVONSHIRE. 



In the summer of 1835, having casually heard of certain bones having been met 

 with, in the progress of working a limestone quarry at' Yealmton Bridge, we under- 

 took to investigate their value, and the circumstances under which they occurred ; 

 the results of which inquiry we soon afterwards published, with a feigned signature. 

 The present account regards only the bare facts which obtruded themselves, and is a 

 condensed and corrected relation of what has been before made public in this neigh- 

 bourhood. 



Lime-rock abounds at Yealmton Bridge, and caverns and fissures of various sizes 

 are not unfrequently disclosed to view during its removal for economical purposes. 

 That, on the southern side of the river, at this spot rises to a great height; and be- 

 fore its consumption commenced, its bed projected to the banks of the river. It was 

 in the upright surface of the rock, that the opening or openings of the cave probably 

 formerly existed ; but the memory of man can render no account concerning these 

 original entrances. I say entrances, for as there were certain chambers to the cave, 

 each pursuing different directions to the surface, it is reasonable to suppose there 

 were an equal number of apertures ; besides which, the fact of the remains of the 

 predatory beasts here discovered, being disposed so that each kind was, generally 

 speaking, separate from the others, seems to point out independent and unconnected 

 movements of these creatures. 



A great part of the cavern had been destroyed, and a large quantity of the bones 

 removed, and irrecoverable, at the time we commenced the investigation. The rela- 

 tive positions, directions, and measurements of the remaining cavities, are stated by 

 Captain IVludge as follows : — " Portions of only the eastern and western chambers 

 remained. The former consisted of a descending shaft to the depth of ten feet, which 

 tm-ned at right angles, and again ascended to the surface, both the descent and the 

 ascent being at an angle of 45*^. Of the western chamber, a portion remained un- 

 injured. From the present opening, it takes a northerly direction for forty-three 

 feet, the height varying from five to six feet, and the breadth from four to five. It 

 then turns westerly for twenty-five feet, the height varying from five to twelve feet, 

 and the breadth from three and a half to five." 



Several deposits, arranged as superimposed strata, occurred in this cavern. The 

 lowest stratum consisted of compact red clay, three feet six inches deep. Above this 

 was found a layer of argillaceous sand in the eastern chamber, and of coarse gravel in 

 the western chamber, the former varying in depth from six to eighteen inches, and 

 becoming broader towards its limit ; the latter not exceeding six inches in depth. 

 Over these respectively a bed of stiff white clay, since become red, presented itself, 

 being in depth about two feet six inches. Lastly, above the whole was an accumu- 

 lation of diluvial clay, three feet six inches, containing pebbles, and the osseous re- 

 mains. A stalagmitic crust of variable thickness formed an almost general covering 

 to these strata and animal remains. Such were the appearances, and number of de- 

 posits, where the space w^as sufficient and circumstancen favorable. 



In one direction, where the cave had communication with the surface by means of 

 , numerous small, circular, lengthened apertures, an alternation of thin beds of clay 

 and stalagmite was observable ; and, contained in the substance of this stalagmite, we 

 discovered the bones of three or four species of Mus, which, however, we have not 

 been able to identify as the remains of existing kinds. One of them is certainly 

 allied to tlie Water-rat, and another to the common Field-mouse. These facts are 

 mentioned, because we imagine these said alternate deposits of clay and stalagmite 

 to be modern comparatively with those before named, originating in accidental fall- 

 ings-in of recent soil ; and poinding out, at the same time, a difference in the age of 

 these, and of the other animal remains. Besides these, theie were other recent ex- 

 Tivise found in connection with the diluvial clay, namely, certain snail shells, and the 

 bones of a bat, both of which creatures are known to hybernate, and not unfrequently 

 to experience death in such places. There were likewise other relics, of the anti- 

 quity of which we are not clearly satisfied, since it is the habit of very many animals 

 to appropriate such cavities for dwellings, to betake themselves during night, during 

 sickness, during winter, or as a resource when pursued, to the hollows and crevices 

 of rocks ; and since, by a variety of causes, their bodies, after death, are liable to 

 be found blended with such as are the genuine productions of a former epoch. 



The pebbles found in the uppermost stratum are certainly granite, and were, 

 therefore, most likely derived from Dartraoor, where granite universally abounds, 

 Breccije, or conglomerates of clay, fragments of rock, bones, pebbles, and stalagmite, 

 coprolitic masses, bodies resembling indurated adipocere, portions of rich spongy fi- 

 brous clay, and particles of black mould, were also distributed through the same bed. 

 No hair was found. The bones were in great number and variety, and for the most 

 ])art it appeared, that besides the separate occurrence of those species which are pre- 

 daceous, such as the Fox and Hyena, there was, moreover, a separation of the her- 

 bivorous from the other kinds ; but this may have been accidental, and it must be 

 recollected that this account rofyrs only to such portions of the cavern as remained 

 for our examination. It is, for the same reason, difficult, or impossible, to state the 

 proportions borne by the different kinds to each other; but, if the facts presented by 

 these remaining portions of the cave could be allowed to furnish such a statement, it 

 would be, that the rapacious exceeded in number the other creatures. Very many 

 dozens of Hyenas' teeth were collected; and in one small spot, having an area not 

 greater than four feet, we extracted s^?ven dozens of canine teeth of this animal. 

 Next in frequency of occurrence to the bones of the Hyena and Fox were those of 

 the Horse, Ox, Deer, and Kabbit. After these ranks the Rhinoceros, whilst the 

 bones of the Elephant, Wolf, Pig, Glutton, and Bear, were extremely rare. Pha- 

 langeal bones, and a very few others, were all that we found perfect, the rest being 

 in a broken stale. The long bones had generally lost their epiphyses, and very many, 

 not excepting those of the Hyena, were marked by teeth of some predatory beast, 

 and evidently show that they had been chipped and gnawed. One or two fragments 

 display on their surfaces scratches resembling those made by the teeth of a Weasel, 



or animal of that kind. Teeth of very aged animals were found, and there were also 

 bones of young individuals belonging, with the exception of a few of the Hyena, to 

 the herbivorous kinds. The remains of the Elephant are indeed confined to two 

 teeth of a young animal. Some of the bones have been attacked by inflammatory 

 disease, and this occurs among the larger kinds of teeth, which, also, in some in- 

 stances, are fractured as if they had been submitted to great violence. Some pieces 

 of bone are on one side highly polished, as if they had been subjected to great fric- 

 tion ; and Captain Mudge observed a part of the roof of the cavern, which is lower 

 than usual, perfectly smooth and glossy, as though it had been rendered so by the 

 frequent transits of the tenants of the cave. 



It is very difficult to determine on the precise number of species of animals found 

 in this cave, since, besides that a very great quantity of the bones had been originally 

 destroyed, our knowledge of fossil osteology is as yet very imperfect, and the broken 

 condition they were found in precludes the possibility of identifying a great many of 

 them, even with the greatest facilities of comparison with other specimens. Add to 

 this, also, that not unfrequently fragments, and even teeth, are met with, which baf- 

 fle the keenest discrimination, that a degree of uncertainty with respect to date often 

 attaches to some of the animal remains deposited in ossiferous caverns, and that 

 sometimes from a disparity in size, conjoined with a similarity in shape and figure, of 

 some series of teeth, a doubt arises whether there may not have existed several analo- 

 gous species of such animals. This kind of doubt has unavoidably arisen in the pre- 

 sent investigation ; but it seems most reasonable to conclude, that there were two oi 

 even three species both of Deer and Horse, since there are series of teeth of these 

 genera greatly differing in size. 



With regard to the composition of these fossil bones, we ascertained, by means of 

 chemical experiments, that they contained a much less quantity of animal matter than 

 ordinary bones, such as have lain exposed to the atmosphere and rain for some time. 

 They likewise were found to have received into their texture a portion of carbonate 

 of lime, where they had been so situated as to have derived it from the drippings of 

 the cave. These circumstances render them so extremely dry, that they imbibe 

 moisture with great rapidif)-, and to a gi-eat extent, so that if the lips are applied to 

 them, they adhere tenaciously. 



Besides the present, there were and are other caverns of a like kind near Ply- 

 mouth, some of them adjoining this place. The Oreston Caves were well known to 

 the scientific world ; another, similar in its nature to that of Yealm Bridge, VPas dis- 

 covered near Yealmton, by some workmen, a few years since, and its contents tho- 

 roughly destroyed ; a third instance is that of a small cavity investigated very recently 

 by a gentleman, on whose property it occurs. It is not far distant from Yealm 

 Bridge, and its contents were precisely similar, except in variety and quantity^ to 

 those mentioned in this paper. The bones of the Hyena and Deer were chiefly re- 

 marked. A fourth example is Kitley Cave, amongst the pebbles and rubbish of 

 which we found a tooth of the Hyena, and a portion of the head of a Rabbit or Hare, 

 evidently an extinct kind ; and there is also a bone of some quadruped firmly fised 

 among the diluvial pebbles in that part of the cavern which seems to have been 

 choked up with these bodies : — facts which are at variance with the account of the 

 subject of this memoir given by Captain Mudge, in his paper read before the Geolo- 

 gical Society, though we are not prepared to say that this cavern had been submit- 

 ted to the same circumstances as that at Yealm Bridge. Lastly, there is another 

 cavity of small dimeitsions, occurring, as do all the others, in lime-rock, situated 

 midway between this village and Yealm Bridge, in which, among the pebbles, brec- 

 cise, and mould, we found, after a long search, a single tooth of a Pig, cemented to 

 a portion of indurated clay. 



yealmton, 23d Ai(gui>t 1836. John C. Bellamy. 



Influence of Light and Darkness on the Human Body. — Dr Allen, in his 

 work on the inlluence of the atmosphere on the human frame, mentions the following 

 instances : — Baron Humboldt was acquainted with a lady who, at sunset, invariably 

 lost her voice, and did not again receive it till sunrise. Aristotle mentions the case 

 of an innkeeper, who lost her understanding every evening at sunset, but recovered 

 it next morning. When a person has taken too much wine, he becomes much more 

 conscious of the influence of the wine on his brain when the light is removed. He 

 is then no longer able to stand, and the chair or bed on which he may be seems to 

 him to be revolving with rapidity. When he is again placed under the influence of 

 light, all these phenomena cease. In early life, says a German physician, I made a 

 curious experiment of this kind on myself. At a merry breakfast party, I drank a 

 few glasses too many of Malaga wine. It was not until about twelve hours after 

 that, when, in bed, I extinguished my candle, the effect of the wine on my brain be- 

 came perceptible. Every thing then seemed to move round me in a circle ; heat and 

 a feeling of uneasiness came on, and I found it necessary to spring out of my bed. 

 As soon as light was brought every thing became again stationary, and the disagree- 

 able sensations vanished. During the whole day, while under the influence of light, 

 I had been able to follow my usual avocations, without perceiving the slightest symp- 

 toms of an unhealthy over-excitement. 



AspiniUM DuMETOitUM. — Professor Don finds that the Aspidium dumetorum of 

 Smith is merely an accidental state or variety of Aspidium dilatatum, and states 

 that the distinctions derived from the fructification in the English Flora are fallacious, 

 being dependent partly on the age of the frond, and partly on that of the individual 

 plant described. 



Edinburgh: Published for the pRorRiETOR, at the Office, No. 13, Hill Street. 

 London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 65, Cornhill. Glasgow and the West of 

 Scotland: John Smith and Son; and John Macleod. Dublin: GEoncic 

 Young. Paris : J. B. Balliere, Ruede I'Ecole de Medecine, No. ]3 bis. 



THE EDINBURGH PRINTING COMPANY. 



