464 Victoria Cave. 



doubtless the list will be largely increased. I will 

 arrange those I have to notice geographically, begin- 

 ning with the north of England, and I may mention 

 that England is peculiarly fortunate in the possession 

 of so many dens and caverns, most of which have been 

 excavated by natural processes in Carboniferous Lime- 

 stone, which forms such large tracts of country both in 

 England and Wales. The remainder are chiefly in the 

 Devonian Limestone of Devonshire, while a few are in 

 Oolitic or other limestone strata. In connection with 

 this subject, it is worthy of remark, that the poverty of 

 Scotland in the fossilised bones of Elephants, Hippo- 

 potami, Ehinoceroses, Lions, and perhaps of man or his 

 works, is, doubtless, chiefly due to the general absence in 

 that corntry of large masses of Carboniferous Limestone, 

 while Ireland, more than half the surface of which is 

 made of Carboniferous Limestone, will probably yield a 

 rich crop of such organic remains, when leisure permits 

 people to search for them. 



The Victoria Cave, near Settle in Yorkshire, is 

 entered at the base of a Scar in the Carboniferous 

 Limestone, at a height of about 1,450 feet above the 

 sea. Since 1870, it has been carefully excavated 

 under a trustworthy committee, and reports have been 

 issued on the subject by Professor Boyd Dawkins, and 

 since 1873 by Mr. E. H. Tiddeman of the Geological 

 Survey. The mouth of the cave was at first much 

 obscured by talus, fallen from the cliff or Scar, and 

 when this was removed, a layer was found inside the 

 cavern, partly composed of charcoal and burnt bones. 

 It was on this layer that the original discoverer of 

 the cavern, Mr. Jackson of Settle, found, in 1838, 

 coins, iron spear-heads, brooches, and many other 

 articles, all pointing to the fact that the cave had been 



