176 Proceedinrjs of the Royal Irish Academy. 



bones so recent, as hitherto supposed, it might be imagined that 

 modern implements, arms, &c., would have been found at some time in 

 the Cave ; but none are recorded. And it must not be forgotten that 

 those things would not be so apt to escape the attention of ordinary 

 observers, as flint weapons, and their accompaniments, which such 

 persons would be most likely to regard as mere nibbish. 



Another point I should refer to is the presence of peaty or car- 

 bonaceous matter in these Caves. This I have noticed in the section 

 of the Eabbit Burrow. It has also been mentioned by Dr. Foot* as 

 recorded by !Mr. Eobert ]!tlallet so long ago as 1848,f that the charcoal 

 of coniferous wood was found in layers in the stalagmite. Any chai'coal 

 that I saw was remote fi'om the entrance, and interstratified with the 

 deposit in which the bones were obtained ; and had people fled there 

 for refuge, and been undergoing the very unpleasant process of being 

 •'smoked out," they would hardly have tried to add to their discomfort 

 by keeping up a flj'e in the interior. So that if it were even conceded 

 that this charcoal was the result of fii'es used by regular denizens of 

 the Cave, that would be sufficient to do away entii'ely with the notion 

 of the Danish massacre. 



In Mr. Mallet's paper, just cited, the occui'renee of phosphate of 

 lime in the stalagToite of this Cave is shown. He supposed it to be 

 derived fi'om the limestone rocks ; but it is most probably due to the 

 presence of bones. He does not seem to have been aware of their 

 existence. 



* Loc. cif., pp. 79-80. 



t Jornnal Eoyal Geological Society, Ireland, Vol. III., p. 362. 



