1863.] 



DAWKINS HY.ENA-DEN NEAR WELLS. 



265 



long, had reached the floor and formed a vertical bar, as if to forbid 

 further ingress. The last portion of this branch, for a distance of 

 about 6 feet, was perfectly free from sediment, and was covered 

 here and there with stalagmitic crusts. 



4. The Passage D. — Having explored C as far as we could crawl, 

 we commenced clearing out D, and discovered a third layer of or- 

 ganic remains presenting the same section as the former bone -beds, 

 except that the dark layer was absent in places, and the bone-bed 

 was in immediate contact with the roof, Besides an enormous 

 quantity of bones, it yielded 45 jaws and 120 teeth, It occupied 

 the whole of the width of D, and its edge rested on the floor of the 

 eastern side. Its average width w r as 6 feet, its length 14 feet ; and 

 its square area was, therefore, 84 feet (see figs. 1 and 7). 



Fig. 7. — Longitudinal Section of the Fig. 8. — Transverse Section in 

 Passage D. the Vertical Passage E. 



/. Sand. d. Grey clay. 



For the explanation of the other symbols see Figs. 2-6. 



As we approached the further end of the bone-bed, the red earth 

 became of a paler hue and of greater tenacity; the stones also be- 

 came larger, and the organic remains more rare. At its further edge 

 was a layer of fine sand (/, fig. 7), 4 inches in thickness, underlying 

 grey clay (d), full of large stones,' and containing a few large bones. 

 This latter extended completely up to the roof (see fig. 7), and was 

 20 inches in thickness. 



5. The Vertical Passage E. — From this point up to the vertical 

 passage E (see fig. 7), a distance of 4 feet, there was not the slightest 

 vestige of bones or teeth. The stiff grey clay (d, fig. 8) rested upon 

 the horizontal layer of sand on the floor of the cave (f). In the 

 former a most beautifully polished piece of chert from the Mountain- 

 limestone was found, which, as its surface is very irregular, appears 

 to owe its polish to friction upon some soft substance. Dr. Buckland 

 would have called it a rubbing-stone*. In the latter, also, there 

 were numerous angular pieces of chert from the Mountain -limestone, 

 associated with peroxide of manganese. The vertical passage took 

 the form of a vault (fig. 7), 6 feet in height and 4 in width, and was 

 represented overhead by an opening, 1 square foot in extent. Here 

 our exploration ended. 



* In the bears' dens of Zahnloch and G-ailenreuth similar traces of polishing 

 were found, which Dr. Buckland assigns, without hesitation, " to the skin and 

 paws of antediluvian bears'' (Reliq. Diluv., second edition, pp. 132, 137). 



