1861.] MARCEL DE SERRES BOls^E-CAVES. 3 



carried in, since they are always accompanied by alluvial deposits. 

 If the Caniivora alone had been the cause of such phenomena, they 

 ought to be found in aU ossiferous caves, whereas it is far from 

 being so. A very great number of them oifer, in fact, only herbivo- 

 rous, without a trace of carnivorous animals. 



On the other hand, the condition of the cave-bones proves that 

 they had been deprived of their flesh and integuments before they 

 were carried into the caves. The numerous fissures connected with 

 them, and the red earth with which these are filled, even the nar- 

 rowest of them, prove in the clearest manner that the bones must 

 have been transported into their present position merely as bare bones, 

 and not otherwise. If, therefore, there are in some caves some bones 

 which have been gnawed, that may have happened before they were 

 swept into the caves. 



The excrements of Hyaenas are in no wise a proof that these 

 animals Hved in the caves where they are discovered. Their sohdity 

 and their rounded form would render their transport easily efi'ected. 

 How otherwise can we suppose that carnivorous animals of very 

 unequal strength should live in common, and with a good mutual 

 understanding, as must have happened with the lions, bears, wolves, 

 foxes, otters, beavers, and so man}^ others, which are found in the 

 caverns of Lunel-Yiel. 



It would be very easy to mention many other caves, even of less 

 size, in which animals of habits not less dissimilar are met with ; but 

 the caves of the neighbourhood of Montpellier seem to us to suffice 

 for the demonstration of a fact verified by so many observations. 



I wiU end this note with an observation of the illustrious physicist 

 so recently lost to science. Humboldt observes that, when a pheno- 

 menon is general and repeated under the same conditions, as has 

 been the case in the filling of the longitudinal and vertical fissures 

 of calcareous rocks, such a phenomenon must have been produced 

 by a cause as general as the eff'ects which group round it. Accord- 

 ing to this double condition, which is presented in all caves where 

 remains of animals of geological date are found, it is impossible to 

 attribute it to any other cause than to violent inundations. 



2. On the Petroleum- springs in North America. 



By Abraham Gesner, M.D., F.G.S. 



[Abstract.] 



The ample information on this subject already published renders it 



desirable to make use only of the subjoined portion of Dr. Gesner's 



communication. 



The petroleum is obtained by borings, to a depth of from 150 to 

 500 feet. No reliable record of these borings, or the strata through 

 which they pass, has yet been kept. As a general rule the sections 

 may, however, be represented as — 1st. Soil, ferruginous clay, and 

 boulders ; 2nd. Sandstone and conglomerates ; 3rd. Shale ; 4th. 

 Bituminous shale ; and 5th. Oil, underlaid by an oil-bearing stratum 



b2 



