116 PROCEEDINGS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [Jan. 22, 



overlying the lower slopes of the Menclips. Open to the south, it 

 runs almost horizontally into the monntain-side, until closed abruptly 

 northwards by a perpendicular wall of rock, 200 feet or more in 

 height, ivy- covered, and affording a dwelling-place to innumerable 

 jackdaws. Out of a cave at its base, in which Dr. Buckland* dis- 

 covered pottery and human teeth, flows the Eiver Axe, in a canal cut 

 in the rock. In cutting this passage, that the water might be con- 

 veyed to a large paper-mill close by, the mouth of the Hyaena-den 

 was intersected some ten years ago; and from that time up to 

 December 1859, it was undisturbed save by rabbits and badgers ; and 

 even they did not penetrate far into the interior, or make deep 

 burrows. Close to the mouth of the cave the workmen (employed 

 in making this canal) found more than 300 Roman coins, among 

 which were those of the usurper Allectus and of Commodus. "When 

 Mr. Williamson and myself began our exploration in 1859, about 

 12 feet of the entrance of the cave had been cut away, and large 

 quantities of the earth, stones, and animal remains had been used in 

 the formation of an embankment for the stream which runs past 

 the present entrance of the cave. Of the animal remains, some found 

 their way to the British Museum and to the Museum of the Somerset 

 Archaeological Society at Taunton; but the greater portion were 

 either thrown away or scattered among the private collections of the 

 neighbourhood. According to the testimony of the workmen, the 

 bones and teeth formed a layer about 12 inches in thickness, which 

 rested immediately upon the conglomerate-floor, while they were 

 comparatively scarce in the overlying mass of stones and red earth. 

 The workmen state also that at the time of the discovery of the cave 

 the hill-side presented no concavity to mark its presence. When we 

 began our exploration, so completely was the cave filled with debris 

 up to the very roof, that we were compelled to cut our way into it. 

 Of the stones scattered irregularly through the matrix of red earth, 

 some were angular, others water-worn ; all are derived from the 

 decomposition of the dolomitic conglomerate in which the cave is 

 hollowed. Near the entrance, and at a depth of 5 feet from the 

 roof, were three layers of peroxide of manganese f, full of bony 

 splinters; and, passing obliquely up towards the southern side of 

 the cave, and over a ledge of rock that rises abruptly from the 

 floor, further inwards they became interblended one with another, 

 and at a distance of 15 feet from the entrance were barely visible. 

 In and between these the animal remains were found in the greatest 

 abundnnce. 



While driving this adit, we found an angular piece of flint, which 



* Fzrtfe 'KeHquiae Diluvianoe,' p. 164. On examining this cave in September 

 1861, I was not fortunate enough to find human remains. During the winter, 

 the stream flowing through the cave overflows, and covers the floor with a fine 

 red earthy sediment, similar in every respect to that which is found in the hyajna- 

 den. It varies in thickness from a few inches to a few feet. 



t As in the case of the Kirkdale Cave. And here let me mention that I have 

 taken for granted the fact of the cave having been filled with remains by the 

 agency of hyainas, to avoid reproducing Dr. Buckland's arguments about the 

 normal inhabitants of Kirkdale. Vide ' Reliquia.- Diluviana?.' 



