Xl PEOCEEDDreS OP THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



notice of Eurypteriis, Mr. Leckenby's additions to the Fauna Cal- 

 loviensis of Yorkshii-e, Mr. S. Wood's Extraneous Fossils of the Eed 

 Crag, Messrs. Brown and Sowerby's Tertiary Fossils from Chislet, 

 Mr. Stow's Fossils from South Africa, Prof. Owen's account of the 

 Zygomaturus and Xototherium, and of the Marsupial Lion of Au- 

 stralia, and Dr. Bigsby's remarkable analytical tables of the palaeo- 

 zoic fossils of jSTorth America. But one investigation claims at 

 least a few words, if only to express our thankfulness for the liberal 

 and prompt aid given by the Government Grant Committee of the 

 Eoyal Society to the exploration of Brixham Cave, suggested by 

 Dr. Falconer, in which bones of Mammalia occur, and also flints 

 apparently fashioned by human art. 



l!^othing can be more interesting, perhaps nothing more difficult, 

 than to collate the scale of historical time with that of the latest 

 geological period, in the very limited portion of this period which 

 can be safely admitted as coeval with the race of man. 



Brixham Cave. 



The excavations already made by aid of two grants from the 

 Eoyal Society, and some private contributions, have proved this 

 cave to be in essential points similar to many others known and 

 explored in the same and in other parts of the British Tsles. The 

 calcareous rock is divided by joints, in two sets crossing at right 

 angles, north and south and east and west. These joints have been 

 in many cases enlarged by the percolation of rain-water, and perhaps, 

 at an earlier period, by drainage- currents or the sea- waves, when the 

 land was at a lower level, as it is known by several cases of beaches 

 to have been, all round the coasts of Devon and Cornwall. On the 

 floor of many such caves is often a coarse, more or less pebbly, de- 

 posit ; over this a loamy deposit, sometimes containing bones of Mam- 

 malia. Some more limited deposits lie on this loam, and in parts the 

 whole is sealed down by stalagmite. Human remains occur some- 

 times under, but elsewhere above, the stalagmite. 



The conformity of the cave at Brixham to what may be called 

 the normal formula is of much importance; for if, by the steady 

 prosecution of the works, the probable history of the cave can be 

 satisfactorily recovered, the light thus kindled will spread through 

 many caverns which have yielded a larger variety of bones to less 

 attentive observers of the circumstances which accompanied them. 



An admirable map and exact sections of the windings of Brixham 

 Cave have been prepared by Mr. Bristow, who adds to this valuable 

 contribution a well-digested memoir of his i^ersonal observations. 

 The excavation is under the care of a diligent committee, the spe- 

 cimens are to be forwarded to London, and Dr. Falconer, who is 

 expected home in the spring, is charged with the task of describing 

 the mammalian remains. 



If it be asked what useful purpose may be served by all this labour 

 of preparing maps and sections, and determining the affinities of 

 fossil plants and animals, we may reply, that in no conditions of 



