W. Pengelly— Cavern Exploration in Devonshire. 299 
Art. XLI—History of Cavern Faploration in Devonshire, Eng- 
land; by W. Preneewiy, F.R.S., F.G.S., President of the 
Geological Section of the British Association at Plymouth. 
Cavern-Exploration in Devonsire. I am not unmindful that 
there were giants in those days; and no one can deplore more 
than I do our loss of Buckland and De la Beche, among many 
others ; nor can I forget the enormoas strides opinion has made 
since 1841, when, in this Section, Dr. Buckland “ contended — 
that human remains had never been found under such circum- 
Stances as to prove their contemporaneous existence with the 
hyzenas and bears of the caverns,” and added that “tin Kent's 
ole the Celtic knives * * * * were found in holes dug by art, 
and which had disturbed the floor of the cave and the bones 
below it” (Athenwum, 14th Aug., 1841, p. 626). This scep- 
ticism, however, did the good service of inducing cavern eX- 
plorers to conduct their researches with an accuracy which 
should place their results, whatever they might prove to be, 
amongst the undoubted additions to human knowledge. 
_ The principal caverns in South Devon occur in the limestone 
districts of Plymouth, Yealmpton, Brixham, Torquay, Buck- 
fastleigh, and Chudleigh ; but as those in the last two localities 
have yielded nothing of importance to the anthropologist or the 
paleontologist, they will not be further noticed on this occa- 
sion. In dealing with the others it seems most simple to follow 
mainly the order of chronology; that is to say, to commence 
with the cavern which first caught scientific attention, and, 
having finished all that the time at my disposal will allow me 
to say about it, but not before, to proceed to the next, in the 
order thus defined ; and so on through the series. : 
eston Caverns.—When Mr. Whidbey engaged to superin- 
tend the construction of the Plymouth Breakwater, Sir Ji oseph 
ks, President of the Royal Society, requested him to 
assembled, and have the bones or any other fossil remains that 
Were met with carefully preserved (see Phil. Trans., 1817, pp. 
