Vol. 51.] ANNIVERSARY ADDRESS OP THE PRESIDENT. lv 



Fissures of Devonshire ' before the Royal Institution of Cornwall 

 (1858-59, vol. iii. pp. 149-151). 



In 1862 he communicated a paper to the Royal Society ' On the 

 Lignites and Clays of Bovey Tracey.' ' This was afterwards supple- 

 mented by Dr. Oswald Heer's account of ' The Fossil Flora of 

 Bovey Tracey,' and was issued as a separate volume, dedicated to 

 Miss Burdett-Coutts (who undertook the expense of the publi- 

 cation). 



Pengelly's first systematic Cave-exploration, that of Brixham Cave, 

 near Torquay, was undertaken in 1858, under the auspices of the 

 Royal and Geological Societies, aided by a committee consisting 

 of Sir A. Ramsay, Prof. Prestwich, Sir C. Lyell, Sir R. Owen, 

 Mr. Beckles, the Rev. R. Everest, Mr. Godwin-Austen, and Dr. Hugh 

 Falconer. But the actual exploration was carried out by Pengelly 

 himself, who undertook the entire superintendence. 



In 1862 he initiated the establishment of the Devonshire Asso- 

 ciation for the Advancement of Science, Literature, and Art, of 

 which he was the President for 1867-68. 



In recognition of his past scientific work he was elected a Fellow 

 of the Royal Society in 1863. 



Ever eager to foster a love for science among the people and to 

 encourage those studies which had for their object the advancement 

 of knowledge, Pengelly was especially active as a lecturer ; he had 

 the happy faculty of making himself easily understood by persons 

 unacquainted with science. Twenty years ago he travelled through 

 the country as one of the most acceptable scientific lecturers of 

 the day, and his efforts locally were equally successful. 



The exploration of Kent's Cavern commenced in the year 1864 ; 

 a committee, consisting of Sir Charles Lyell, Prof. Phillips, Sir 

 John Lubbock, Sir John Evans, Mr. Edward Vivian, and Mr. William 

 Pengelly, was formed at the British Association, Bath, and, year by 

 year from 1865, Pengelly, acting as Secretary, brought up to the 

 Association his annual Report of the work carried on in Kent's 

 Cavern under his constant care and supervision. 



" This famous cave, better known as ' Kent's Hole,' is situated in 

 a small limestone-hill about a mile eastward from Torquay harbour ; 

 it has been known from time immemorial, but never attracted 

 scientific attention until 1824 ; it was partially explored by the 

 Rev. J. M c Enery from 1825 to 1829 ; by Mr. Godwin-Austen prior to 

 1840 ; and by the Torquay Natural History Society in 1846. All 



1 Phil. Trans. Koy. Soc. vol. clii. (1862) p. 1019. 



e2 



