180 MR. W. J. LEWIS ABBOTT ON THE [May 1 894, 



friable and loose, presenting a washed-out appearance, probably due 

 to the inability of the water-power to carry thus far anything but 

 the lighter materials. The chamber-floor was about 300 feet O.D., 

 and from this to the bottom of the working (which was only a very 

 few feet from the present water-line or clay) it was full of a 

 deposit (c, fig. 5) which migbt be described as an ordinary brick- 

 earth, similar to that exposed in' the vallej 7 , with the addition of 

 lime and other materials of the mother-rock, not only of the friable 

 hassock, but of blocks of rag varying in weight from a few ounces 

 to nearly half a ton. These blocks (/) occur at all levels through- 

 out the deposit, large ones frequently being tightly wedged in, and 

 impossible to move without blasting. There are frequent boulders 

 of Oldbury stone and chert, and occasionally a flint, the latter some- 

 times in the form of flakes ; but up to the present no implements 

 havo been discovered in the fissure. The field (g) above was pro- 

 bably an encampment in Neolithic times, as neoliths occur in large 

 numbers on the surface. One of the higher gravels was deposited 

 upon the Folkestone Beds above the fissure ; remains of the former 

 still exist on the higher part of the field. There is also a patch of 

 bleached white flint-gravel about 100 yards square, which I have 

 just been able to trace home. These gravels were worked by 

 Neolithic man, as often were similar deposits, but I have found 

 no trace of man in the fissure — except a stray flint or two — and 

 not a single neolith ! The latter fact is very important in deciding 

 whether the fissure has been reopened in more recent times than 

 the period generally associated with Rhinoceros, Elephas, Hycena, 

 etc., or even whether it ever did open upon the surface. It is certain 

 that in the early history of the filling of the fissure gravel covered 

 the ground above it, but I have been unable to find any trace of it, 

 even when the fissure was excavated to the lowest depths penetrated, 

 which could only have been a very few feet from the underlying 

 Athcrfield Clay. On the other hand, the upper part of fissure d 

 is full of a breccia similar to that seen on the surface at g. 



In places horizontal stratification was very distinct, fine layers of 

 clay alternating with more sandy ones; but whether this was due 

 to original stratification, or to the subsequent circulation of under- 

 ground waters I should not like to say ; a fissure a little lower 

 down the valley still gives out water. In many places there were 

 evidences of the levels at which the water stood at a particular 

 time, by the adhesion in great profusion of calcified stems of Cham 

 in a horizontal line upon the sides of the walls. The delicate scales 

 of the slow-worm (Anguis frag His) were also found adhering to the 

 sides of the fissure for a distance of 20 feet, quite horizontally. 1 

 Very frequently on the stream side of a big block there would be 

 an accumulation of the large bones, and in a similar position a few 

 years ago a considerable number were found. On the inner side of 

 such obstructions, unless either above or below them, it was useless 

 to look for anything but the very smallest organic remains. As the 



1 These were about 60 feet above the present water-level. 



