1872.] 



the Exploration of Brixham Cave. 



517 



direction from the West Chamber, and also from the main entrance to 

 the Steep Slide Hole. Below this the limestone walls curve inwards, "but 

 instead of meeting to form a continuous floor, they remain separated by a 

 central longitudinal fissure, which varies from 3 to 18 inches in width, 

 tapering till the walls meet," and forming, as it were, the tail of the skate. 

 The dimensions and exact shape of all these parts vary considerably ; 6 to 

 8 feet in width by 8 to 10 in height may, however, be taken as the average 

 dimensions of the galleries above the basal fissure. 



In addition to the existing stalagmite floor, remains of an older and 

 higher floor were found throughout part of the Reindeer Gallery, ex- 

 tending in places horizontally from wall to wall, and varying from 6 

 inches to a foot in thickness. Above the considerable openings which 

 occurred in it, there was an open space of from 1 to 5 feet high. In 

 places fragments of limestone, of quartz, and of older stalagmite, both 

 angular and rounded, were attached to the underside of this stalagmite 

 ceiling. 



In that part of the Reindeer Gallery called the Crystal Gorge, there 

 was a series of six or seven thin stained layers of stalagmite extending 

 from wall to wall, and separated by layers of the cave-earth. 



A few stalactites depended from the roof of the Reindeer and Pen 

 Galleries and the South Chamber. 



Mr. Pengelly found that the " dips of both the second and third beds 

 corresponded, in amount and direction, to that of the grooves in the same 

 branches of the cavern. But between the eastern end of the Flint-knife 

 Gallery and the northern end of the Crystal Gorge, the inclination of 

 these beds was southwards, that is from the former to the latter point." 

 Mr. Pengelly also describes some variations in the deposits of the less 

 important part of the cavern, which do not, however, affect the general 

 persistence of the characters and structure above named. 



Organic Remains. — No shells were found in any of the beds ; but a 

 considerable number of existing land-shells, and one limpet-shell, were 

 found on the surface, and a few in the stalagmite. They were most 

 numerous near the external entrances. 



Mammalian remains were found sparingly in the stalagmite, in abund- 

 ance in the cave-earth, and rarely in the shingle. Mr. Pengelly gives a 

 complete list of every find, and tabulates the result in a series of 

 valuable tables, from which it appears that in the stalagmite 25 bones 

 were found, in the cave-earth and on its surface 1589, and in the 

 shingle 7, making a total of 1621 bones. Of these, 835 occurred in 

 the Reindeer Gallery, 515 in the Flint-kuife Gallery, 244 in the West 

 Chamber, and only 27 in the other parts of the cave. A great part of 

 these were found at various depths of from 1 to 10 feet beneath the top of 

 the cave-earth ; but a considerable number were also found on the surface 

 of the cave-earth, generally where there was no stalagmite, especially in 

 the southern extremity of the Reindeer Gallery, and were the remains of 



