REMAINS OF EXTINCT QUADRUPEDS IN SILURIA. 



553 



Till very recently there was no good evidence of the remains of extinct quadrupeds in 

 Siluria. This may be attributed to the country having been little explored ; for as the 

 bones of such animals had been found, near Worcester, in gravel partly derived from the 

 rocks of this region, there could be little doubt that places of accidental sepulture would 

 eventually be detected. Such has proved to be the case. Dr. Lloyd, of Ludlow, re- 

 cently communicated to me the discovery of a large accumulation in a cleft of the 

 Ludlow formation at Alden, near the View Edge, and during the last summer I ac- 

 companied him to the spot. The bones in question occur in fissures of the Aymestry 

 limestone, which are nothing more or less than the vertical joints of that rock, irregularly 

 opened out by ancient disturbance of the beds 1 . (See p. 243.) These jointed rocks form 

 the eastern side of a deep comb, the higher parts of which are occupied by the Upper 

 LudlowRock, the lower by the Aymestry limestone, which, where it contains the bones, is 

 about 40 feet above the little brook that waters the valley. In extracting the limestone 

 for use, these fissures were perceived to be filled with calcareo- argillaceous cement of a 

 whitish colour, like hardened mortar, in which remains of animals have been, from time 

 to time, detected, including stags' horns and bones of great size. In clearing away the 

 limestone a large part of the principal fissure has been obliterated, and most of the 

 bones first discovered have been lost. Through the zeal, however, of Dr. Lloyd and 

 Mr. Duppa Lloyd, other remains have recently been collected, which sufficiently prove 

 the character of the accumulation ; for not only have bones of deer and ox been found, 

 but also a perfect tooth of a hycena, and the femur of a rhinoceros, together with several 

 small bones which have not been determined. I will not here enter further into the 

 difficult question of how these bones can have been lodged in such quantities in par- 

 it was dry land. So far from seeing any reason to adopt this view, the evidence would lead me to a directly 

 opposite conclusion; for even if the cave were proved to have been inhabited, there can be no doubt that its tenancy 

 took place after the elevation of the bottom of the sea containing the northern drift. All the physical features 

 agree with this view. They lead us to suppose, that the V ale of Cyffredan, over which the caves impend, 

 was one of those deep inequalities formed during the period when the whole tract was submarine; and that 

 when the bottom of the sea was elevated, this vale might for a long time have been left in the condition of a 

 lake, the waters of which first reaching to the level of the caves might have been afterwards let off by the 

 opening out of the gorges, and the gradual lowering of the water courses, in the same manner as we have de- 

 scribed throughout Siluria. In this way, the coarse gravel at the bottom of the cave may have been either the 

 residue of part of a previous drift, when the tract was submarine, or deposited by a subsiding lake ; while the 

 calcareous loam in which the bones are imbedded, may have simply resulted from the disintegration of the 

 rocks on the side of the fissures leading to this cavern, and by the action of atmospheric causes. 



If the Cefn caves were situated within the Silurian region, I should have entered at greater length into their 

 description, explaining them by a wood- cut, taken from one of the beautiful sketches with which Mrs. Stanley 

 illustrated the memoir of the Bishop of Norwich. 



1 In speaking of the position of the beds it should be stated that they dip into the valley at a slight angle, 

 and hence may have been moved in the manner formerly described (p. 248.). From the position, however, 

 and different inclination of the strata on its opposite sides, it is evident that this comb has been affected by 

 some of the great dislocations which resulted from the heaving up of the Ludlow and adjacent promontories. 



