116 



PROE. T. M'KENNY HUGHES ON THE 



EXPLANATION OF PLATE IX. 



On Plate IX. are figured, natural size, the principal types of implements found 

 in Pontnewydd Cave. Nos. 1 to 6 are made of a greenish-grey felstone, pro- 

 bably a fine compact ash ; no. 7 is of a black cherty material ; no. 8 is of flint, 

 weathered a yellowish white. 



Figs. 1, la. A roughly pointed, wedge-shaped, felstone implement on which, at 

 the broader end, a large piece of the original surface of the stone 

 remains, showing that it was manufactured from a drift specimen 

 and not from rock in place. 



2, 2 a. An oval, double wedge-shaped felstone implement, resembling a 



form I have obtained from the cave of Le Moustier, but more 

 common in the river-drifts. 



3, 3 a. Another of the same type as No. 1 . 



4, A subquadrate, flat, felstone instrument, approaching the common Le 



Moustier form. One end of this specimen is covered with travertine. 



5, A quadrate, flat, felstone implement, of a common Le Moustier type. 



The corners appear to have been used rather than the edges. One 

 part of this specimen shows the original surface of a drift stone. 



6, A rough felstone scraper ; the side not shown in the figure is nearly 



flat. 



7, 7 a. A flake of black cherty rock, might be a Carboniferous chert. 



8, 8 a. A curved scraper-flake of flint, showing the bulb of percussion 



and weathered to a yellowish-white colour. 



Discussion. 



Dr. Hicks said he was entirely unbiassed when he commenced his 

 explorations in the caverns referred to, and would gladly have agreed 

 with Prof. Hughes's views concerning the caverns in the Yale of 

 Clwyd if that had been possible. He had, however, found that all 

 the facts were entirely opposed to the views advocated by Prof. 

 Hughes, and consequently he was unwillingly compelled to dis- 

 agree with the conclusions arrived at by him. The facts were per- 

 fectly clear and had been accepted by every one who had visited the 

 caverns, except by Prof. Hughes. The latter did not see the section 

 at the Cae Gwyn cave until it was almost entirely closed up ; and he 

 had also confounded the mixed material placed against the fence by 

 the men in the earlier explorations, as was evident from the dia- 

 grams exhibited, with the undisturbed drift, and had based some of 

 his arguments on this mistake and on an ice-scratched boulder on 

 which there was the clearest evidence of its having been recently 

 struck by a workman's pick. The fence -argument was valueless in 

 any case, as it could only aifect the surface-deposits and not those 

 shown by the speaker to block up the entrance at a depth of 

 20 feet. 



The Arenig Drift is not necessarily the oldest, in places it may even 

 be the newest, and it is known from well-sinkings to be underlain by 

 sands and gravels like those at Talargoch, in which bones of animals 

 similar to those found in the caverns were discovered. The speaker 

 cited evidence from numerous areas to prove that the oldest drift 

 contained northern erratics, and said that no hard-and-fast lines 



