358 
PROCEEDINGS, 1871 — 1877. 
lower cave earth. In some positions the upper and lower cave earths 
coalesce, and the laminated clay is absent. The cave earths consist 
of large and small angular blocks of limestone, intermingled with a 
stiff bulf clay, occasional beds of stalagmite, and fallen blocks of 
stalactite. The limestone and stalactite have fallen from the roof. 
The upper cave earth appears to be derived to some extent from the 
laminated clay beneath by being trampled on by the animals whose 
bones are found in it. The laminae of the laminated clay are 
exceedingly thin, and flake away easily when pulled asunder. It 
varies in thickness up to 12 feet, relatively to the conformation of 
the surface of the lower clay. It lias been found to run continuously 
from the entrance of the cave inwards, a distance of more than 
70 feet, as far as the explorations liave gone in that direction. Mr. 
Tiddeman considers that the laminated clay may be the result of 
glacial conditions, which imply the running of muddy water in 
alternating periods of flow and rest. This opinion was communi- 
cated in a report to the Cave Committee in 1871, and has since 
been confirmed by finding glaciated boulders in the laminated clay 
itself, and still later the important discovery of a great accumulation 
of boulders and glacial till at the cave mouth, resting on the edges 
of the lower cave-earth. These boulders vary in size, from blocks 
weighing tons to mere pebbles. They consisted partly of carboniferous 
limestone, of a darker colour than that in which the cave is situated ; 
and a large proportion of Silurian grit, and occasional boulders of 
carboniferous gritstones from Ingleborough or Pennyghent, were 
present. Their presence indicates a period when the glacier of the 
Ribble valley extended up to this point ; and, still higher, the ice- 
scratches on the rocks at the base of King's Scar, a short distance 
away, show the direction in which the glacier travelled across from 
Stainforth tow^ards Long Preston, by way of Attermire ; and there are 
evidences that this ice-sheet covered all the country visible from the 
cave mouth and many miles beyond. The boulders accumulated from 
this ice-sheet lie at the base of the screes, which are 19 feet to 20 
feet thick. The animal remains found in the lower cave-earth include 
hysena, fox, the brown and grizzly bears, Elephas antiquus, Rhinoceros 
leptorhinus, hippopotamus, Bos primogenius, bison, and red deer, 
