Section C. — Address by Mr. W. Pengelly, President. 423 
verities, the British Association, in 1864, appointed a Committee to make 
a complete, systematic, and accurate exploration of the Cavern, in which 
it was known that very extensive portions remained entirely intact. This 
Committee commenced its labours on 28th March, 1865 ; it has been 
reappointed, year after year, with sufficient grants of money, up to the 
present time ; the work has gone on continuously throughout the entire 
thirteen years ; and the result has been, not only a complete confirmation 
of Mr. MacEnery’s Statements, but the discovery of far older deposits than 
he suspected — deposits implying great changes of, at least, local geogra- 
phical conditions ; changes in the fauna of the district ; and yielding 
evidence of men more ancient and far rüder than even those who made 
the oldest flint tools found in Kent’s Hole prior to the appointment of the 
Committee. 
The Cavern consists of a series of chambers and passages, which resolve 
themselves into two main Divisions, extending from nearly north to south 
in parallel lines, but passing into each other near their extremities, and 
throwjng off branches, occasionally of considerable size. 
The successive deposits, in descending order, were : — 
Ist, or uppermost. Fragments and blocks of limestoue from an ounce 
to upwards of 100 tons weight each, which had fallen from the roof from 
time to time, and were in some instances cemented with carbonate of lime. 
2nd. Beneath and between these blocks lay a dark-coloured mud or 
mould, consisting largely of decayed leaves and other vegetable matter. It 
was from three to twelve inches thick, and known as the Black Mould. 
This occupied the entire Eastern Division, with the exception of a small 
chamber in its south-western end only, but was not found in the other, the 
remoter, parts of the Cavern. 
3rd. Under this was a Stalagmitic Floor, commonly of granulär texture 
and frequently laminated, from less than an inch to fully live feet in thick- 
ness, and termed the Granulär Stalagmite. 
4th. An almost black layer, about four inches thick, composed mainly of 
small fragments of charred wood, and distinguished as the Black Band, 
occupied an area of about 100 square feet, immediately under the Granulär 
Stalagmite, and, at the nearest point, not more than 32 feet from one of 
the entrances to the Cavern. Nothing of the kind has occurred elsewhere. 
5th. Immediately under the Granulär Stalagmite and the Black Band 
lay a light red clay, containing usually about 50 per cent. of small angular 
fragments of limestone, and somewhat numerous blocks of the same rock 
as large as those lying on the Black Mould. In this deposit, known as the 
Cave-earth, many of the stones and bones were, at all depths, invested 
with thin stalagmitic films. The Cave-earth was of unknown depth near 
the entrances, where its base had never been reached ; but in the remoter 
parts of the Cavern it did not usually exceed a foot, and in a few localities 
it “ thinned out ” entirely. 
6th. Beneath the Cave-earth there was usually found a Floor of Sta- 
lagmite having a crystalline texture, and termed on that account the 
Crystalline Stalagmite. It was commonly thicker than the Granulär Floor, 
and in one instance but little short of 12 feet. 
7th. Below the whole, occurred, so far as is at present known, the oldest 
of the Cavern deposits. It was composed of subangular and rounded 
pieces of dark red grit, imbedded in a sandy paste of the same colour. 
Small angular fragments of limestone, and investing films of Stalagmite, 
both prevalent in the Cave-earth, were extremely rare. Large blocks of 
limestone were occasionally met with ; and the deposit, to which the 
name of Breccia was given, was of a depth exceeding that to which the 
exploration has yet been carried. 
Except in a very few small branches, the bottom of the Cavern has 
