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MICROSCOPICAL AND NATURAL HISTORY SECTION. 
March 28th, 1870. 
John Watson, Esq., President of the Section, in the Chair. 
A paper “ On the Exploration of the Hysena Den at 
Wookey Hole,” was read by Mr. W. B. Dawkins, M.A., 
F.R.S., F.G.S. 
The author gave an account of his exploration of the ossi- 
ferous cavern at Wookey Hole, a village on the southern 
flanks of the Mendips, about two miles to the north-west of 
the city of Wells, begun in 1859, and carried on from time 
to time till 1866. The ravine, in which the cave is situated, 
runs horizontally into the mountain side until it is closed 
abruptly to the north by an ivy-covered perpendicular cliff, 
at least a hundred and fifty feet high ; at the bottom of this 
is a cave, in which Dr. Buckland discovered pottery and 
human teeth, and from which rises the river Axe in con- 
siderable power and volume. In cutting a passage in the 
ravine side to convey the water to a large paper mill close 
by, the mouth of the hyaena den was intersected about 1851 
or 1852. When the exploration began in 1859, about 
twelve feet of the entrance had been cut away, and large 
quantities of the earth, stones, and remains had been used 
in the formation of an embankment for the canal that now 
runs past its present entrance. The workmen state that at 
the time it was discovered the ravine side presented no con- 
cavity that would indicate its position, so completely was it 
filled with debris up to the very roof. Resting on the floor 
Proceedings— Lit. & Phil. Soc.— Vol. IX.— No. 16.— Session 1869-70. 
