224 
error ; but bow is any person reading tbe previous statement 
about tbe two feet of floor, and seeking to calculate tbe rate 
at wbicb it might have been formed from tbe amount of con- 
cretion or inscriptions on tbe bosses , to be enabled to rectify 
bis errors ? When he enters the cave be will find that almost 
everything has been carried away,* and that what is really 
important is withheld from his examination lest be should incur 
peril in climbing a ladder, or in otherwise penetrating into 
dangerous recesses ! Tbe important crypt of dates has, 
according to Mr. Pengelly, “ been visited by less than a dozen 
persons” ! (p. 599). 
As it will be seen in my case, there are yet more formidable 
perils to be encountered. To drive a stick into stalagmite and 
find that it is nothing but magma (that is to say, a mass, as it 
were hieaded together, fxaa aw) without arrangement or crystalli- 
sation, this is real treason, and absolutely forbidden by Mr. 
Pengelly. What, then, am I to expect when I avow that, in 
addition to my trespass, I brought away a handful of the said 
magma, and retain a portion of the same in my library for the 
inspection of all inquirers ? Further, I obtained specimens from 
the outside showing the transition from pure crystalline sub- 
stance, formed by percolation through the rock, to a mingled 
mass adherent, which never could have filtered through tlio 
stone, but must have drained through chinks and crevices 
in a much more rapid transit. 
I am glad to find similar views expressed by Dr. Geikie 
[Prehistoric Europe, p. 84) : — “ Stalagmites, so far from being 
always comparatively pure, are often so highly impregnated with 
earthy ingredients as to assume the character of calcified 
earths. Such impurities may have been introduced in various 
wags. Most limestones, when they are dissolved in carbonic 
acid, leave a red residue behind, and there can be little doubt 
that much of the earthy matter in stalagmitic accretions is of 
this nature, and to that ive may add the red earth, mud, and 
silt introduced by rains and freshets through fissures in the 
roofs and sides of caves, and even in many cases by their more 
open mouths.” (The italics are mine.) 
* “ How can Mr. Howard pretend to say what may have been found in 
the Cavern ? From 28th March, 1865, when the committee began their 
exploration up to 11th June, 1878, when he made his last visit, upwards of 
thirteen years, during which the work had been carried on continuously from 
day to day, the workmen had destroyed vast specks and bosses of stalagmite, 
broken them into small pieces, and taken them out of the Cavern ; and about 
their character Mr. Howard is necessarily and utterly ignorant.” 
