PALAEONTOLOGY , GLAUERT. 
[ii 
THE MAMMOTH CAVE. 
By LUDWIG GLAUERT, F.G.S., etc. 
The Mammoth Cave, in which were obtained the various 
animal remains about to be described, is one of the finest of the 
numerous limestone caverns to be found in the extreme south-west 
of this State, from Cape Naturaliste to Cape Leeuwin. 
They occur in a strip of Pleistocene forammiferal limestone, 
the so-called “coastal limestone,” resting upon the metamorphic 
rocks that form the range of hills running parallel to the coast-line 
in that district, at a distance of about four miles from the sea. At 
one time the gneissic slope extended uninterruptedly from the hills 
to the shore, but the strong south-west winds of the summer months 
soon gave rise to a chain of sand dunes which travelled inland and 
up the gentle escarpment of the hills. The material cairied along 
by the wind consisted not only of the quartz grains which were 
derived from the disintegration of these rocks, but also included 
small shell fragments and the minute calcareous tests of foraminifera. 
Rain water, by virtue of the small amount of carbonic acid 
which it obtains from the atmosphere, is able to dissolve this lime 
and carry it in solution to the lower portions of the pervious beds. 
Owing to evaporation, this lime is re-deposited and in due course the 
loose incoherent sand becomes solidified, forming either a calcareous 
sandstone or a sandy limestone, according to the amount of lime 
present in the rock. 
The formation of caves, therefore, was accomplished without 
difficulty, and hastened by the fact that the rainfall on the western 
slope of the range is considerable, and drains through the limestone 
belt to the coast. 
The numerous winter streams that rise in the hills proceed 
uninterruptedly till the limestone belt is reached, when they mostly 
disappear, either in the mouths of caves, or in “swallow-holes.” 
The stream that flows through the Mammoth Cave is one of the 
former ; it continues its course underground till it issues at the foot 
of the sea cliffs three miles to the westward. These subterranean 
watercourses are usually a succession of clefts and caverns, 
