428 Progress in Science. [July, 
turn of 1 ton of stone, would then be worth Rs. 12-13-10, which would leave 
a balance of Rs. 4-2-8 on every ton crushed, even if the high Australian rate 
were ever attained. Until more is known of the gold-producing powers of the 
Wynad, no better guidance can be given than the following, by Mr. A. R. C. 
Selwyn, Diredtor-General Geological Survey of Canada : — “ It should not be 
forgotten that the most favourable indications are not always reliable, and the 
sanguine prognostications they so frequently give rise to are not borne out by 
the result of actual working ; wherefore I should, even under the most favour- 
able circumstances, not advise any one to invest in such enterprises to an 
amount beyond what he can afford to lose without serious embarrassment.” 
GEOLOGY. 
Geology. — In a second paper on “ The Bone-caves of Cresswell Crags,” 
the Rev. J. Magens Mello, M.A., F.G.S., gives an account of the examination 
of a chambered cave called Robin Hood’s Cave, situated a little lower down 
the ravine on the same side, The se&ion of the contents of this cave showed 
a small thickness of dark surface-soil, containing fragments of Roman and 
Mediaeval pottery, a human incisor, and bones of sheep and other recent 
animals; over a considerable portion a hard limestone breccia, varying in 
thickness from a few inches to about 3 feet ; beneath this a deposit of light- 
coloured cave-earth, varying in thickness inversely to the breccia, overiying a 
dark-red sand about 3 feet thick, with patches of laminated red clay near the 
base, and containing scattered nodules of black oxide of manganese, and some 
quartzite and other pebbles, which rested upon a bed of lighter-coloured sands 
containing blocks of limestone, probably forming part of the original floor of 
the cavern. The hard stalagmitic breccia contained a great many bones, 
chiefly of small animals, but with some of reindeer, and teeth of Rhinoceros 
t ichor hinus , hyaena, horse, water vole, and numerous flint-flakes and chips, 
and a few cores. Some of the flakes were of superior workmanship. A few 
quartzite implements were also found in the breccia. The cave-earth con- 
tained a few flint implements, but most of the human relics found in it were 
of quartzite, and of decidedly palaeolithic aspedt. There was also an imple- 
ment of clay-ironstone. The animal remains chiefly found in the cave-earth 
were teeth of horse, Rhinoceros tichorhinus , and hyaena, and fragments of both 
jaws of the last-mentioned animal. Bones and teeth ot reindeer, and teeth 
of cave-lion and bear also occurred. The red sand underlying the cave-earth 
contained but few bones, except in one place, where antlers and bones of 
reindeer and bones of bison and hyaena occurred. At another part a small 
molar of Elcphas priniigenius was found. A large proportion of the bones had 
been gnawed by hyaenas, to whose agency the author ascribed the presence of 
most of the animal remains found ; but he remarked that no coprolites of 
hyaenas had been met with. Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins has drawn the following 
conclusions, as to the history of Robin Hood’s Cave, from the results of Mr. 
Mello’s researches. He considers that the cave was occupied by hyaenas 
during the formation of the lowest and middle deposits, and that the gre^at 
majority of the other animals whose remains occur in the cave were drag^fcd 
into it by hyaenas. That they served as food for the latter is shown by the 
condition of many of the bones. During this period the red sand and clay of 
the lowest stratum was deposited by occasional floods. The red loam or 
cave-earth forming the middle stratum was probably introduced during heavy 
rains. The occupation of the cave by hyaenas still continued, but it was dis- 
turbed by the visits of Palaeolithic hunters. The remains found in the breccia 
indicate that the cave was inhabited by man, and less frequently visited by 
hyaenas than before. The presence of vertebrae of the hare in the breccia 
would imply that the hunters who occupied the cave had not the dog as a 
domestic animal. The traces of man found in the cave consist of fragments 
of charcoal and implements made of antler and mammoth tooth, quartzite, 
ironstone, greenstone, and flint. The distribution of these implements in the 
cave represents three distinct stages. In the cave-earth the existence of 
man is indicated by the quartzite implements, which are far ruder than those 
generally formed of the more easily fashioned flint. Out of 94 worked 
