94 
JOURNAL OF THE PLYMOUTH INSTITUTION. 
If, however, a statement in Col. Hamilton Smith's Natural 
History of the Human Species he strictly accurate, other caves of 
a notahle character must have heen discovered between 1823 and 
the publication of that book in 1848 j for he mentions the occur- 
rence of abundant coprolite, which has found no other record 
before or since. To that point I shall return hereafter. And 
indeed we do know that some caves were opened in the interim. 
One was found at Pomphlett in 1839, the contents of which "con- 
sisted almost wholly of the teeth of the Horse, but the bulk was 
undoubtedly lost in blowing away the rock."* Moreover, our own 
Museum supplies evidence of a discovery at Oreston in 1843, in 
bones and teeth of horse and ox, duly marked with place and date. 
Nor does it seem improbable that during the last forty years few 
have passed without some fossil bones occurring in the Oreston 
quarries, though as a rule in small quantity. 
The next great find was in 1858, and must have approached, if 
it did not equal in extent, that of 1822-23. It was investigated 
in 1859 by Mr. Pengelly, who purchased all the specimens he could 
obtain, and forwarded the bulk of them to the British Museum. 
Others were deposited in the museum of the Oxford University, 
and in that at Leeds. I am indebted to Professor L. C. Miall, f.g.s., 
the curator of the Leeds Museum, for a list of the Oreston species 
represented in the collection there. They comprise horse, sheep, 
pig, Bos primigenius, Ursus spelams, Felis spelceus, Bison priscus, 
Rhinoceros leptorhinus, and Elephas primigenius.] Professor 
* "Nat. Hist. South Devon.," p. 440. 
f The label attached to the collection is worth quotation : " Oreston 
Caverns. — During the excavation of a vast body of limestone at Oreston, 
on the left hank of the Plym, chiefly for the formation of the Plymouth 
breakwater, several hone caverns were discovered and destroyed. The 
principal discoveries were made in 1816, 1820, 1822-3, and 1858-9; and 
though it is to he regretted that no attempts were made to explore the 
caverns systematically, or under scientific superintendence, the hones and 
teeth they have yielded have heen the subjects of several papers, in which 
they have heen carefully described and many of them figured. Amongst the 
remains, those of the following animals have heen identified : Ursus priscus, 
U. spelceus, Putorius ermineus, Canis lupus, Vulpes vulgaris, Hyrena spelrea, 
Felis spekca, Rhinoceros leptorhinus, Elephas primigenius, Equus fossilis, E. 
plicidens, Asinus fossilis, Bison minor, Bos longifrons, and Sus. It has been 
stated that remains of the hippopotamus, sheep or goat, deer, camel, giraffe, 
and a rodent of the size of a mouse have also been detected. There does 
not appear to have been any indication of man." 
