Explorations in the Bone Cave of Ballynamintra. 193 
evidently in a descending line of drainage it is possible, as stated previously, that 
the objects it contained may have been drifted into it from the upper strata, as in 
the case of the crevice containing the chisel. The undisturbed bench of stalagmite 
just mentioned, together with the bench of gravel lying along the same wall further 
out (see cross-section A), seem to show that whatever denuding agencies may have 
disturbed the centre and the right side of the cave, where the great swallow-holes 
were, the left side was comparatively free from their influence. 
At nine fvet from the entrance solid stalagmite adhered to the right as well as 
to the left wall, but from twelve feet inwards the stalagmite floor was continuous, 
adhering firmly to both walls, and exhibited no cracks nor signs of yielding. It 
was from two feet to three feet six inches in thickness, and was quarried away with 
the greatest difficulty. The surface of the floor where unbroken was remarkably 
free from cones or bosses, such as were found frequently among the broken portions 
of it. 
Proceeding inwards, the cave’s roof was found to dip, while the stalagmite 
gradually rose, so that beyond twenty-four feet from the entrance the surface of 
the latter was only from six to twelve inches below the roof. 
Tracing it into the inner cavity, at twenty-six feet from the entrance, the stal- 
agmite floor sloped rapidly upwards against the right wall to a much higher level. 
Immediately further in, the roof suddenly changed into a great vertical shaft (shown 
in cross-section F). This suggests that the calcareous water which formed the great 
mass of stalagmute, was largely introduced into the cave in the place marked by this 
slope ia which the floor culminated. Fiom this point it fell away very rapidly to the 
left, and more gradually towards the outer part of the cave. 
Under the solid mass of stalagmite was a remarkable Drusic cavity, first observed 
at fifteen feet from the entrance, but extending inwards to the twenty-eighth foot 
where it became subdivided. The floor of this hollow was the gravel (No. 5,) 
solidified to some depth by caleareous matter, on which were strange stalagmite 
growths like coral or petrified moss. Its roof was the solid stalagmite, the surface 
of which was covered in some places with clusters like candied fruit, and in others 
with sharp crystals. Having found very similar growths” in still pools in the stal- 
agmite of other caves, I should say that the above hollow was once a pool in which 
the carbonate of lime was precipitated in these strange forms, and over which the 
great mass of stalagmite gradually crept until the pool was roofed across, while the 
water subsequently draining off left this hollow empty. 
No. 5.—The Gravel. 
This deposit, which lay directly on the limestone floor, was very uniform in 
character and contained no object of interest. It was of small size, composed of 
* The formation of similar growths is described and illustrated in “Cave hunting,” by Professor Boyd 
Dawkins, p. 69. 
2K 
