figures of flint tools found by him in the Cavern, they all belong distinctly to the unpolished series. (See "Plate T." in his Cavern Researches.) Nevertheless he thus describes his discovery of one polished tool:-" August 19. We made a digression from our regular work to deepen the path round the fallen rock which obstructed the passage into the large chamber. Having cleared away great heaps of rubble at the base of the rock . . an oblong blackish stone caught my attention. Not suspecting its value in its disguise of mud, I struck it with my hammer to ascertain the quality of the stone. It resisted half a dozen sharp blows before it broke across, when I took up the broken piece I could not contain my joy at finding it was the half of a black celt. The edge of the extremity was exquisitely polished, and retained as fine an edge as if it had only been recently ground. . . . . . The celt is five inches long, and six in circumference at its trenchant end. All but the polished end has suffered by its interment."*

.....

Though there is no distinct statement respecting the deposit in which this tool lay, I suspect from the context that it was in the Black Mould. It is greatly to be regretted that Mr. Mac Enery did not figure this specimen, and that no one seems to know what has become of it.

10. Explanation of the phenomena of the different deposits of the Cavern:-Having already stated my views respecting the probable history of the introduction of the several Cavern deposits when commenting on Mr. Strange's "Notice" of Kent's Hole, it is unnecessary to follow the author through his explanation; but it may be well to state that there is considerably too much strength in the assertion, that "before .... the Cave-Earth was introduced, the whole of the débris [known as the Breccia] had been swept out, for the exploring Committee have encountered this deposit, in great volume. and in various parts of the Cavern, lying undisturbed, and frequently protected by its thick sheet of Crystalline Stalagmite."

11. Brixham Cavern:-The author's parenthetical description of Brixham Cavern is unfortunately not free from exaggeration; for, instead of being "six hundred feet in length," that famous Cavern is comprised within a space measuring 135 feet from north to south, and 100 from east * See Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. iii. pp. 298-9. 1869. + See pp. 171-2, above.

to west."* Further, whether the "owner shews flint implements and some thousands of bones, teeth, &c., of extinct bears, deer, horses, and cave lions," I am not prepared to say, as I have not visited the Cavern for some years; but all the flint implements found by the Committee which explored Brixham Cavern were sent to London in 1859, where they are still. The total number of bones, teeth, antlers, &c., found by the same Committee, instead of being thousands," were but 1621, and they too were sent to London in the year just mentioned. Three species of bear were represented by the animal remains found in the Cavern, and one of them Ursus spelæus = Cave bear, is no doubt usually regarded as an extinct form, but the other two are existing species, as, in all probability, are the deer, horse, and cavelion also."

some

12. Rate at which the Stalagmite was formed:-I am at a loss to know on what authority the guide, whether of Kent's or of Brixham Cavern, states that "the stalagmitic floor . . . . increases at the rate of one-tenth of an inch in one thousand years." At Brixham there are no data whatever for forming any opinion on the question, and if we may be guided by the dated inscriptions in Kent's Cavern-and besides these we are without any facts bearing on the question-the rate there in certain parts of the Cavern-but not necessarily or probably in every part-has been about 05 inch in 250 years which, were we sure that the rate had been uniform, would amount to 2 inch in one thousand years, that is a rate twice as great as that which appears to have been stated by the guide.

13. The Co-existence of paleolithic Man and the great quadrupeds:-"The red Cave-Earth itself," says the author, "rested on a dark-red compact breccia, which held bones of bear and four flint implements." It is true that the red Cave-Earth did, in some instances, rest on the dark-red breccia, but in typical sections the one deposit was separated from the other by an intermediate sheet of crystalline stalagmite of very great thickness. It is true also that the breccia held bones of bears, but it is less than the truth to say that it held also four flint implements; for before the author's article was published the exploring Committee had publicly reported a considerably greater number of flint tools from the deposit in question. The facts are that one such tool * See Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol. vi. p. 795, and Plate III.

was reported in 1869, two in 1872, nine in 1873, one in 1874, and three in 1875; making a total of sixteen implements, to say nothing of at least as many interesting flakes and chips of flint.

"These,” says the author, speaking of the implements from the Breccia, "show the co-existence of palæolithic man and the great quadrupeds," and in saying so lays himself open to the suspicion of saying by implication that the flint tools found in the less ancient Cave-Earth do not show this coexistence; whereas they are as certainly palæolithic, as certainly co-eval with the osseous remains with which they occur, and these remains still more certainly than those found in the Breccia belong to the great quadrupeds, for whilst relics of bear, lion, and fox only have been met with in the Breccia, those of the same species of bear, lion, and fox have been yielded by the Cave-Earth together with numerous remains of the mammoth, horse, rhinoceros, gigantic Irish deer, wild bull, bison, red deer, and other bulky forms.

14. Kent's Cavern specimens in the Museums at Exeter and York:-There are, as the author states, some specimens of the bones and teeth found in Kent's Hole in the Museums at Exeter and at York. I have elsewhere* had occasion to show how they got there, and need only state here that they were obtained, by purchase in the former case and by gift in the latter, from the late Mr. Mac Enery's collection; and that the vast collection made by the British Association still remains entirely intact. The author, however, has fallen into an error in supposing that in the York Museum "may be seen the large double-edged canines of the Machairodus latidens," since the York collection contains no more than a correct cast of one of the serrated teeth" of this animal, which was sent thither by Mr. Mac Enery. Exeter, more fortunate than York, possesses the only incisor tooth of Machairodus which Mr. Mac Enery found in Kent's Hole. I have elsewhere had an opportunity of stating where all the Machairodus teeth which the Cavern has yielded are now deposited.†

15. The tools of Neolithic man:-The author speaks of "neolithic man with his bronze and polished stone weapons," whereas the Neolithic Age is the name given by Sir John

* See Trans. Devon Assoc., vol. iv. pp. 471-6, and vol. vii. pp. 247-60. + Ibid, vol. iii. p. 494; vol. v. p. 166; and vol. vii. pp. 245-60.

Lubbock, and adopted by archæologists, to a time when metals were entirely unknown, and when the most efficient tools were made of hard stones, chiefly flint and chert, which were generally elaborated with great care, and finished by polishing. It was bounded on the ancient side by the Palæolithic Age, and on the modern by the Bronze Age.

16. Mr. Mac Enery's Researches:-The author states that Mr. Mac Enery explored the Cavern in a superficial way for three years. Though Mr. Mac Enery's work was certainly not so systematic as Science wisely demands in the present day, I am not willing to allow it to be called superficial. It was good conscientious work, done with means that must have been very scanty, at a time when such work was certainly not very favourably regarded, and when even Science was not prepared to appreciate or even to accept the results. His fame, though posthumous only, is now as undying as that of the Cavern whose importance was first made known by him. That his labours extended over more than three years is certain, as they began in the summer of 1825, and he tells us that one of his visits was made on 14th August 1829.* I have not been able to ascertain how long after this they were continued, but they had certainly ended before Christmas 1834, when I made my first visit to the Cavern.

The author's statement that "the workmen are at present engaged in sifting what he had cursorily turned over," is not unlikely to lead the reader to suppose that the existing exploration consists of this work alone. Mr. Mac Enery, from lack of sufficient funds probably, contented himself with examining, by candle-light and on the spot only, the deposit he dug up, without subjecting it to the thorough search which daylight alone would enable him to make. Occasionally, the present exploring Committee reach accumulations of this dislodged material, and whenever they do so they take it to the exterior and carefully examine it. The result has been such as to justify the procedure. Material of this kind is known as "broken ground" or "uncertain earth," but not, as the author states, "intermediate earth;" and the specimens found in it are labelled "uncertain "-nothing being known about their original positions or associations.

The statement that the workmen are engaged in sifting this material is rather amusing, and by no means consistent with the epithet clammy which the author had previously and

See Trans. Devon Assoc., vol. iii. pp. 295 and 444.

correctly applied to the red Cave-Earth. Sifting is unfortu nately altogether out of the question. Indeed, I could not help feeling very envious when watching the perfect ease with which the men in the Mentone Cavern were enabled to sift the dry, sandy, incoherent deposit they had to deal with, and thus to detect the minutest objects.

17. The era of Machairodus latidens:-Whether "Machairodus lived here," as the author states, "at an early stage of the pleistocene era," it is impossible to say. This much, however, may be safely stated, that, with one doubtful exception, the only remains of Machairodus latidens which up to this time have been found in Britain, have been met with in Kent's Cavern under circumstances which show most clearly that the species lived here at a late stage of the Pleistocene

era.

18. The successive Explorers of the Cavern:-The author, when enumerating the successive explorers of the Cavern, says "Flint implements were found by Mr. Austen in 1840, and again six years later by a committee of the Torquay Natural History Society. Then Mr. Pengelly took up the work, and in 1864 a committee was appointed by the British Association." Perhaps I may be pardoned if, in concluding this "Note," I state that the Committee, or more correctly Sub-Committee, of the Torquay Natural History Society consisted of Dr. Battersby, Mr. Vivian, and myself, and that the latter two have from the commencement been the joint Superintendents of the work still carried on by the British Association Exploring Committee.

VI. MR. SOUTHALL ON KENT'S CAVERN.

In his work entitled The Recent Origin of Man,* Mr. Southall, an American author, gives the following account of Kent's Cavern:

1. "The celebrated cavern of Kent's Hole, near Torquay, on the coast of Devonshire, in England, was examined by Mr. Mac Enery in 1825. It was again explored in 1840 by Mr. Godwin-Austen, who found flint arrow-heads and knives, and the bones of the elephant, rhinoceros, ox, deer, horse, bear, hyæna, etc.

The Recent Origin of Man, as illustrated by Geology and the modern Science of Pre-historic Archæology. By James C. Southall. Philadelphia and London. 1875.