File:The Quarterly journal of the Geological Society of London (12645890053).jpg

264 pitoeiiBDiXGS oe the geological society. .Feb. 4,
more and more intermittent, until they were reduced to a few
rounded pedestals. At this point began the bone-bed, a layer of
matted bones, teeth, and coprolites, in all stages of decay ; some
perfectly sound, others too much decomposed to be handled (see
figs. 1 and 4). Its relation to the other members of the same sec-
tion is as follows : — Immediately upon the water-worn and acid-
worn conglomerate-floor was red earth (e, figs. 4 and 6), 2 feet in
thickness, and, as usual, containing few organic remains, but nu-
merous stones; upon this lay the bone-bed (6), from 3 to 4 inches
thick, with the junction -line rather irregular, and containing a few
stones in its lower part ; next came a layer of dark-red earth (a), from
3 to 4 inches thick, very loose and friable, and having upon the
surface a few rounded stalagmites, and a few stalactitic pillars ex-
tending through the interval of from 3 to 4 inches, which separated
it from the roof.
The bone-bed extended _,. _ m
horizontally across the pas- Fl ^' ^—Transverse Section across
sage, with an average width the Passa 9 e B '
of 7 feet and a length of
14 feet, affording, therefore,
a square area of 98 feet.
The enormous quantity of
organic remains present can-
not be estimated even by the
large number we have pre-
served. The 243 bones, the
64 jaws, and 240 teeth ob-
tained from it are to be a - ^ark-red earth. e. Eed earth with
1 ! j ■. h. Bone-bed. stones, &c.
looked upon merely as a x Undisturbed red earth,
small fraction of the whole.
3. The Passage C. — Having now exhausted the bone-bed, as we
worked onwards we found that the passage B bifurcated, the smaller
branch, C (see fig. 1), going onwards and gently upwards, the larger
branch, D, stretching at right angles from it, and having a gentle
dip of 6° to the south. In the former we met with a second bone-bed
(see figs. 1 and 4), which continued undiminished in thickness until it
rested upon the floor, and thinned out at a distance of 5 feet from
the bifurcation. At the entrance of C the section was identical
with that in B, the red earth (rather more clayey, and containing
more stones) resting upon the acid-worn and water- worn floor, and
supporting the bone-bed, immediately above which was a thin layer
of dark friable earth. This, at the further end, owing to the thin-
ning out of the beds underneath, was superimposed directly upon
the floor, until it likewise thinned out. The bone-bed extended
through the whole width of C, affording a square area of about 15
feet. Besides bones, it yielded 8 jaws of Hyama, and 46 teeth and
41 bones of various animals. The passage was but 15 or 16 inches
high, and about 3 feet in width ; it gradually narrowed until, at a