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strata, or in caverns, accompanying the bones of beasts of prey, have not been confirmed on a closer investigation; and, according to later inquiries, it appears even probable that the bones and skulls of men found in beds of calcareous tufa, have been lodged there in an accidental manner.

It is also to be remarked, that the remains of the large land animals are always found in very low positions, in plains, on the banks of rivers, or in deep valleys, dells, and the concavities of hilly ranges, deposited in the alluvial strata, which is also the case in the Köstritz district ; and it is obvious that they were here destroyed, and partly swept into such positions, by the concurrence of great floods. It is, moreover, highly probable that in these operations land floods were the agent, and not the

But then the attendant phenomena ought to be uniformly the same. If the remains of man, now found commingled with those of animals of the ancient world and of the existing creation, were destroyed with them at the same time, we ought to find human bones distributed in all parts of the alluvial tracts.* But this phenomenon has as yet appeared only in the loamy deposit in the Köstritz gypsum, confined to a narrow space, and under peculiar circumstances.

The principal of these circumstances are the following: The narrow valley which extends from Kaschwitz toward Köstritz is bounded on the eastern side, near Politz, by a much more considerable range of eminences than on the other side, which, though gradually becoming more elevated toward Jena, is partially interrupted by dells and circular concavities. The deep narrow valleys and defiles prevailing in the neighbourhood of Jena, in the valley of the Mühl, and further toward Drackendorf and Köstritz, clearly show the power with which the ancient waters raged, when those channels were excavated in which at present flow the Saale, the Elster, and the adjoining smaller streams. It is manifest that during the course of this operation, large tracts of the limestone superincumbent on the gypsum, as well as of the new red sandstone, were torn and swept away, and that the gypsum, thus laid bare, was repeatedly covered, and its cavities filled, with the sediment of the waters, the existing loamy soil.

That the bones of the same species of animals, as well as human bones, should be found without order at different depths, and even immediately under the vegetable soil, lying upon the superior strata of the gypsum, is a circumstance tending rather to confirm than refute the idea of repeated depositions. In the same manner, to find animals belonging to very different epochs, assembled only in the gypsum, where situated in the

lowest position, seems to indicate floods in more recent times ; more especially, as no animals of the existing creation have been found in the cavities of the superincumbent limestone, * placed on a higher level. These cavities, which are filled with the same loamy soil, seem to have been the repositories of the bones of beasts of prey, in the same manner as the caverns of Scharzfeld, Liebenstein, &c. and these bones appear to have been swept away by later floods, and deposited singly in the cavities of the gypsum, situated upon a lower level, and which presents in this spot the form of a basin, being one of the lowest positions in the district. Hence it is highly probable that animals of the ancient world, belonging to very different repositories and very different eras, reaching in part even to the remotest antiquity, have been here repeatedly brought together, and commingled in later periods with the remains of recent animals, and the bones of man; yet in a manner very different from those met with in strata of calcareous tufa.+ This substance, considered as the gradual and tranquil production of great lakes, covering on the spot the skeletons of large land animals previously swept thither and deposited, appears, for the most part, to belong to the more ancient of the alluvial formations; and this high antiquity is also evinced by the state of the bones found in the tufa, which are perfectly calcined, and also partly petrified. Upon the breaking down of the dams which confined the lakes, and the outflow of their waters, a part of the land animals buried within their bosom appears to have been carried to a greater distance; and to this cause, and more stormy floods, we may in part attribute certain depositions of loamy soil, in which are sometimes found considerable beds of boulders and pebbles, composed of limestone and other substances. In the district of Köstritz, even boulders of granite, of a considerable size, and which are foreign to the country, are found in the loamy deposition, which occupies the fissures and cavities of the gypsum.

The great difference in the state of calcination exhibited by the Köstritz bones, will long remain enigmatical, as well as several other of the peculiar circumstances that have been adduced; and I am far from thinking satisfactory the attempt which I have made to explain the phenomena. At present, I consider it as most probable, that the human bones thus found belong to a much later epoch than the large land animals of the

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ancient world. So much, however, appears to be proved, that they occur here in a really fossil state, having been brought thither by great floods at very remote periods.

ing horse.

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Note by T. W.-In considering all the natural circumstances detailed by Baron von Schlotheim, following the course of his argument, and comparing both with the instructive facts and views contained in Prof. Buckland's paper (which may be valued as a model of just induction), the question arises, whether the phenomena attending the animal remains found in the district of Köstritz may not be most consistently explained by ascribing them to the effects of diluvian action ? The existing form of the surface, the general distribution of the same sandy loamy soil over that surface, extending many miles in every direction, and the deposition of precisely the same soil in the fissures and cavities both of the limestone and gypsum, containing, it would appear, boulders and pebbles of limestone and other substances, and even of granite, a rock not to be found in situ, but at the distance of many miles : all these relations seem to bespeak the operation of one great cause at one fixed period. Now of the animal remains met with near Köstritz, it is to be observed,

1. That those which are merely confined to the fissures and cavities of the limestone are referable to the horse, belonging partly to an extinct species, but mostly agreeing with the exist

2. The remains found in the cavities and fissures both of the limestone and gypsum, relate to

The rhinoceros, an extinct species.
The deer tribe, extinct, and apparently also existing, species.
The ox tribe, recent species.

The hyæna, and an animal approaching to the jaguar, both extinct species.

3. While the remains confined to tlie cavities and fissures of the gypsum consist of

The bores of man, of the fox, dog or marten, weasel, shrewmouse, field-mouse, rat, hamster, squirrel, hare, mole, domestic fowl, owls, and frogs; which agree with existing species, with some exceptions, however, which appear to require further investigation.

It may be asked, if the whole of these remains were deposited at the same era, whence does it proceed that they are not all distributed in the fissures and cavities of the superincumbent limestone, as well as in those of the subjacent gypsum? To this the natural answer seems to be, that, the limestone occupying a more elevated position, the greater mass of animal remains would follow the deeper current of the diluvian waters, and become princi."

carrent. Now this is precisely the position of the gypsum, in which those remains are found. If it be maintained that the animal remains deposited in the cavities and fissures of the limestone and gypsum, belong respectively to different epochs; and that of such as occur in both; namely, the rhinoceros, ox and deer tribes, hyæna and jaguar, these were at later periods washed out of the limestone, and then deposited with the other remains in the gypsum, it may be inquired, why were not the remains of the horse equally dislodged? And as the fissures and cavities of the limestone are described to be entirely filled at present with the same loamy deposit as those of the gypsum, it may also be asked, in what manner could the former be partly emptied, and yet be filled again with the same alluvium'at those supposed different epochs ? And how could the cavities of the gypsum have remained empty, while those of the limestone were filled during the first of those periods. There appears to be an inconsequence in such a supposition. If, again, it be contended that the whole of these deposits were post-diluvian, it may beremarked that this seems to be contradicted by the same loamy soil which occupies the fissures and cavities of the limestone and gypsum, being spread over the whole country to a great extent. It is true, Baron von Schlotheim appears to suppose the former existence of a lake, whence the waters flowing out, on the breaking down of its barpiers, bones belonging to different repositories and different eras have been commingled and swept together. But lakes, in the natural course of things, have a tendency to filling up, by a gradual accumulation on their bottoms, and not to bursting their barriers. Of the former existence of many such inland seas and lakes, there is ample evidence in the present form of the surface of the earth; but the gorges and defiles, by which their waters were discharged, clearly show that those channels were excavated by a mighty power; and as no physical cause now in action could have produced such effects, it may fairly be inferred that it was not post-diluvian. Where then is such a power to be found but in the agency of the diluvian waters, or in the more ancient causes which operated during or subsequent to the deposition of the earlier strata?

It is also to be observed, that in the fissures and cavities of both formations, the remains met with belong partly to extinct animals, and partly to such as agree with existing species. In considering the animal remains discovered in caves and in diluvian tracts, it appears hitherto to have been the practice to confine the terms * animals of the former, ancient, or antediluvian world to such as are now extinct. If the deluge was the great agent by which land animals were destroyed; and if in the existing order of beings the races were renewed with certain exceptions, we might expect to find in the depositions consequent to that catastrophe, the remains both of extinct animals, and of such as correspond with recent species ; and we do so find them, e. g. in the cave, or rather series of caves, lately dis

New Series, Vol. V.

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Mr. Moyle on the Temperature of Mines. (JAN. covered at Oreston, near Plymouth; and that these are referable to antediluvian races, appears to be proved by the unequivocal circumstances attending analogous remains in the Kirkdale cave in Yorkshire. If this be admitted, it will require the stricter caution in distinguishing between diluvian and post-diluvian deposits. The satisfactory solution of the general problem, as far as it relates to man, is probably to be sought more particularly in Asiatic regions, the cradle of the human race. Whether fossil remains of the recent elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, and hyæna, are to be found in the diluvium of tropical climates, becomes also an interesting branch of the inquiry, since it has been conceived that the fossil species of those races distributed throughout the greater part of the temperate and frigid zones of the northern hemisphere, being different, were by nature adapted to those regions, and perished where they lived. In the mean time, in a district so highly interesting as the neighbourhood of Köstritz, it cannot be too strongly recommended to naturalists to continue to explore, and scrutinize with all that precision which the subject obviously demands, all the natural circumstances under which the various deposits of animal remains are to be found in the fissures and cavities both of the gypsum

and limestone, as well as in the general tract of sandy loamy soil diffused over the surface of that country. In investigating such a question, a comparative view of the levels of the country, in relation to those deposits, would form an instructive part of the inquiry.

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ARTICLE III.

On the Temperature of Mines. By M. P. Moyle, Esq.

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. (To the Editor of the Annals of Philosophy.) DEAR SIR,

Helston, Dec. 8, 1922. The difference of opinion evinced by Mr. Fox and myself, relative to the augmented temperature of the earth in the descen from its surface, seems to have drawn considerable attention ; and as strong arguments are brought in support of decidedly opposite theories, I consider it but just that the public should be in possession of all the facts, sentiments, and experiments, to ground theirs. It, therefore, will become necessary to make a few remarks on what has been advanced by Mr. Fox and Dr. Forbes, in the Transactions of the Cornwall Geological Society, as well as that published by the former in the Annals of Philosophy.

Some few of my earliest experiments you have done me the favour of publishing in the Annals for April and June last. These experiments, together with others, formed the substance

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