the influence they have on the movements of our world and on each other, and to discover the substances of which they are composed; may we not fairly hope that similar methods of research to those which have taught us so much may give our race further information, until problems relating not only to remote worlds, but possibly to organic and sentient beings which may inhabit them, problems which it might now seem wildly visionary to enunciato, may be solved by progressive improvements in the modes of applying observation and experiment, induction and deduction? Page. NOTES AND REFERENCES. Ivi. HERSCHEL, Sir J. Astronomical Observations at the Cape of Good Hope, 1847. ROSSE, Earl of. Observations on the Nebula, Phil. Trans. 1850, p. 499. BRAYLEY. Report of the Meteor Committee of the British Association, 1865, p. 140, and Proceedings of the Royal Society, March 23, 1865. SORBY. Ibidem, and Proceedings of the Royal Society, June 16, 1864. lvii. OLMSTED. Silliman's Journal, July 1834, p. 138. The first suggestion of a perspective vanishing-point for meteors seems to be due to Prof. Thomson of Nashville. HERSCHEL, ALEXANDER. Reports of the Meteor Committee of the British LEVERRIER. Intramercurial Planets. Comptes Rendus, Paris, 1861, p. DAUBRÉE. Comptes Rendus, Paris, 1866. Bulletin de la Société Géologique de France, Mars 1866. lviii. PLUCKER. Variation of Spectrum Lines with Temperature, Phil. Trans. 1865, p. 6. lix. HUGGINS and MILLER. Spectra of Fixed Stars, Phil. Trans. 1864, p. 413. Spectrum of Temporary Star, Proc. Roy. Soc. No. 84, 1866. HUGGINS. Spectrum of Comet I., 1866, Proc. Roy. Soc. No. 80, 1866. Ix. CHACORNAC on the Moon. Comptes Rendus, Paris, June 1866, p. 1406, &c. lxii. RUMFORD. Heat of Friction, Phil. Trans. 1798, p. 80. DAVY. Ibidem. West of England Contributions, p. 18. Ixiii. SABINE. Magnetism and Solar Spots, Proc. Roy. Soc. 1865, p. 491. MAYER. Friction of Tidal Wave. See his papers collected and translated DELAUNAY. Acceleration of Moon's Motion, Comptes Rendus, Paris, AIRY. Idem. Notices Roy. Ast. Soc. April 13, 1866. DE LA RUE, STEWART, and LOEWY. Idem, 1865. FAYE. On the Dynamic Theory of Solar Heat, Comptes Rendus, Paris, lxiv. STRUVE. Etudes d'Astronomie Stellaire, 1847. The passage in the text is so brief as to be obscure. See the idea elaborated, Correlation of Physical Forces, 1867, p. 187. See Corr. Phys. Forces, p. 84. BERTHELOT. Formate of Potash, Institut, 1864, p. 332. lxv. TYNDALL. On Radiant Heat, Phil. Mag. November 1864; Phil. Trans. 1866. 1866. GRAHAM. Dialysis of Air, Phil. Trans. 1866, p. 399. WILDE. Increase of Magneto-electric Force, Proc. Roy. Soc. April 1866, p. 107. f Page. lxv. HOLZ. New Electrical Machine, Pogg. Annalen, 1865, pt. 1. p. 157. BENCE JONES. Idem, Proc. Roy. Inst. March 23, 1866. TRAUBE. Idem, Virchow's Archiv, vol. xxiii. p. 196, &c. FICK and WISLICENUS. Idem, Phil. Mag. June 1866, Supplement. lxvii. LAVOISIER. (Euvres, vol. ii. p. 640. ANSTED. Intellectual Observer, August 1864. lxviii. RAMSAY. Addresses to the Geological Society, 1863 and 1864. HERSCHEL, Sir J. Geological effects of Variation in Earth's Orbit, Trans. Geol. Soc. 2nd Series, vol. iii. p. 295. Outlines of Astronomy, 1864, pp. 233-235. CROLL. Idem, Phil. Mag. August 1864, and April 1866. lxx. PASTEUR and POUCHET. On Spontaneous Generation, Comptes Rendus, Paris, 1863 to 1865. lxxi. CHILD. Proc. Roy. Soc. 1865, p. 178. lxxiii. CARPENTER. On Foraminifera, Phil. Trans. 1856, p. 227; 1860, p. 584. H. BATES. Butterflies of South America, Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xxiii. p. 495. Ixxiv. WALLACE. Butterflies of the Malay Archipelago, Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xxv. p. 1. WALSH. Proc. Entom. Soc. Philadelphia, 1864, p. 403. FRITZ MÜLLER. Für Darwin, Leipzig, 1864; Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 1865. LUBBOCK. Diving Hymenoptera, Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xxiv. p. 135. LOGAN. Eozoon. Communication to the British Association at Bath, 1864. A. DE CANDOLLE. Variability in Oaks, &c., Bibl. Univ. de Genève, No- HOOKER. On Oaks, Trans. Linn. Soc. vol. xxiii. p. 381. On Arctic Flora, lxxviii. DARWIN. Origin of Species through Natural Selection, 1866, in which see also Dr. McDonnell's results. HUXLEY. Address to the Geological Society, 21st February, 1862. REPORTS ON THE STATE OF SCIENCE. Second Report of the Committee for Exploring Kent's Cavern, Devonshire. The Committee consisting of Sir CHARLES LYELL, Bart., Professor PHILLIPS, Sir JOHN LUBBOCK, Bart., Mr. JOHN EVANS, Mr. EDWARD VIVIAN, and Mr. WILLIAM PENGELLY (Reporter). In the First Report of the Committee, presented to the Association at the Meeting held at Birmingham in 1865, it was stated that Kent's Hole is situated in a small limestone hill about a mile eastward from Torquay harbour; that though it has been known from time immemorial, it did not attract the attention of scientific inquirers until the year 1824; that it was partially explored by the Rev. Mr. M'Enery from 1825 to 1829, by Mr. Godwin-Austen prior to 1840, and by the Torquay Natural History Society in 1846; and that all the explorers had been unanimous in stating that they found flint "implements," undoubtedly of human origin, mixed up with remains of extinct animals, in the ordinary cave-earth, beneath the floor of stalagmite. Having briefly narrated the circumstances which led to the exploration of the cavern under the auspices of the British Assoication, the Committee proceeded to state that they had selected for the commencement of their researches the large Chamber into which the most southerly of the two external entrances opens, having been guided in their selection by the accessibility of the Chamber, and by the indispensable fact that the deposits it contained were certainly intact; that these deposits were, in descending order-1st, huge blocks of limestone which had fallen from the roof, and some of which were estimated to weigh 7 tons each; 2nd, black mould or mud, varying from 3 to upwards of 12 inches in thickness, and lying between and beneath the limestone blocks; 3rd, a stalagmitic floor, graduating downwards into a firm stony breccia, and averaging at least a foot in thickness; 4th, reddish ochreous loam, or "cave-carth," of unknown depth, having incorporated within it a large number of angular fragments of 1866. B limestone lying confusedly without anything like an approach to stratification or symmetrical arrangement; that blocks of limestone almost as large as those overlying the deposits were met with everywhere in the black mould, in the floor of stalagmite, and in the cave-earth; that though the stalagmite was everywhere firmly attached to the walls, a few instances occurred in which it did not extend quite across the Chamber, but that even in these exceptional cases the line of demarcation between the black mould and the cave-earth was sharp and well defined, there being no example of the commingling of the two; and that the presence of a calcareous drip was more or less traceable throughout the cave-earth. They then described, somewhat in detail, the mode of exploration which had been followed uniformly from the beginning, and which rendered it easy to define accurately the position of every object of interest which had been met with, that is to say, its distance in fect from the entrance of the Chamber; its distance in yards, right or left, from a "datum" line crossing the middle of the Chamber from the entrance to the back wall; and its depth in feet below the base of the stalagmite, to the extent of 4 feet, beyond which the excavation had not been carried. Proceeding to a very general, but by no means exhaustive description of the contents of the various deposits, they stated that in the black mould were found numerous well-rounded pebbles, consisting of various kinds of rock, and probably derived from the neighbouring beaches; whetstones; pieces of slate, some of which were wrought into curvilineal shapes ; a spoon, a fibula, a socketed celt, and other articles in bronze; a large fragment of a plate of smelted copper; numerous pieces of pottery which, though including one bit of Samian ware, were generally of a somewhat coarse character; a comb, a spoon, a chisel, and other objects formed of bone; spindle-whorls of various kinds of stone; a few flint-flakes; charred wood; bones of various animals, such as the pig, deer, sheep, badger, fox, hare, rabbit, small Rodents, bat, birds, and different kinds of fish; shells of different species of Helix, as well as of many of the marine forms common on the coast; and hazel-nuts, generally perforated at one end. That the few remains yielded by the stalagmitic floor included charred wood, land and marine shells, and bones of various animals-all probably of existing species. That from the cave-earth had been exhumed a very large number of bones of Hyana spelæa, Felis spelæa, Ursus spelæus, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Elephas primigenius, Fox, probably more than one species of Horse, and several species of Deer; that those of the Hyæna were the most numerous, after which, those of the Horse and Rhinoceros were, perhaps, about equally abundant; that the remains of the Mammoth were those of very young individuals*; that many of the bones occurred as fragments and mere splinters; that a large number of them were scored with the teeth-marks of various kinds of animals; that some of the long bones were split longitudinally; that some of those found beneath the large blocks of limestone were in a crushed condition; that most of them were of a chalk-like whiteness, a few only being discoloured; and that they were all of greater specific gravity than those found in the black mould. That lumps made up of cave-carth, small stones, comminuted bone, and matter of probably fæcal origin were numerous and widely distributed. That, rejecting doubtful specimens and mere chips, nearly thirty flint "implements" had been found in the undisturbed cave-earth, under *Some of the teeth, &c., of Elephas primigenius found in the cavern by the early explorers belonged to fully-grown animals. precisely the same conditions as the bones of the extinct animals with which they lay; that, with the exception of three, they were all of the kind denominated flakes, the excepted specimens being wrought to an edge all round their perimeters; that, like the bones, they were least numerous in the first foot below the stalagmite; and that those most elaborately wrought were found in the third and fourth foot-levels-the greatest depth to which the excavation had been carried. In conclusion, the Committee stated that, unlike Mr. M'Enery, they had not succeeded in finding the remains of Machairodus latidens or of Hippopotamus major, nor had they detected any part of the human skeleton either in the cave-earth or in the overlying black mould, but that with these exceptions they had confirmed all the statements of the early explorers. During the twelve months which have elapsed since the First Report, just recapitulated, was drawn up, the Committee have carried on their labours without interruption, the Superintendents have continued to visit the cavern daily, the original rigorous methods of excavation and examination have been uniformly followed, the results of each day's labour have been carefully registered, and at the commencement of every month a Report of progress has been forwarded to Sir Charles Lyell, the Chairman of the Committee. The selected Chamber has been completely explored to the depth of 4 feet below the stalagmite. It measures about 62 feet from east to west, and something more than 30 from north to south. The limestone floor has been reached in several places, but elsewhere the deposits descend through wide fissures to probably considerable depths, and there is reason to believe that beneath the limestone there are extensive undervaultings. In the inner or back wall of the Chamber, almost due west from the entrance, the workmen laid open the mouth of a Gallery, about 16 feet wide and extending westward for a distance of 29 feet, where it suddenly terminates in a mere slit in the limestone rock. This Gallery has also been excavated in the same manner and to the same depth as the Chamber. A comparatively narrow passage leads out of the Chamber northwards, and must be traversed in proceeding, within the cavern, from one of the external entrances to the other. Mr. M'Enery termed it the "Passage of Urns," on account of the large amount of broken pottery which he there found in the black mould above the stalagmite. Since the completion of the exploration of the Gallery, the workmen have been occupied in excavating this Passage, a work now almost completed. All the investigations of the Committee have been carried on in virgin ground. No traces of the earlier researches have been encountered, the deposits being everywhere indubitably intact. Several blocks of limestone overlying the black mould have been met with in the Chamber and the Passage of Urns. Some of them were of great size, and one greatly surpassed the largest of those mentioned in the First Report. It measured 19 feet long, 9 feet broad, and 24 thick, or upwards of 430 cubic feet; so that its weight must have exceeded 30 tons. In order to the removal of this huge mass, it was necessary to blast it five times, each blast being very successful. From their characters and positions, as well as from the condition of the roof, it is obvious that, from time to time, the blocks were severed naturally from the limestone strata, perhaps by the action of acidulated water along planes of jointage, such planes being prevalent and well defined in the |