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Show 98 MR. G. NEVILL ON THE [Feb. 17, as the preceding; but more or less mixed up with them are others of a much more recent period, such as Rumina decollata, Xerophila terveri 1 (n. sp. ?), &c. I was not able thoroughly to examine this locality, now much restricted by the works of the adjoining quarry; I found the work of extracting these subfossils too hard, a task which required hammer and chisel; an intelligent old man who serves as guide for the caves, however, extracted a good many for me. F. Deposit, at one of the angles of the entry to the first cave, that nearest to Menton, southern aspect, and probably of somewhat less ancient age than all of the preceding. W e were lucky enough to discover this narrow and very restricted deposit, containing sub-fossils, which we thoroughly explored, to the left as one enters within the first cave. I am consequently able to establish the fact that the (unfortunately only few) species we discovered here existed at the same time as some of the large mammals whose bones have been dug out of the interior of the cave in great quantities, and debris of which I found above, or mixed up with, these shells. W e were unsuccessful in our efforts to discover any similar deposit round, or at, the other caves ; possibly any one prepared to go to the expense of employing a few workmen might succeed in so doing. The earth in which they are preserved here is an ordinary-looking humus, similar to that in the interior of the cave, and without any trace of the red colour so characteristic of all the preceding. The mollusks most undoubtedly were living here in situ, doubtless sometimes climbing on the almost perpendicular rock in which the cave is excavated, at times hiding themselves beneath the large blocks of stone and in the crevasses at its base, where we found them. This spot, I am convinced, has not been affected by glacial action, as I take to be the case with all the preceding, which is easily explained by its being completely protected by the steep and lofty cliff immediately behind. These land-shells present a very different aspect from all the preceding, even in cases where the species appear to be identical, such as Helix niciensis and Pupa quinquedentata ; several species have not been found elsewhere at Menton, Helix ramoriniana especially. I take all the preceding deposits to belong probably to the phase eozoique of Bourguignat, whilst this, together with most of the mammals discovered in the caves by M . Riviere, a list of which is given by Dr. Bennet (loc. cit. p. 56), would fall naturally into his phase dizoi'que. 1 am inclined to think, too,* that these shells of deposit F. were undoubtedly contemporaneous with the well-known fossil Man, found in one of these caves. In proof of this, I may mention that, besides the debris of bones of large mammals (Cervus elaphus &c), but not of any Carnivora, I found immediately associated with them certain marine shells (Patella, Trochus, and Cyclonassa), all of which were also found with the fossil Man, a necklace, indeed, of the Cyclonassa being round his neck ; these debris of marine shells were probably washed out of the interior of the cave by the small streams which then, as even now, doubtless trickled down the cave. I should mention that this small deposit was virgin soil, that it had not been disturbed or affected by the explorations of M . Riviere and others within the |
