Miscellany [pp. 640-643]

LITERA TURE, SCIENCE, AND ART
tites, and of thick stalagmitic pavements; but now these are so decom posed by the carbonic acid that they are reduced to the condition of very
soft mortar. Curiosity-hunters have also been doing their usual ruth less mischief. When it was first opened, Mr. Jackson obtained from a
chamber at the original entrance a large series of ornaments and imple ments of bronze, iron, and bone, along with pottery and remains of ani mals. There are in his collection bronze fibulae, iron spear-heads, iron
nails, bone spoons, spindle-whorls of stone and pottery, fragments of
Samian ware, and other pottery turned in a lathe, cockle-shells, flint
flakes, whetstones, and stone balls. The remains found with these be long to the red-deer, roebuck, pig, horse, and Celtic short-horn, sheep
or goat, badger, fox, otter, and dog. There are also Roman coins of
bronze and silver. All these were derived from a superficial deposit,
and could not be assigned to an earlier date than that of the Roman oc cupation. Thepotterywas ofthe same kind as that so commonly found
in the refuse-heaps near Roman villas. It is worthy of note that the
two domestic animals, the Celtic short-horn and the sheep or goat, were
those that had been most abundantly used for food.
Outside the entrance of the cave, and at a lower level, is a small
plateau, composed of dibris, which occupies the exact point where day light could be seen through chinks from the inside of one of the large
chambers. As both the plateau and the chamber were undisturbed, the
committee determined to begin work by removing the debris, and mak ing a new entrance into the cave. While this was being done, the fol lowing section was exposed: On the surface there was a layer of frag ments of limestone that had fallen from the cliff above, two feet in
thickness. Underneath was a layer of dark earth with stones, about
eighteen inches in thickness. It furnished large quantities of bones,
nearly all of which had been used for food, and several articles of
bronze, iron, or bone, of the same kind and age as those already men tioned. The pottery is also of the same Roman character. Fragments
of charcoal were also abundant, and stones bearing the marks of fire.
There can be- no doubt that this stratum marks the place where the
dwellers in the cave, during Roman or immediately post-Roman times
in Britain, kindled their fires and cooked their food. Underneath is a
talus of limestone fragments, detached from the cliff by atmospheric
action, like the superficial accumulation. It is from six to seven feet in
thickness. In some places the fragments were cemented together with
a soft decomposing stalagmite. It rested on a layer of gray clay, of a
thickness which at present has not been ascertained. At the bottom ef
the talus, and close to the entrance that is now being made into the
chamber, there were found two rude fiint-flake, a remarkably large
lower jaw of a bear, the broken bones of the Celtic short-horn and of the
red-deer. On the 4th of April, a most remarkable bone harpoon was dug
out from the same horizon. It is between four and five inches in length,
and is furnished with two barbs on each side, arranged opposite each
other, composing the head of the implement. The base presents a
form of attachment to the handle, which is, apparently, entirely new
to Britain. Instead of having a mxnere projection to catch the liga tures, there is a well-cut barb on either side, that points in a contrary
direction to those on the head. Were the bases of a barbed arrow-head
and of a harpoon joined together, the resultant form would be analogous
to the one in question. There can be no doubt, from the position of
these remains, that man occupied the spot before the accumulation of
the overlying debris. Ample use for his harpoon he would find in the
lake, now drained and turned into green fields, which are almost over
looked by the cave. So far as the work has proceeded, there is no trace
of metal at this horizon in the section.
The value of the evidence hitherto obtained lies in the fact that the
Roman stratum is separated from the lower level, in which the flints,
harpoon, and bear were found, by the talus of angular stones. And
this, in a rough way, enables a computation to be made of the date of
the lapse of time between them, if we allow that for a considerable time
past, immediately outside the historical epoch, the disintegration of the
cliff has been equal in equaltimes. For since, in twelve hundred years,
to put it at the lowest, only a thickness of twenty-four inches has been
accumulated above the Roman remains, it would take three thousand
six hundred years for a deposit of six feet to be formed, and thus the
harpoon and flint stratum would be about four thousand years old.
Meteoric Stones.
It is no longer possible to entertain the slightest doubt as to the reality of stones falling from the atmosphere subsequent to the explosion
of meteors, or bolides. M. Delaunay has collected many instances, wonderfully agreeing in their details, ranging from the year 1819 to 1868, inclusive, from which he deduces the consequence that the fact of stones
falling from the sky cannot be questioned. They are not darted by
lightning, as the vulgar long believed; but they proceed fry.n meteors,
or bolides, which suddenly appear in the atmosphere, and usually fall
after the explosion of the bolides. Those meteors, moreover, are occasioned by the rapid passage through our atmosphere of solid bodies
existing in space, and which the earth encounters along her orbit.
Aerolites, touched immediately after their fall, are found to be burn ing-hot. But they cool with very great rapidity-a proof that their high
temperature was merely superficial, and had not penetrated their entire
mass. As to their form, it is coarsely polyhedral, with irregular sides
and edgL,. The flat portions of their surfaces often present hollows
like those produced by pressing a round body, as a marble or an apple,
on a layer of paste or dough. They are also covered with a thin, black
crust, usually dull, but sometimes shining like a varnish.
The merely superficial heat of airolites at the moment of their fall,
and the thin, black crust which covers them, clearly demonstrate that
they have been subjected, for a very short time, to intense heat, which
has melted their outer shell without penetrating to any depth within.
On breaking an aerolite, and exposing one of its fragments to the flame
of a blow-pipe, you produce on the surface of the fragment a crust ex actly similar to that which covered the entire aerolite. Doubt on the
subject is no longer possible. Besides which, the black crust is often
wrinkled, owing to the rapid passage of the air over the melted sur face.
And now, what is the cause of the intense but short-lived incan
descence of bolides? Chladni, in 1794, thought it owing to the frictioa
of the air; Benzenberg, in 1811, supposed it rather due to the compres sion of the air. M. Regnault, after experiments on gases flowing with
great rapidity, made in 1854, came to the same conclusion-namely, that
the temperature of bolides is solely owing to the heat disengaged by the
compression of air. When a body moves through the atmosphere with
a velocity greater than that of sound, the air's elasticity is neutralized,
and compression takes place as if it were enclosed in a vessel. The vio lent heating of the bolide, during the short lapse of time occupied by
its passage through the air, is the necessary consequence.
Showers of iron are much rarer, at least at the present epoch, than
showers of stones. Meteoric iron presents itself in masses quite free
from stony matter, and sometimes sufficiently pure to be forged imme diately. It has even been employed in the fabrication of tools and
weapons. Meteorites also contain many other materials of great terres trial importance, such as oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon. They hence
lay claim to a community of origin with the planets which revolve round
the sun, which is confirmed by the recent discovery of numerous ex tremely small planets, and the probable existence of others smaller still,
which remain invisible in consequence of the trifling quantity of sunlight
they reflect.
Of late years, great pains have been taken to form collections of
stones fallen from the sky. We may especially cite those in the British
Museum, in the Mineralogical Museum at Vienna, and in the Museum
d'Histoire Naturelle at Paris. The last contains specimens of two hun dred and thirty-five falls-that is, of nearly all, since the number of
stone-showers represented in collections does not exceed two hundred
and fifty.
The Roman Remains in Paris.
The arena of the Roman amphitheatre, the remains of which were
recently discovered in Rue Monge, Paris, measures sixty yards in the
great axis, and fifty-three yards in the lesser. The edifice, when entire,
was one hundred and forty-two yards in diameter, and could contain
fifteen thousand spectators. The foundations now exposed are built
with beautifully-hewn stones, joined together with Roman cement. The
existence of these interesting remains was quite unsuspected, having
been concealed at a depth of thirty feet beneath the mound on which
were constructed the religious houses of the Filles Anglaises and of the
Dames de la Visitation. It is supposed to have been founded at the
beginning of the third century, and finished, during the visit of the Roman Emperor Aurelian, in the second half of the century, and is certainly the oldest portion of the ancient Lutetia of which any vestiges
remain. The fact of such an amphitheatre being built on this site is
an undeniable proof that, under the Roman domination at this early
period, Lutetia had extended from the island of the City, and spread
far over the left banks of the Seine. In the excavations made, a few
stone cages for wild animals have been uncovered, in a perfect state of
preservation; while here and there, in the soil around, broad slabs were
found, bearing the names of the patrician families who were owners of
private lodges. The members of the section of historic works in Paris,
at present conducting the researches, have discovered a number of collars in gold, malachite, and lapis lazuli; ivory, bone, and bronze pins;
fragments of decorative marble; glazed and painted pottery and bricks:
bronze and silver me dais of Adrian, the two Tetrici, and the Constantines; and fragments of bass-reliefs and Latin inscriptions, urns, vases,
and several skeletons. The government, it is supposed, will take measures to preserve this interesting relic of early times.
The Gallows in England.
From 1191, when Fitzosborne was hanged there, to 1783, when John
Austen closed the dance of death in a Tyburn tippet, many as eminent
people died at Tyburn tree as were ever to be seen round about Piccad illy and Pall Mall. Among those eminent people of their various days
1870.]
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