lxxxiv Journal of Proceedings.
not in the south of England inland cliffs of limestone rocks as in the
north of England. There they could drive a hole horizontally and make
a cave, but in the south of England there was no alternative for primi-
tive man but to go down into the earth. It would be exceedingly
interesting to learn, although he was afraid this was impossible, whether
prior to the great submergence of England men lived in any such
excavations. Necessarily all the Deneholes that we found were sub-
sequent to the Glacial Period,—that was, the period of submergence,—
and he was afraid that we could not hope to know what kind of dwellings
man made for himself before the Glacial Period, because they would have
been destroyed by the submergence of England.
The President remarked that it was the bounden duty of the Club to
take up the systematic investigation of the Deneholes—[applause],—and
when the work at the Loughton Camp was finished he should propose
that that be the next problem they took in hand.
Mr. Robarts asked whether Mr. Holmes had made any progress in
ascertaining what kind of tools had been used in the formation of the
holes—whether the picks used were made of metal or bone.
Mr. Holmes did not think that point could possibly be determined
until the heaps of debris at the bottom of the pits had been thoroughly
investigated. There were some marks of an iron pick in the last pit
visited [see ante, p. lvii.], but it is impossible to say when they were
made. They might have been made by John Smith or somebody who
had written his name as being there in 1820. [Laughter.] They were
so very conspicuous that he was inclined to think they were made by
John Smith or one of his friends.
Dr. Cory, Mr. Letchford, and Mr. W. Cole also took part in the dis-
cussion, the latter stating that Captain Wingfield, the owner of Hang-
man's Wood, and Mr. Biddell, his agent, had very courteously given full
permission to the Club to excavate the pits and to carry on any explora-
tions considered necessary. A cordial vote of thanks was passed to Mr.
Holmes for his paper.
Mr. E. M. Christy read portions of a very long essay entitled " On the
species of the genus Primula in Essex ; with observations on their varia-
tion and distribution, and the relative number and fertility in Nature of
the two Forms of Flower." [Trans., vol. iii., p. 148.] The author illus-
trated his paper with diagrams and maps, and by the exhibition of his
fine herbarium of species and aberrations of the Essex Primulas.
Owing to the late hour but a brief discussion was possible, in which
the President, Mr. W. White, Mr.W. Cole, and the author took part, and
the thanks of the meeting were passed to Mr. Christy for his exhaustive
and interesting paper.
Mr. English also exhibited specimens of the genus Primula, both wild
and cultivated, preserved by his well-known process, in illustration of the
paper.
The usual conversazione followed.