bear (a variety of the preceding), the hyena, and the wolf. The
pockets contained nearly entire skeletons of these species. How had
the animals been able to penetrate this well? It is difficult to admit
that it was through the aperture that I have mentioned. I endeavored
to ascertain whether there was not another communication with the
Gargas grotto, and had the satisfaction of finding a fissure that
ended in the cave, and that probably was wider at the epoch at which
the place served as a lair for the bear and hyena.

Very old individuals and other adults, and very young animals, were
living in the grotto, and, being surprised, without power to save
themselves, by a sudden inundation, reached the bottom of the well
that we have described. The entire remains of these animals were
carried along by the water and deposited in the pockets in the rock.
Once buried in the argillaceous mud, the bones no longer underwent the
action of the running water, and their preservation was thence
secured.--_F. Regnault, in La Nature._

* * * * *




DEEP SHAFTS AND DEEP MINING.


A correspondent of the New York _Sun_, writing from Virginia City,
Nevada, describes the progress of the work there on the Combination
shaft of the Comstock lode, the deepest vertical shaft in America, and
the second deepest in the world. It is being sunk by the Chollar