G. GENEEAL NATURAL HISTORY AND ZOOLOGY. 243 



capacity of these remains appears not to be inferior to that 

 of civilized man of the present age, although the ridges and 

 processes for muscles indicated a greater physical power. 

 12 A, September 14, 1871, 388. 



EXPLORATION OF THE " GEOTTO OF THE DEAD" IN FEANCE. 



The committee appointed to explore the " Grotto of the 

 Dead," near Alois, in France, report that from their latest 

 researches, this cavern, so interesting in an ethnological point 

 of view, seems to be a " fault," occupied originally by a vein 

 of lead ore, and that this had been taken out, and the cavity 

 subsequently utilized, first as a dwelling-place, and then as a 

 place of sepulture for the race which has been found therein. 

 Much interest is attached to the further exploration of this 

 deposit. 1 B, October 22, 1871, 48. 



ANTIQUITIES FROM PEEIT. 



Mr. Harris has recently presented to the Anthroj^ological 

 Institute of London a collection of wood-carvings, pottery, 

 and cotton rags from Macabi Island, off the coast of Peru. 

 The rags extended over a bed of many hundred yards in area, 

 with an average thickness of five feet, and below a deposit 

 of several feet of guano. The wood and pottery were dis- 

 covered at a depth, in the guano, of from fifteen to forty-five 

 feet. 15 A, July 1, 1871, 21. 



NEW DISTINCTION BETWEEN MEN AND ANIMALS. 



At the late annual dinner of the Royal Academy of En- 

 gland, Professor Huxley, in returning thanks for the Royal 

 Society, stated that he w T as at last able to present a tangible 

 distinction between men and animals. The old differences 

 so constantly relied upon have one by one proved to be un- 

 satisfactory. Thus other species besides man walk on two 

 legs, and have no feathers ; caterpillars make themselves 

 clothes, w T hile kangaroos have pockets ; the dog reasons and 

 loves much as one's neighbors do ; parrots, again, utter what 

 deserves the name of sense as much as a great deal of that 

 which it would be rude to call nonsense; and beavers and 

 ants engineer as well as the members of the noblest of pro- 

 fessions. After all, however, man alone can draw, or make 

 unto himself a likeness. This, then, should be considered the 



