248 ORIGINAL ARTICLES. 



been sTiaped by the skill of man." Bnt best of all, an hour or two 

 spent in a pit, examining the forms of ordinary flint gi'avel would, 

 we are sure, convince any man that these stones, rude though they 

 be, are undeniably fashioned by the hand of man. 



Still, it might be supposed that they were forgeries, made by 

 the workmen to entrap unwary geologists. They have however 

 been found by Messrs. Boucher de Perthes, Henslow, Christy, 

 Flower, Gaudiy, Pouchet, Wyatt, and others. One seen, though 

 not found in situ, is thus described by Mr. Prestwich. " It was 

 " lying flat in the gravel at a depth of 17 feet from the original 

 " surface, and 65 from the chalk. One side slightly projected. The 

 " gravel around was undisturbed, and presented its usual perpendi- 

 " cular face. I carefully examined the specimen, and saw no reason 

 " to doubt that it was in its natural position, for the gravel is 

 " generally so loose, that a blow with a pick disturbs and brings 

 " it doA\Ti for some way around ; and the matrix is too little ad- 

 " hesive to admit of its being built up again as before with the same 



" materials I found also afterwards, on taking out the 



" flint, that it was the thinnest side which projected, the other side 

 " being less finished and much thicker."* Neither in my first visit, 

 nor this spring, when with Mr. Prestwich and Mr. Evans, I made 

 another careful examination of these localities, was I so fortunate as 

 find any implement in situ. But evidence of this nature, though 

 interesting, is unnecessary ; the flints speak for themselves. Origi- 

 nally of a dull black, they have been more or less discolored and 

 their surfaces are generally stained yellow or wliite, according to the 

 nature of the beds in which they have been lying. As this discolora- 

 tion follows the contours of the present surfaces, it is evident that the 

 alteration of color has been subsequent to the manufacture, as I have 

 attempted to show in the first Volume of this Eeview. (PL VII. fig. 11.) 

 Even when, as is the case in some strata, the color is unaltered, the 

 weapons have a glossy surface, and a lustre very unlike newly broken 

 flints. In many cases also they have an incrustation of carbonate of 

 lime and small dendritic markings. Moreover, it must be remembered, 

 that when M. Boucher de Perthes' work was pubhshed, the weapons 

 therein described were totally unlike anything then known Since 

 that time, however, not only have similar implements been found in 

 various parts of England and France, but as already mentioned it has 

 since come to light that similar weapons were in two cases actually 

 described and figured in England many years ago, and that in both 

 these instances they were found in association wdth the bones of ex- 

 tinct animals. 



On this point, therefore, no evidence could be more conclusive. 



It has, however, been suggested that though the worked flints are 

 really found by the workmen in the mammaliferous gravel, they 

 may perhaps be comparatively recent, and have gradually inserted 



» Phil. Trans. 1860, p. 292. 



