808 ANNUAL OP SCIENTIFIC DISCOVERY. 



mountains. Geological developments the same on the west slopes. 

 Native copper has been discovered in various places on the coast, 

 and in the vicinity of Copper River. Iron ore of excellent qual- 

 ity, now being smelted and worked by Russian artisans in repair- 

 ing ships, etc. Coal is found in large quantities, used by the 

 Russians for naval purposes, similar to New Brunswick coal, but 

 not equal to Cumberland coal. Recent discoveries have been 

 made of what is believed to be a better quality of coal, not yet 

 tested. 



Inhabitants. 5 or 6,000 Russians, and 50 or 60,000 Indians 

 and Esquimaux. The Esquimaux inhabit the coast on the North- 

 ern Sea; are industrious, peaceable, and tractable, and live by 

 hunting and fishing. The Indians inhabit the interior, and live by 

 hunting, fishing, and trapping. 



THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 



The following are extracts from a paper by Mr. J. Crawford, 

 F. R. S., read in the Ethnological department of the British Asso- 

 ciation at the late meeting at Dundee : " Man, when he first ap- 

 peared on earth, was not without articulate speech, and, like the 

 lower animals, must have expressed himself by what was little 

 better than mere interjection. He had, therefore, to frame a 

 language, a seemingly difficult achievement, yet one which 

 every savage tribe had been able to achieve, and that not in one 

 place only, but in several thousand separate and independent 

 localities. It followed, then, that as every tongue was regularly 

 constructed and perfect for its own purposes, many ages must 

 have passed before language could have reached its present 

 maturity. Even the languages of a people so low in the scale of 

 humanity as the Australians, incapable of reckoning beyond dual- 

 ity, were found to be not only skilfully, but even completely con- 

 structed. 



" I may conclude this paper with a recapitulation of the conclu- 

 sions which may, I think, be legitimately deduced from the facts 

 stated in it. Man, although the latest creation of the class of be- 

 ings to which he is most nearly allied, is yet of vast antiquit}', 

 although that portion of his history which has transpired since he 

 acquired the art of making a durable and authentic record of lite 

 own existence forms but a very small fraction of it. From the 

 time in which he acquired the skill to frame this record, we have 

 to trace him back over the many stages he had to pass through up 

 to the discovery of his remains in caves, and those of his handi- 

 work in the most recent geological formation, 'the drift. 1 Wo 

 must, indeed, go beyond this, and up to his first appearance, 

 when he was without speech, ignorant of every art, and, like the 

 lower animals, chielly guided by instinct. This is to be inferred 

 from the fact that, where material evidence of man's presence ex- 

 ists, in caves or 'drifts, 1 he is air e ad} 7 found in possession of im- 

 plements of stone, implying a considerable step in advance. But 

 tiie localities in which the physical geography of the land and the 

 genius of its people combined to effect such an early social ad- 



