GEOLOGY. 237 



attachment to a handle ; (4) wrought hatchets of small size, but of 

 the same form with those from the diluvium of Abbeville and Amiens; 

 (o) (raiments of (lint which were chipped from the instruments here 

 described. More than ^-t objects of stag horn, of reindeer horn and 

 of wrought bones, and also one bone very coarsely sculptured, 

 rewarded our excavations in the lower beds. The sculptured bone 

 represents, as nearly as we can judge, a fish with ventral fins and a 

 divided tail. The skill of the artist was inferior to that in the case 

 before mentioned. 



It appears evident to us that the inhabitants contemporary with 

 t'ie inferior deposits of Lourdes, had a degree of civilization nearly 

 e i:ml to, and yet a little below, that of the occupants of the caverns 

 ol P'jrigord, Bruniquel, etc. 



From a review of the facts, it is plain that the age of the upper 

 layers of the deposit in the cavern of Lourdes is not the same as that 

 of the lower. We conclude from the presence of the Aurochs, the exist- 

 ence of domestic animals, the discovery of bones gnawed by dogs, 

 the almost complete preservation of the gelatin in the bones, and 

 their deeper color, and by the discovery of a bone finely sculptured, 

 that the upper beds belong to an age more recent than that of the 

 lower beds. This we would call the age of the Aurochs, with which 

 man was contemporary. As to the lower beds, it is evident to us, 

 from the abundant remains of the reindeer, including large quantities 

 of its horns ; from the coarseness of its wrought objects, its worked 

 llints, and its sculpture ; from the reddish brown color of the bones, 

 and from the absence of gelatin and their adhering to the tongue, 

 that they pertain to an epoch more ancient than the preceding. It 

 was the age of the reindeer. 



The cave of Lourdes has thus afforded the first example of the 

 direct superposition of the beds of the two consecutive paleontological 

 epochs of the Quaternary or Post-tertiary period. 



Human Fossils from Gibraltar. During the past year, as the re- 

 sult of the exploration of certain caves and fissures at Gibraltar, there 

 has been obtained a collection of human fossils, of the most interest- 

 ing and remarkable character. From two collections of cavern- 

 breccia, forwarded to England, nearly 400 fragments of skulls have 

 been obtained, all presenting signs of very ancient fracture, besides 

 numerous jaw-bones. Most of these cranial fragments are too small 

 to admit of complete cranial restoration ; but Mr. Busk, the natural- 

 ist, Avho has the collection in charge, is of the opinion that the lower 

 jaws may be referred to two distinct types of race. " This opinion," 

 he says, " is strengthened by the circumstance that some of the other 

 bones of the skeletons present very remarkable distinctive characters. 

 Thus, among the numerous leg and thigh bones, belonging appar- 

 ently to some 35 individuals, are many so singular, and as it may 

 almost be said so monstrous in their form, as to have excited the aston- 

 ishment of all anatomists who have beheld them. 



Subsequently, and later in the year, the other collections of bones 

 were received in England, obtained from the so-called Sir James 

 Cochrane's cave at Gibraltar. Included in the first collection, was one 

 (mite perfect human cranium, except that the lower jaw properly be- 

 longing to it has been replaced by one of a different individual. 



