a2 Professor Pictet on Fossil Bones. 



modern times. No one, I think, entertains the idea of ter- 

 minating the diluvian epoch immediately after the deposition 

 of the mud of caverns, and to place that of the gravels of 

 Switzerland in the modern epoch. The only means, there- 

 fore, of making these facts agree, is to unite, as I have said, 

 the diluvian epoch to the modern. 



It must, therefore, be admitted, that immediately after the 

 last tertiary deposits, the modern epoch commenced ; and 

 that, at the beginning of this epoch, all the animals which now 

 inhabit Europe were created, and also certain other species, 

 such as the large carnivora of the caves, some kinds of ante- 

 lopes, &c. Inundations, more or less general, probably pro- 

 duced in part by the last elevation of the Alps, have covered 

 many parts of Europe at different times. The oldest are 

 those which have filled the caverns ; after them, come those 

 that have deposited the gravels of France, and the most mo- 

 dern are such as have formed the gravels of our countries. 

 These inundations, and perhaps other causes, have caused 

 some species to disappear, as we notice some becoming ex- 

 tinct in the present day (such as the aurochs, &c.) The 

 greatest number have survived, and form the presently ex- 

 isting European fauna. 



This mode of viewing the question appears to me quite 

 simple and natural. At the same time, I can perceive that 

 objections may be made to it ; and of these I foresee two, 

 which I may answer beforehand. 



The first relates to Man. The union of the diluvian and 

 modem epochs seems to agree ill with his late appearance, 

 and with the fact that his bones are not found in the cavern 

 epoch. I have already noticed this objection in my Treatise 

 on Palaeontology, and called attention to the fact that I here 

 speak of the diluvian epoch only in relation to Europe, and 

 that it is necessary to distinguish the creation of man from 

 his late appearance in this country. I believe that the hu- 

 man species has not been a witness of any of the great 

 European inundations, and that it has not appeared there 

 till after the deposit of the gravels. But there is nothing to 

 indicate that man did not, at that epoch, inhabit the Asiatic 

 Continent, which all agree in regarding as his cradle. I 



