238 Dr Mantel rs Illustrations of the Connexion 



author has deteriorated the value of his antiquarian labours 

 by vague and erroneous conclusions, which but a slight 

 acquaintance with the elements of geology would have 

 enabled him to avoid ; for the mineralogist will perceive at 

 a glance that the so-called antediluvian works of art, figured 

 and described by M. Boucher de Perthes, are nothing more 

 than accidental forms of pebbles and stones, similar to those 

 that occur in strata of immense antiquity, and which can 

 never have been fashioned by the hand of man. 



In this essay I propose to consider, — 



Firstly, — The conditions under which the relics of man 

 and his works may become imbedded and preserved in the 

 strata now in progress of formation ; 



Secondly, — The occurrence of human bones, and instru- 

 ments, and coins, in deposits of modern date ; 



Thirdly, — The presence of similar remains in more ancient 

 sediments, associated with those of extinct animals ; and 



Lastly, — The probability of discovering indications of the 

 existence of the human race in the earlier tertiary formations. 



I. — On the Imbedding of Human Remains in the Strata now in 

 Progress of Formation. 



Notwithstanding the feeling of respect for the remains of 

 the dead which appears to have prevailed in all ages, and that 

 has given rise to the various modes of interment adopted by 

 different nations from the earliest periods, and thus consigned 

 the countless skeletons of successive generations to the grave, 

 and mingled their dust with the superficial soil, — ^yet, incal- 

 culable numbers of human remains must have been at all 

 times engulfed in the beds of lakes, and rivers, and seas, by 

 ordinary casualties. And as the bones of man differ in no 

 respect in their structure and chemical composition from 

 those of mammalia, they must undergo the same changes 

 when subjected to like physical conditions ; hence the skele- 

 tons of men and animals deposited in the same stratum will 

 be found in a similar state of mineralization. Fossil human 

 bones, therefore, may occur in an earthy or a porous state, 

 like those of mammalia imbedded in loose sand or earth ; or 

 of a dark brown colour, from an impregnation of iron, and 



