BY R. ETHERIDGEj JUN, 265 



beiog ground quite flat. The outer cusps are worn almost into 

 concavities exposing the dentine, the enamel forming a ring or 

 wall round the inner margin. 



The tooth appears to be completely fossilised, for on comparing 

 it with the teeth of the larger marsupials from the Wellington 

 Caves, the mineral condition is without question similar. 



To sum up, it may be fairly stated: — (1) That up to the 

 present, as at the time Mr. R. B. Smyth wrote, the existence of 

 man's works in any geological deposit above question, has not 

 been shown to exist. (2) That the molar crown found in the 

 Wellington Breccia Cave appears to be that of a human being, 

 and is to all intents and purposes a fossil. (3) That its position 

 in the cave and association with the other organic remains there 

 entombed is open to doubt, (4) That no other human remains 

 have been found at Wellington under similar conditions. 



The mineralised condition of the tooth is, of course, its strongest 

 recommendation ; but I do not think that, in a momentous ques- 

 tion of this kind, and one on which so much theory can be built 

 up, this should be allowed to outweigh other evidence pointing 

 in a different direction. 



The matter can hardly be summed up better than by the very 

 reasonable and often correctly applied Scotch verdict of " Not 

 proven." 



In conclusion, I would distinctly wish it to be understood that 

 I have not lost sight of the bearing the relative antiquity of the 

 Tasmanian aborigines has on this subject. The former geological 

 connection of Australia and Tasmania now appears to be a 

 generally accepted fact.* The late Mr. James Bonwick regarded 

 the Tasmanians as an older race than the Australians, although 

 emanating from a common centre, and dispersed over a then 

 existing continent of which our present Australia and Tasmania 

 formed portions. If such be the case, how vast a period of time 

 must have elapsed since then, allowing for the formation of the 



* J. Bonwick—" Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians," 1870, p. 259. 



