GEOLOGY. 281 



An interesting question arises as to the relations which existed 

 between the possessors of these skulls. Could they be all of one 

 race, or were they of entirely different races ? This question was 

 settled by an examination of skulls which belonged to Australian 

 aborigines, the purest existing race of human beings. In a large 

 collection of these, there were found skulls which almost exactly 

 matched the Engis and the Neanderthal skulls in actual dimensions, 

 and which certainly differed as much from each other in relative pro- 

 portion as did these. A remarkable fact is, that the present abori- 

 ginal Australians resemble these ancient people in modes of life as well 

 as in development of skull. Like them they use stone weapons ; like 

 them they use the bones of the kangaroo, as they did the bones of the 

 deer and urus ; like them they make mounds of refuse shells ; and 

 like them they build their huts on piles in the water. 



The Engis skull can, however, be paralleled in proportions even by 

 English skulls. 



Far back as is the age of the men who made and used the flint 

 implements, still farther removed is that at which must be placed 

 the commencement of the human race. 



A newly-discovered British u Bone Cave" At the meeting of the 

 British AssQciation, 1862, Mr. Dawkins gave a description of a newly- 

 discovered bone cavern in England, known as the " Wookey Hole 

 Hyena Den" After stating the peculiar features of the den, its 

 accidental discovery, its being filled up to the roof with debris, stones, 

 and organic remains, he showed the evidence of human occupation. 

 In three areas in the cave he found ashes of bone, and especially of 

 the rhinoceros tichorrhinus, associated with flint and chert implements 

 of the same type as those of Amiens and Abbeville, and as those of 

 the south-west of England. They were, however, of ruder workman- 

 ship, and possibly are of an earlier date. They were found underlying 

 lines of peroxide of manganese and of comminuted bone, and over- 

 lying, in one of the three areas, remains of the hyena, which mark 

 the old floors of the cave. From this he inferred that " man, in one of 

 the earlier, if not the earliest stages of his being, dwelt in this cave, 

 as some of the most degraded of our race do at present ; that he manu- 

 factured his implements and his weapons out of flint, and arrow- 

 heads out of more easily-fashioned bone. Fire-using, indeed, and 

 acquainted with the use of the bow, he was far worse armed with his 

 puny weapons of flint and bone than his contemporaries with their 

 sharp claws and strong teeth. The very fact that he held his ground 

 against them shows that cunning and craft more than compensated for 

 the deficiency of his armament. Secondly, that as he was pre- 

 ceded in his occupation, so was he succeeded by the hyena. He 

 then gave a brief summary of the organic remains found, comprising 

 upwards of 1,000 bones, 1,015 teeth, and 156 jaws belonging to the 

 lion, wolf, fox, bear of two species, badger, hyena, spelasa, ox, deer 

 of six species, Irish elk, horse, and rhinoceros of two species. One 

 of the latter, rhinoceros hemitoechus, stamps the date of the cave as 

 belonging to the preglacial, while the rest of the organic remains be- 

 long to the fauna typical of the postglacial period. 

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