THE FOSSIL MAN OF MENTONE. 643 



species formerly existing in Europe, but which still live under some- 

 what modified forms, and restricted to other lands, are the lion, from 

 which the Fells spelcea is scarcely distinguishable ; the spotted hyena, 

 with which the Hyaena spelcea has been identified ; and the bear of 

 the ancient caverns, which differs (so far as has been shown) only in 

 its larger size from the common bear of Europe, and for this reason 

 (and this only, apparently) has it been identified with the grizzly of 

 America ; and on similar grounds only (i. e., superior size) have some 

 remains of a stag, found in the cave of Mentone, been referred to the 

 living wapiti, or elk ( Cervus Canadensis) of America. With reference 

 to these, it must be remembered that the progenitors of our living 

 forms, both in America and Europe, were appreciably larger (as has 

 been shown by Baird for the mammals of the Carlisle cave) than their 

 modern descendants, and the American contemporary of the stag 

 hunted by the Mentone man was considerably larger than its living 

 representative, and consequently than the animal living in his own land. 



So far, then, as yet appears from our knowledge of the skeleton, 

 and the forms found in association with it, it can only be regarded as 

 very ancient from an historical (and not a geological) point of view. 

 Its jDOSsessor lived in the midst of a fauna most of whose representa- 

 tives still live in forms no more modified than are the existing races 

 of the genus Homo compared with himself. 



But, on the other hand, that his antiquity is great, and that he lived 

 under conditions quite difi*erent from those which verbal history has 

 preserved for us, appears to be indubitable ; if many of his associates 

 still live, it is under considerably modified forms, and other species 

 coexistent with him (such especially as the tichorhine rhinoceros) 

 ceased to exist before man had begun to record the existence of even 

 the strano-er forms of animal life ; and how that man and his fellows 

 ministered to their needs is, to some extent, made known to us by the 

 objects of their handiwork preserved around the remains of the dead. 



These were either of bone, or deer's-horns, or of stone ; the former 

 were relatively few, and are referred to by M. Riviere as arrow-heads, 

 pins, needles, chisels, sleeking-tools, and a hdton of command {sic!) 

 made from the principal left metacarpal of a horse, perforated, and 

 supposed to have been carried around the neck ; the stone implements 

 were much more numerous, and represented by scrapers or graters, 

 pins, arrow or lance heads, disks, knife-blades, and hammers. The 

 workmanship was quite rude. The great predominance of ruminant 

 (deer, goat) bones suggests their favorite food : that they used fire is 

 obvious ; and the numerous long bones of animals split lengthwise 

 (and only five out of more than ten thousand were not) plainly indi- 

 cated that they used the marrow. 



We may now pause, review the evidence thus briefly referred to, 

 and inquire what gain has resulted from the discovery of the fossil 

 man of Mentone. 



