PALE ON TO LOGICAL DISCOVERY. 379 



although experienced geologists, such as Boue and others, had been 

 convinced by collecting them. Christol, Serres, and Tournal, in 

 France, and Schraerling in Belgium, had found human remains in 

 caves, associated closely with those of various extinct mammals, and 

 other similar facts were on record. 



Boucher de Perthes, in 1841, began to collect stone implements in 

 the gravels of the valley of the Somme, and in 1847 published the 

 first volume of his " Antiquites Celtiques." In this work he described 

 the specimens he had found, and asserted their great antiquity. The 

 facts as presented, however, were not generally accepted. Twelve 

 years later. Falconer, Evans, and Prestwich examined the same locali- 

 ties with care, became convinced, and the results were published in 

 1859 and 1860. About the same time, Gaudry, Hebert, and Desno- 

 yers also explored this valley, and announced that the stone imple- 

 ments there were as ancient as the mammoth and rhinoceros found 

 with them. Explorations in the Swiss lakes and in the Danish shell- 

 heaps added new testimony bearing in the same direction. In 1863 

 appeared Lyell's work on the " Geological Evidences of the Antiquity 

 of Man," in which facts were brought together from various parts of 

 the world, proving beyond question the great age of the human race. 



The additional proof since brought to light has been extensive, 

 and is still rapidly increasing. The Quaternary age of man is now 

 generally accepted. Attempts have recently been made to approxi- 

 mate in years the time of man's first appearance on the earth. One 

 high authority has estimated the antiquity of man merely to the last 

 glacial epoch of Europe as 200,000 years ; and those best qualified 

 to judge would, I think, regard this as a fair estimate. 



Important evidence has likewise been adduced of man's existence 

 in the Tertiary, both in Europe and America. The evidence to-day is 

 in favor of the presence of man in the Pliocene of this country. The 

 proof offered on this point by Professor J. D. Whitney in his recent 

 work* is so strong, and his careful, conscientious method of investiga- 

 tion so well known, that his conclusions seem irresistible. \Yhether 

 the Pliocene strata he has explored so fully on the Pacific coast corre- 

 sponds strictly with the deposits which bear this name in Europe, may 

 be a question requiring further consideration. At present, the known 

 facts indicate that the American beds containing human remains and 

 works of man are as old as the Pliocene of Europe. The existence of 

 man in the Tertiary period seems now fairly established. 



In looking back over the history of paleontology, much seems to 

 have been accomplished ; and yet the work has but just begun. A 

 small fraction only of the earth's surface has been examined, and two 

 large continents are waiting to be explored. The " imperfection of the 

 geological record," so often cited by friends and foes, still remains, 

 * " Auriferous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California," 1879. 



