4 Annals of the South African Museum. 



ineffective one, which, through supplanting the former, obHterates 

 its traces. 



For comparison I have, purposely, somewhat neglected indications 

 afforded by results obtained in England, Northern Europe, or 

 Northern America, not that these indications are not valuable in 

 themselves, but because the composition of the material used in the 

 lithic industry of South iVfrica, and the resulting produce of the 

 same, clearly assimilates it to that prevailing in Southern Europe, 

 from the Pyrenees eastward and southwards. 



This paper is not an attempt to try and solve problems of great 

 consequence for that section of the science of Anthropology dealing 

 with the stone implements, the artefacts of man who had ceased to 

 be anthropomorphous ape. It is a recapitulation, it can hardly be 

 called a narrative, of information obtained in South Africa, classified 

 wrongly or rightly according to the tenets obtaining now. 



It is the embodiment of some thirty years' research, and if the 

 explanations can be challenged or criticised the numerous illustra- 

 tions will doubtlessly escape that fate. 



Eenewed activity for the last ten years, in the search for these 

 relics— an activity resulting from the discovery of important 

 deposits — in which many and zealous collaborators have joined — has 

 enabled us, at the South African Museum, to accumulate material 

 from every part of South Africa, and of many from beyond. This 

 material forms certainly the most complete collection of its kind. 

 In addition, I was enabled by the courtesy of their owners to 

 examine, photograph, and make casts of certain examples not repre- 

 sented in the Museum Collection. 



I have been greatly aided by the members of the Staff of the 

 Geological Survey of the Cape Colony in matters relating to the 

 geological formations or sites of the implements found, many of 

 them through their own exertions. I would fail in my duty if I 

 did not make special mention of Mr. J. M. Bain, without whose 

 intelligence, liberality, and absolutely gratuitous aid my attempt at 

 discriminating in the intricate questions of the South African Lithic 

 Ages would have been greatly impaired, and the results more incom- 

 plete. Many are those who also proffered help, advice, and 

 suggestions. To name them all would necessitate many lines of 

 print ; but the omission of their respective names will not, I know, 

 be by them taken amiss, for, indeed, unselfishly they toiled. 



To Mr. A. E. Walker, of the South African Museum, I am much 

 indebted for his assistance in photographing many of the numerous 

 objects illustrating this paper. 



