OBITUARY. 



JOSEPH MARTIN. 



THE death of this enthusiastic explorer was announced on May 

 26, at Marghilan in Russo-Turkestan. Mr. Martin, who 

 succumbed to an illness brought on by privation and fatigue, has 

 added much of late years to our knowledge of Central Asia, having 

 traversed Thibet and the country bordering the southern frontier 

 of China. He was a somewhat wealthy man, and devoted the major 

 part of his money to exploration. 



A REPORT of the death of Emin Pasha has been circulated, but 

 so far, there is nothing to show that this is more than one of the 

 rumours which all African travellers have to put up with. It has 

 received the inevitable contradiction, which is probably as reliable 

 as the orie:inal statement. 



OBSERVATIONS AND CORRESPONDENCE. 



Pre-Glacial Man in Britain. 



In reference to our observations on this subject in the April 

 number [supra, p. 85), Mr. W. J. Lewis Abbot writes a long letter, 

 from which we extract the essential points : — 



" What can the writer mean when he says 'the discussion of man's 

 antiquity in Britain has, by common consent, been allowed to slumber 

 for some years ' ? Can he quote any seven years in which a greater 

 store of information has been amassing in favour of man's antiquity 

 than the last ? The next sentence is ambiguous, namely, that the 

 evidence ' was scarcely such as to command the respect of geologists,' 

 and joined to this is the assertion that ' it seemed also probable that 

 before long facts would be discovered that would definitely settle the 

 question.' What are these facts ? and upon what is their probable 

 discovery based ? The writer goes on to say that ' many weak links 

 exist in the chain of argument by which he [Professor Prestwich] 

 attempts to prove that man existed in this country prior to the 

 denudation of the Thames Valley and the W'eald.' Why are not 

 some of these ' weak links ' enumerated ? One would say that no 

 geologist or anthropologist would question the priority of the plateau 

 men. The writer objects that ' many of the supposed flakes yield but 

 doubtful evidence of human agency, and none of them have yet been 

 found more than 2h feet below the surface.' With regard to the first 

 statement, the flakes, although apparently so asymmetrical, show a 

 persistency of type, an identity of curvature, not to be excelled by 

 river-drift specimens ; while as for the depth at which they are found 

 the plateau drift is rarely penetrated deeper, under conditions where 

 one could find implements." 



