416 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [Dec, 



the question, with which of the later tertiary animals were the first 

 men contemporary ? In so far as Western Europe is concerned, 

 there seems to be evidence that several great mammals have 

 become extinct since man appeared on the stage, as, for example, 

 the megaceros, or great Irish stag, the cave bear, and, perhaps, the 

 mammoth and tichorhine rhinoceros. I believe, however, after a 

 careful study of the accounts given of the several deposits in caves 

 and elsewhere, in which these evidences are found, and after per- 

 sonal examination of the celebrated gravel-pits near Amiens, that 

 any inference as to the absolute antiquity of man is altogether 

 premature ; and, indeed, the question as to which of the extinct 

 quadrupeds of the later tertiary were contemporaneous with man, 

 is far from being settled. One of tlje most interesting documents, 

 relating to this subject, presented to the Association, was the 

 report by Mr. Pengelly on the exploration of the cave near 

 Torquay, called Kent's Hole, for which exploration a grant had 

 been given by the Association. This cave presents on its floor 

 four layers of different antiquity. 1. Blocks of stone fallen from 

 the roof; 2. Black loam; 3. Stalagmite or calcareous matter,, 

 formed by the dripping of water, and mixed with stones ; 4. Red 

 clay or loam. In the upper layers are found modern objects — 

 from the porter bottles thrown away by pleasure parties, to old 

 bronze implements perhaps 2000 years old. In the stalag- 

 mite and clay are found a few stone implements, and the bones of 

 animals, many of them now extinct. Much yet remains to be 

 done in this cave, but it seems to have been proved that the flint 

 weapons must be as old as the time when the extinct cave bear 

 lived in England. The mode of exploration pursued is very care- 

 ful. The interior of the cave is divided into sections, and in each 

 of these the loam is carefully removed, and the objects found in each 

 layer and in each section of the layer are placed in separate labelled 

 boxes, so that every specimen can be referred to the exact spot and 

 depth from which it is obtained. In this way it is hoped that a 

 series of indisputable facts relating to the animals which may have 

 been contemporary with the primitive men of the stone age in 

 England, may be obtained. 



Another subject of discussion, belonging to the later tertiary 

 period, is the agency of glaciers and icebergs in distributing the 

 materials of the post-pliocene drift, and in excavating the basins 

 of lakes. Prof. Ramsay, the great advocate of the theory of 

 continental glaciers, was, unfortunately, absent ; and most of the 



