BY FRITZ NOETLING, M.A., PH.D. Il5 



that they deliberately spent a good deal of work, knowing 

 all the time that it was useless. 



I rather think it n.cre probable that the outline of 

 this specimen was dehi)erately shaped to represent a cer- 

 tain object, viz., a loi'r-footed animal, in all probability a 

 v.-ombat. 



The group of specimens now to be described are, pei"- 

 haps, the most interesting of the whole number, because 

 if the hypothesis of the figure stones be correct they must 

 represent human faces. It may be argued, but the face, 

 i.e., the profile, is not that of an aborigine. .Granted that 

 this is so, but can we expect that a primitive race 

 could shape such primitive implements from so unwieldy 

 a material as stone i.n exact likeness of a human Deing? 

 That would be exactly the same as if we were to expect a 

 child that makes its first attempt with a piece of chalk to 

 draw an accurate portrait of his father. Nobody could 

 reasonably expect this, and we must, therefore, not expect 

 that the specimens beio considered as human faces must 

 represent an accurate profile line of an aboriginal face. 

 It were rather surprising if the aborigines had already 

 acquired such a high perfection in art, considering their 

 otherwise low state of civilisation. 



I wisli it, however, to be well understood that I do not 

 siay that these specmens represent a human face. All I 

 contend is that the outline of these siDecimens is inten- 

 tional and not accidental, and if the hypothesis of the 

 figure stones is correct, there can be only one interpreta- 

 tion of these specimens : they were manufactured to repre- 

 sent a human face. 



PI. XIX. 



This very interesting specimen was found at Mona Vale. 

 Its length is 84 mm., the greatest breadth 52 mm., the 

 thickness 34 mm. The nature of the rock cannot be quite 

 correctly ascertained ; but, to judge from the colour of the 

 patina, and fi'om that of the original crust, as well as the 

 fine conchoidal fracture, the rock must be a hornstone of 

 either grey or dark blue colour. It differs, however, from 

 other hornstones, that large numbers of small perforations 

 or holes, which on the siurface are filled with a ferruginous 

 matrix, are irregularly distributed through the substance. 

 The whole surface is covered with a patina of light brown 

 colour, while that portion of the original crust which still 

 adheres to the indical face is of dull red colour. 



H 



