11 



tumulus scattered over the county. Nearly the whole 

 of the implements on the table Mr. Brent said had been 

 found under his inspection, or by his means. He then went 

 on to describe a visit he had paid to Reculver and Bishops- 

 bourne with a friend, where he found two beautiful 

 specimens. The deposit above the shore was gravelly, 

 and it was supposed that these implements had been left 

 on the beach and were exposed by the flow of the 

 waves. As an indication of their very great age, the bones 

 of the elephant, rhinoceros, bears, and hyenas had been 

 found along with similar specimens. In Torquay flints 

 had been found with the bones of extinct animals, 

 which was another proof of their great antiquity. After some 

 other remarks Mr. Brent said he would not occupy the time 

 of the meeting farther, but would at once proceed with the 

 subject which stood first on the list of business - the read- 

 ing of his paper on "The Stork." He was glad to say that 

 a gentleman would follow him who would tell them more 

 about these flints and their interesting history than he could. 

 (Applause.) Mr. Brent then read the following paper : — 

 THE STORK. 



The increase of population, the progress of the arts of 

 civilization, the building up of large towns, combined with 

 certain physical changes in the face of a country, produce 

 those mutations in the habits of animated nature which are 

 constantly occurring. 



The wolf no longer prowls amid the fastnesses of Wales, 

 nor the Grampians of Scotland, and — to say nothing of a 

 remote and prehistoric period when the rhinoceros, the 

 elephant, the hyena, the cave lion, and the cave bear, with 

 that gigantic elk whose antlers are frequently found em- 

 bedded in the bogs of Ireland, thereby indicating that he 

 was comparatively a modern inhabitant of our isles— we 

 are constantly reminded as naturalists, that several species 

 of birds and animals of our temperate zone, have become 

 wholly or partly extinct. 



