that a certain class of tools was- not wrought to serve one 

 purpose, while another was intended for quite a diiierent 

 one (example : knife and battleaxe (celt) of tiie Palaeo- 

 lithic or Neolithic industry), but that any implement was 

 as fit for the simple purposes it was required as any other 

 specimen. 



Before proceeding any fui'ther, it may be well to ex- 

 plain two scientific terms which I introduced, in order to 

 render description more concise. Above, I referred to 

 Scott's important observation, that the Aborigines, when 

 using the implements, held them in such a way that the 

 thumb invariably rested on the flat side or face. It is only 

 too natural to distinguish this face as "thumb-tace," or to 

 use the more scientific Latin term : Pollical-f ace, from the 

 opposite one. The opposite, convex, and always wrought 

 face, may fitly be termed Indical-face (from "index, ' first 

 finger). 



The Archseolithic implement, however crudely wrought 

 it may be, will, therefore, always have two distinct physio- 

 logical faces : the Pollical and the Indical face. In the 

 Eolithic implement, which was grasped without being pre- 

 viously wrought, this diflFerence has not been developed 

 yet, while in the Palaeolithic and Neolithic implement it 

 had disappeared again. 



This is, in my opinion, the most important discovery 

 the study of the Tasmanian Archseolithes has led to, and as 

 I particularly wish to say thanks to that keen and enthusi- 

 astic observer, the late Mr. Scott- None of the authors 

 who have dealt with Archseolithes, not even our greatest 

 authority on the subject of stone implements, Sir John 

 Evans, have recognised that the smooth face of the more 

 primitive "Palceolithic'' implements as they were called, 

 is more than an accident resvilting from the blow when the 

 implement was flaked or struck off from the parent block. 

 Had it not been for Scott's observation, we would have 

 never known that the flat face of the Archseolithic imple- 

 ment had an important physiological signification, that it 

 was in fact its essential feature, brcause there were no means 

 of firmly grasping it. unless a flat face was produced on 

 which the thumb could rest- The importance of a smooth 

 and flat Pollical face will at once be seen when we examine 

 a larger collection of Tasmanian Arclijeolithes- Every 

 specimen that has an elaborately wrought Indical face is 

 invariably distinguished by a particularly even and smooth 

 Pollical face. Not a single specimen have 1 found m 

 which a highly wrought Indical face was combined with a 

 rough uneven Pollical face. Of course numerous instances 

 occur in which, though the Pollical face is smooth and flat, 

 the Indical face is only moderately worked. However, 

 one thing seems certain, if an aboriginal workmaoi suc- 

 ceeded in striking off a nice flat Pollical face, he usually 



