THE HUMAN SPECIES. 103 



human care ; they would be found connected, and the 

 skulls, by far the hardest bone, and longest preserved, 

 would not be wanting, as they generally are ; nor, in 

 that case, would the human remains be deprived of 

 animal juices, exactly in the same condition as those 

 in the bones of extinct species ; that is, varying accord- 

 ing to circumstances, as they occur in both. With re- 

 gard to the evidence attempted to be drawn in support 

 of the theory, that the human remains are more recent, 

 because fragments of pottery have been found with 

 them ; and, in one case, that the cavern indicated the 

 effect of smoke, it is surely unnecessary to remark, that 

 savages are still human beings, who make use of fire 

 and of earthenware, particularly in cold and temperate 

 climates, provided they are not nomads ; therefore, 

 that the presence of human bones indicate the exis- 

 tence of both fire and culinary utensils. Cuvier, more 

 profound and more cautious, simply replied, " pas 

 encore," when he was asked whether human bones 

 proved to be coeval with those of extinct mammalia, 

 had yet been discovered. This was in 1824.* 



* In this, as in other cases, Cuvier made it a rule, to 

 answer only for his own personal observation; and the 

 human skulls, found in the Appennines, he considered as 

 demanding further research. See Appendix. 



