JET. 51.] MOULIN QUIGNON. 185 



of geology, with Milne-Edwards the zoologist as their 

 president. Other distinguished naturalists joined in 

 the investigation, as, for example, M. Albert Gaudry 

 (our geologist's old and valued friend), M. A. Milne- 

 Edwards, and the Abbe Bourgeois. Mr John Evans, 

 who, as we have seen, had taken the keenest interest 

 in the inquiry from the time the asserted discovery 

 had been made, was prevented by other engagements 

 from joining at this stage. 



Three meetings of the Commission were held in 

 Paris early in May 1863, the proceedings being con- 

 ducted with great solemnity. Each member present, 

 whether French or English, had been led to recognise 

 the value of M. de Perthes' discovery of flint imple- 

 ments in the valley gravels of the Somme, by the 

 persuasive power of one of their number, who perhaps 

 was the most silent though not the least thoughtful in 

 that remarkable assemblage. It was Prestwich who 

 had won them all to a belief in those old worked flint 

 implements. Nor was his influence the least among 

 his fellow-members of the Conference. 



Unable to agree, they adjourned to Abbeville, where 

 the members were reinforced by the presence of M. de 

 Perthes, with that also of several eminent savants, such 

 as MM. Hebert, de Vibraye, &c. The sitting was 

 prolonged far into the night at the quaint old Tete de 

 Boeuf. They separated at 2 A.M., only to reassemble 

 a few hours later for the summing up. The proces 

 verbaux of each meeting had been voluminous and 

 minute, but the evidence was so perplexing that there 

 was only unanimity on the first clause, namely, " The 

 jaw in question was not fraudulently introduced into 

 the gravel - pit of Moulin Quignon : it had existed 

 previously in the spot where M. Boucher de Perthes 



