186 FOSSIL HUMAN JAW. [l863. 



found it on the 28th March 1863." Thus the proceed- 

 ings of this cause celebre came to a close. 



The result of the conference was a bitter disappoint- 

 ment to M. de Perthes, since his English friends, 

 although acknowledging the fact of the human jaw 

 having been truly found as he described, yet refused to 

 admit that it belonged to a remote antiquity. His 

 letters subsequently to Prestwich and Falconer were 

 more than pathetic. * To the latter he wrote, " Vous 

 m'avez tue!" Still he had achieved a great work: 

 he had obtained public and full recognition of his flint 

 Mches as the tools and weapons of primitive man. 

 " Besides, he had the support among the members of 

 the Commission who were his distinguished countrymen, 

 and might well have been content to leave the age of 

 the famous human jaw as it rested in the minds of his 

 English friends in doubt." 



It had been painful to Prestwich and Falconer to 

 differ in opinion from their French confreres as to the 

 remote age of the jaw, but the latter were conscious that 

 their English brethren were loyal, and actuated solely 

 by their convictions, and by anxiety to arrive at the 

 truth. If we except the natural disappointment of 

 M. Boucher de Perthes, the two sections (the French 

 and English) separated with the same old feeling 

 of friendship and esteem, and with a perfect under- 

 standing between both parties. 



J. Prestwich to H. Falconer. ABBEVILLE, 13A May 1863. 



MY DEAR FALCOKER, I seem scarcely to have had time to 

 have a word with you the last few days. It is, I must confess, 

 with surprise I find myself at the conclusion to which we have 

 arrived. The case is a remarkable one, and apart from a few 

 impatient words, has, I think, been most fairly and friendly 



