28 GEOLOGY AND HISTORY 



apes were either obliged to leave Europe for warmer 

 latitudes or became extinct in the succeeding pliocene. 



There are, however, in France two localities, one in 

 the upper and the other in the middle miocene, which 

 have afforded what are supposed to be worked flints. 1 

 The geological age of the deposits seems in both cases 

 beyond question, but doubts have been cast, and this 

 seemingly with some reason, on the artificial character 

 of the flint flakes, while in the case of some examples 

 which appear to be scrapers and borers, like those in 

 use long afterward by semi-civilised peoples for work- 

 ing in bone and skin, there are grave doubts whether 

 they actually came from the miocene beds. Lastly, 

 it has even been suggested that these flints may be 

 the handiwork of miocene apes, a suggestion not so 

 unreasonable as at first sight it appears, when taken 

 in connection with the working instincts of beavers 

 and other animals. Monkeys, however, seem to have 

 less of this gift as artificers than most other creatures. 

 On the whole, we must regard the existence of miocene 

 man as not proven, though, if it should prove to be a 

 fact, it may be useful to some of the scoffers of these 

 days to know that it would not be so irreconcilable 

 with the Biblical account of creation as they seem to 

 suppose. It might, however, prove a serious stum- 

 bling-block to orthodox Darwinians, and might raise 

 some difficulties respecting antediluvian genealogies. 



In the pliocene of Europe there are alleged to be 

 instances of the occurrence of human bones. One of 



1 Puy, Courny and Thenay. 



