46 GEOLOGY AND HISTORY 



then, were these earlier cave men ? Certainly no 

 people known to history, unless those whom we know 

 as antediluvians. 1 



From the Lebanon we may pass to the west of 

 Europe, where in France and Belgium a vast number 

 of interesting relics of palseocosmic man have been 

 discovered, and have been scientifically examined. 



We may take as an illustration the cave of Goyet, 

 on the cliffs bounding the ravine of the Samson, a 

 tributary of the Meuse. This cavern is about forty- 

 five feet above the present ordinary level of the river, 

 but in post-glacial times seems to have been invaded 

 by inundations, as it shows on its floor five distinct 

 ossiferous surfaces, separated by layers of river-mud. 

 These successive surfaces have been carefully ex- 

 amined by M. Dupont, and their contents noted. 



On the lowest of these, or the first in order of age, 

 were found numerous skeletons and detached bones 

 of the cave lion and the cave bear ; the former a 

 possible ancestor of the lion of Western Asia, the 

 latter closely allied to the grizzly bear of North 

 America, but both entirely extinct in Europe. One 

 of the skeletons of the lion was of unusually large 

 size, and so complete that when set up it forms the 

 principal ornament of the cave collection in the 

 Brussels Museum. 



The next surface, the second in order of time, had 



1 For more detailed description see Modern Science in Bible Lands \ 

 also Egypt and Syria, in the Bypaths of Bible Knowledge^ by the 

 author. 



