194 HUMAN FOSSILS OF LE PUY AND NATCHEZ. 



CHAPTER XI. 



AGE OF HUMAN FOSSILS OF LE PUY IN CENTRAL FRANCE AND 

 OF NATCHEZ ON THE MISSISSIPPI, DISCUSSED. 



QUESTION AS TO THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE FOSSIL MAN OF DENISE, 



NEAR LE PUY-EN-VELAY, CONSIDERED ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE 



IMPLIED BY THAT FOSSIL SUCCESSIVE PERIODS OF VOLCANIC ACTION IN 



CENTRAL FRANCE — WITH WHAT CHANGES IN THE MAMMALIAN FAUNA THEY 



CORRESPOND THE ELEPHAS MERIDIONALIS ANTERIOR IN TIME TO THE 



IMPLEMENT-BEARING GRAVEL OF ST. ACHEUL AUTHENTICITY OF THE 



HUMAN FOSSIL OF NATCHEZ ON THE MISSISSIPPI, DISCUSSED THE 



NATCHEZ DEPOSIT, CONTAINING BONES OF MASTODON AND MEGALONYX, 

 PROBABLY NOT OLDER THAN THE FLINT IMPLEMENTS OF ST. ACHfiUL. 



AMONG the fossil remains of the human species supposed 

 to have claims to high antiquity, and wliich have for 

 many years attracted attention, two of the most prominent 

 examples are — 



.First, — " The fossil man of Denise," comprising the re- 

 mains of more than one skeleton, found in a volcanic breccia 

 near the town of LePuy-en-Yelay, in Central France. 



Secondly, — The fossil human bone of Natchez, on the Mis- 

 sissippi, supposed to have been derived from a deposit contain- 

 ing remains of mastodon and megalonyx. Having carefully 

 examined the sites of both of these celebrated fossils, I shall 

 consider in this chapter the nature of the evidence on which 

 the remote date of their entombment is inferred. 



Fossil Man of Denise. 



An account of the fossil remains, so called, was first published 

 in 1844, by M. Aymard of Le Pu3', a writer of deservedly 



