74 RARITY OF HUMAN REMAINS 



nary period, that certain communities of early Man 

 must have suffered in the general catastrophe may be 

 taken for granted. At the same time, although 

 portions of the perishable human skeleton have been 

 found in Quaternary bone-caves and in the high- 

 level Loess, it is chiefly by his indestructible stone 

 tools and weapons that the extended presence of 

 Man in the Quaternary period has been revealed. 

 Flint implements fashioned by the hand of Man have 

 been discovered in the Bubble-drift at Portslade, near 

 Brighton, at Sangatte, Mentone, Algeria, and other 

 places. Little systematic search has, however, yet 

 been made, and the field is a new one. That local 

 populations were spread over Western Europe and 

 along the shores of the Mediterranean at a time 

 anterior to the Bubble-drift, the cave and rock- 

 shelter evidence renders certain. Owing, however, 

 to the perishable nature of his remains, and to the 

 fact that Man knew better how to avoid the 

 threatened danger, his remains are rare in compari- 

 son with those of the contemporary animals. It 

 must also be remembered, in considering the great 

 disproportion in their respective remains, that at that 

 time there were but few men compared with the 

 thousands of animals to be affected by the event. 

 What are now the sparse tribal settlements compared 

 to the innumerable herds of animals spread over the 

 boundless plains of Africa ? 



Another cause has been assigned for the tradition of 

 the Flood, but it appears to me inadequate. The valley 

 of the Euphrates, like that of the Nile, is subject to 



