HRM.H--KA) >M I.I I \|. Ill \| MNS !'. 



IVofe in- I^'i<ly gave tin- ;u < ompaiiving illustration (figure _') <-f 



the pchic bone ill qilc-tion. It i- *eeli t< IN- :i defective right OS 



innominatum, which, on comparison with a -iiiiilar recent Indian 

 . -!M>\\- nothing |x'culiar. This is really nil that can lx sail 

 it. ami it would 1> quite useless to speculate as to its 

 :iutii|iiity. Had the geological evidence IMMMI conclusive in referring 

 the find to th<> Chaiiiplaiii or aimthi-i- late geological |n-i-ioi|. tin- soina- 

 tc logical feature- of the l>one would not form an insujx-rahle objee- 

 lion to this disposition of it. 



VI. THE LAKE MONKOK (FU)HIDA) BONES 



In W. I'sher's chapter on Geology and Paleontology in connection 



with human origins, in Nott and (iliddon's Types of Mankind." we 

 find an account by Professor Agassi/, of fossilized and sup|M-4'dly 

 ancient human "jaws with |xrfect tH>th and portions of a foot," 

 discovered apparently alnuit 18;VJ or 18;">:i by Count K. de 1'ourtales 

 " in a bluff u]N)ii the shores of Lake Monroe." Florida. "The mass in 

 which they were found is a conglomerate of rotten coral-reef lime- 

 stone and shells, mostly ampularias of the same species now found in 

 the St. John Kiver. which drains Lake Monroe." The de|>osit is of 

 lacustrine origin and contains remains of animal forms that are still 

 in existence. Its age Agassi/, could not give with precision: it was 

 considered certain by him, however, that "the whole of the southern 

 extremity of Florida, with the Everglades, has l>een added to that 

 part of the. continent since the basin has IMHMI in existence, in which 

 the conglomerate with human IMHICS has IHHMI accumulating." Cal- 

 culations based on the growth of the peninsula and its duration in 

 a desert state left Professor Agassi/ still "ten thousand veal's, dur- 

 ing which it should IH> admitted that the mainland was inhabited 

 by man." 



The foregoing, unfortunately, seems to IK- the only account of the 

 specimen. It is mentioned by Lyell '' without any further particu- 

 lars. It is not stated at what depth the human IMMICS were discov- 

 ered or in what association. There is, finally, nothing known as to 

 the physical characteristics of the sjM'cimens l>eyond the fact that 

 "the teeth were j>erfect." and nothing as to their fate. On the 

 whole, the claim to antiquity of this particular find is not a strong 

 one. Fossili/ation itself means in Florida but little, as the process 

 i- even now going on in many portions of the peninsula. Then* is but 

 one possible conclusion regarding the I^ake Monroe Ixmes. which is 

 that they can not, on the existing evidence, be accepted as proofs of 

 the pre-ence of early man on this continent. 



Kxc*rpt her* tilven nre from loth *d.. .1.12-35.1. 1871. 



The Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man. 3d ed.. 44-45, lx>ndon. IMS. 



