THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN NORTH AMERICA. 329 



is not at all improbable; but how does this modernize the object, 

 when the gravel extends quite to the surface? The pebbles and 

 bowlders at the top of the bank are clearly as much a part of the 

 deposit as are those at its base, and while the surface may be is, in 

 fact less ancient than the deeper gravels, still they can not be dis- 

 sociated; and it is a significant fact that we find, on the gravel at 

 the foot of the bluff or other exposure, only the rude argillite ob- 

 jects at the water's edge or on the flat laid bare at low tide, and not 



FIG. 1. WASTING EIVEE SHORE DUE TO TIDAL FLOW. 



a general assortment of the Indian's handiwork, including pottery; 

 and we must not overlook the fact that the " gravel-bed " imple- 

 ments bear evidence of all the conditions to which the gravel itself 

 has been subjected this one stained by manganese, that incrusted 

 with limonite; this fresh as the day it was chipped, because lost 

 in sand and water and not subsequently exposed to the atmosphere ; 

 that buried and unearthed, rolled, scratched, and water-worn until 

 much of its artificiality has disappeared. The history of almost 

 every specimen is written upon it, and not one tells such a story 

 as has been told about it by the advocates of the " Indian-reject " 

 theory. 



Much has been written on the natural history of the gravel that 

 is so marked a feature of the river valley, particularly at the head 



VOL. LV. 25 



