OF EVOLUTION. 85 



thus far failed to make known this earliest and 

 much looked for preadamite. I am not pre- 

 pared to share the enthusiasm of certain French 

 archaeologists who recognize in a number of 

 very ancient " chips " or " flints " the handiwork 

 of apes, and in these last the missing progeni- 

 torial tribe (Anthropopithecus) ; for although the 

 reputed facts may be true and I am far from 

 denying that they are true some further evi- 

 dence is needed before they can be confidently 

 accepted as facts pure and simple. Nor can I 

 fully appreciate the evidence which carries his 

 antiquity back to the earlier portion of the Ter- 

 tiary epoch. I fail to find satisfactory proof of 

 man's belongings having been found in deposits 

 very much (if at all) older than the Post-Pliocene, 

 although not unlikely some such will yet be 

 discovered of far more ancient date; but a sharp 

 line must be drawn between actualities and 

 probabilities. 



In our own country the finding of the " most 

 ancient remains " of man has from time to time 



