holmes] aboriginal AMERICAN ANTIQUITIES PART I 63 



discoverer is well known personally to most of them and by reputation to every 

 geologist. In tbe spring of 1809 Mr. Clarence King visited the portion of the 

 Table Mountain wliich lies a couplo of miles southeast of Tuttletown, and 

 therefore near liawhide camp, to soarcli for fossils in the auriferous gravels. 

 At one point, close to the high blutf of basalt capping, a recent wash had 

 swept away all talus and exposed the underlying compact, hard, auriferous 

 gravel beds, which were beyond all question in place. In examining this ex- 

 posure for fossils he observed a fractured end of what appeared to be a cylin- 

 drical mass of stone. This mass he forced out of its place with considerable 

 difliculty on account of the hardness of the gravel in which it was tightly 

 wedged. It left behind a i^erfect cast of its shape in the matrix and proved to 

 be a part of a polished stone implement, no doubt a pestle. It seems to be 

 made of a fine-grained diabase. This implement was presented to the Snuth- 

 sonian Institution on January 20, l.STO. It is shown in the accompanying cut 

 (fig. 1), a photo-engraving from a drawing by Mr. W. II. Holmes. Mr. King 

 is perfectly sure that this implement was in place, and that it formed an 

 original part of the gravels in which he found it. It is didicult to imagine 

 more satisfactory evidence than this of the occurrence of implements in the 

 auriferous, preglacial, sub-basaltic gravels. . . . That human remains are really 

 associated with an extinct fauna in these gravels seems to me thoroughly 

 established.' 



(6) The osseous remains recovered from the gravels are, in some 

 cases, said to be fossilized, ha\ing lost nearly all their animal matter, 

 and some are coated with hrmly adhering gravels resembling those 

 of the ancient deposits. These conditions give rise to the impression 

 of great age. 



(7) The flora and fauna with which the human remains and relics 

 appear to be associated indicate climatic conditions and food suiipl}' 

 favorable to the existence of the human species. It is a noteworthy 

 fact that in many cases the intimate association of the human 

 remains with those of extinct animal forms is noted. 



(8) The evidence as presented by Whitney and others seems 

 abundant and convincing, and many scientific men have accepted 

 it as satisfactory proof of a Tertiary man in America. It is clearly 

 the strongest body of evidence yet brought together tending to con- 

 nect man with any geologic formation earlier than post-glacial. 



On the other hand, numerous considei'ations are urged against 

 great anti(iuity, as f()lh)ws: 



(1) It is held that the strength of testimony should be propor- 

 tioned directly to the magnitude of the propositions to be supported 

 and that this pai'ticular case requires proofs of a higher order than 

 have as yet been presented. 



(2) The existence of a Tertiary man, even of the lowest grade, 

 has not yet been fully established in any country, and this Cali- 

 fornia evidence, therefore, stands absolutely alone. It requires a 

 human race older by at least one-half than Pithecanthropus erectus 



1 Becker,. op. cit., pp. 193-194, 19S, 

 38657°— 19— Bull. 60, pt i— 



