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The Chairman (Mr. H, Cadman Jones). — I am sure I have the permis- 

 sion of all present to return the thanks of this meeting to Mr. Mello for 

 his interesting paper. (Applause.) It opens up a class of deeply interesting 

 subjects on which, however, in spite of all Mr. MeUo has done, I am afraid 

 we must await stiU further information before we can arrive at any practical 

 conclusion. I have now to ask any who have remarks to make upon the 

 paper to address the meeting. 



Mr. S. R. Pattison, F.G.S. — I think we ought not to allow the valuable 

 conclusions put before us by Mr. Mello to pass without due acknowledg- 

 ment of the masterful way in which they have been presented to us. The 

 paper is one which is well worth dwelling upon, for it is extraordinarily 

 complete, both in its facts and suggestions, and leaves very little to be done, 

 except to study it. What the fruits of that study may be, we are hardly 

 now in a position to estimate. As our Chairman has said, we have hardly 

 sufficient facts, either in this paper or from other authorities, to enable us to 

 furnish anything like a general theory. Of course, such a collection as we 

 have on the table before us puts an end to any objections that have been 

 made to the validity of flint implements. Whatever may be said as to 

 particular attempts made by quarrymen, or even by savans, to impose upon 

 their neighbours, it is impossible to maintain any such hypothesis here. We 

 see before us implements of a manufacture quite as obvious in their character 

 as if we had been in the factory and had actually seen them in the process 

 of formation. Their variety is as remarkable as the state in which they are 

 individually presented to us. It is clear that they were formed for the 

 purpose of administering to various human wants, and that those who used 

 them did not obtain them merely for the purpose of satisfying any imme- 

 diate or urgent requirements, such as those of the chase or of war, but that 

 they were evidently used in a state of society which was then fixed and 

 settled, and which exhibited that variety of wants which arises out of an 

 aggregation of men and their families in one particular locality. .But 

 although this collection puts an end to any doubt as to the genuineness of 

 the implements, it fails to introduce any new fact in relation to the great 

 mystery which surrounds the origin of palaeolithic implements. It does not 

 inform us by whom they were used, or when. They are said to underlie 

 the later or neolithic implements, and at the same time to be unconnected 

 with them ; therefore, a dark mystery remains for the investigation of our- 

 selves and others in the present and in future ages. It does not appear at 

 all probable that this dark mystery will be very easily solved, for there have 

 been a great many researches made into the subject, and very little progress 

 in arriving at conclusions respecting it. Mr. Mello, in his very able remarks, 

 has shown that we cannot say there was anything like a transition from the 

 pakeolithic implements into the later forms. The implements which surround 

 the palaeolithic fauna are quite diflferent from those which surround the 

 newer forms of the neolithic period. There is a vast difference between the 

 implements of the mammoth age and those of the higher reindeer period. 

 Those who study these two successions of life will be convinced that some 



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