240 THE EEV. J. MAGENS MELLO; M.A., E.G.S., EIC..^ 



occur naturally in the case of a flint so embedded in tlie soil 

 as to leave one face only exposed to passing blows. 



Bearing such facts as these in mind Ave may well be very 

 cautious, and pause before at once accepting every example 

 of a chipped flint as being the work of man ; and in view of 

 the fact which has been pointed out that the flints from the 

 ]\laconnais and elsewhere, which have been brought forward 

 as the tools of Tertiary man, occur in localities Avhere hydro- 

 thermal and other agencies have been active, and where 

 fractured flints abound, we may at least venture to wait for 

 evidence that is not quite so open to question. 



Such evidence we are told has been found in America. 



Some supposed traces of Pliocene man discovered in the 

 auriferous gravels of California have been accepted by some 

 of the American geologists as clear proof that man existed 

 there in Pliocene times ; and not only so, but in such an 

 advanced state of civilisation that his works were on a level 

 with those of the most cultured neolithic inhabitants of 

 Europe. 



Stone pestles and mortars, three - legged and spouted 

 skillets made of lava, stone weapons and other objects have 

 been found, buried some hundreds of feet below the surface, 

 in gravels in which occur bones of the mastodon and of other 

 extinct animals. If it can be proved that the remains of man's 

 Avorkmanship were contemporary Avith the graA^els, as urged 

 by Professor Whitney, and also by Professor 0. C. Marsh, 

 then we must agree Avith them that " the existence of man 

 in the Tertiary period seems now firmly established." But 

 are Ave compelled to accept this conclusion? If so, we cer- 

 tainly have a most astonishing fact before us, viz., that at a 

 period so remote, that in comparison Avith it the pala3olithic 

 cave-dweller of Europe is but of yesterday, there Avere men 

 living in America in a comparatively high state of civihsation, 

 and liA'ing there surrounded by genera of animals utterly 

 different liDoth generically, as well as specifically, from any 

 Avhich have liA^ed there since the close of the Tertiary age. 

 This question has been discussed before the Victoria Institute 

 by Mr. Southall, and Ave may Avell agree Avith him that it is 

 far more probable that the American geologists have mis- 

 interpreted the CAadence than that man had attained so high 

 a state of culture as that denoted by the objects found, 

 even had he existed at so remote a period ; and Mr. Southall 

 and others have brought forAvard evidence which renders it 

 most probable that the objects of human Avorkmanship were 



