ON PRIMITIVE MAN : I. HIS TIMES AND HIS COMPANIONS. 261 



Palgeolithic and JsTeolithic periods ; there are two lines of evidence 

 which it is necessary to consider as bearing upon it, both of -which 

 have been alluded to to-night : one is the form of the implements 

 and the evolation of the so-called Neolithic instruments from 

 older forms, and the concurring changes in the fauna. It appears 

 to me that the forms of the implements constituted as true an 

 index to the relative ages at which they were made, as fragments 

 of pottery indicate the relative periods and the stage of art 

 which prevailed when the potters lived. Those who are acquainted 

 with the composition and ornamentation of pottery can fix the age 

 to which it belongs, and those who are versed in the forms or 

 types of stone implements can arrive at general conclusions as to 

 the relative period at which they were fabricated. It is from this 

 point of view, confirmed by such evidence as the remains of the 

 contemporary fauna afford, that I have become convinced of the 

 continuity of the Stone age, and of the occupation of Southern 

 Britain from the earliest period of which we have any i-ecord to 

 the present day. 



The rudely chipped pebbles and nodules from the Chalk plateaux 

 form the commencement of the series, the next stage of which 

 (that of the valley drifts) affords evidence of increased specializa- 

 tion of form, and generally speaking of greater skill and knowledge, 

 on the part of the flint workers. In these more specialized forms, 

 indicating an increasing inventive faculty, a chapter of human 

 history is presented to us of the deepest interest. When the 

 investigation is continued into the more recent accumulations, 

 we meet with implements which may be classified as Mesolithic, 

 or intermediate between the Paleolithic and Neolithic, as at 

 present defined. With these progressive modifications, in the 

 form of stone weapons and tools, may be traced corresponding 

 changes in the animal life which existed in these regions, where 

 the fabricators lived, from the extinction of the old elephants and 

 rhinoceroses, and the retreat of the reindeer and other animals, to 

 the later disappearance of the Bos urus and bison on the verge of 

 the historical period. 



The caves of France and Belgium, as well as England, afford 

 us very good testimony of the changes when taken together ; take 

 the case of Rents cavern, we find the remains of the cave bear, 

 one of the oldest creatures in the most ancient deposit, and 

 associated with them are nodular-formed implements of the 

 rudest kind, intended for use in the hand ; while, in the upper 



