January 7, 1897 | 
NATURE 
229 
disappointed that none of the many opportunities 
occurring were utilised of recording with the camera 
glimpses of the marine paradise and its wondrous ; 
inhabitants that are so abundantly discussed. Photo- 
graphic replicas of coral scenes and their associated 
denizens have of late years been shown to be fairly easily 
attainable, and appeal more intelligibly to the compre- 
hension of the lay reader than a wealth of descriptive 
text. This shortcoming notwithstanding, Prof. Semon’s 
book may be recommended as a most readable and in- 
structive one to all those to whom the Australian bush 
and coral strands are /err@ incognite. 
Should Prof Semon contemplate another tropical | 
Australian expedition, we would earnestly recommend 
him to provide himself with one of the simple mosquito 
tents, procurable at any of the northern ports. Armed 
with this device, the night of torture on the Jardine 
River, so graphically described at page 333 e¢ seg., would 
have been shorn of all its terrors, the shrill piping of the 
baffled enemy outside the canvas adding but a zest to the 
peaceful enjoyment of his otherwise vainly invoked 
repose. W. SAVILLE-KENT. 
THE READING, WRITING, AND ARITHMETIC 
OF THE NEOLITHIC TROGLODYTES. 
A. DISCOVERY of great interest has recently been 
4 made by M. Ed. Piette, and published by him in 
2 Anthropologie (Tome vii., 1896, p. 385). In a cave at 
Mas-d’Azil,! on the left bank of the Arise, in the Depart- 
ment of Ariége, he excavated a layer of pebbles that had 
been painted with peroxide of iron in various devices. 
These occurred above a deposit containing bones of 
the reindeer, red deer, aurochs, horse, &c., and below a 
cinder layer, in which were great quantities of a land- 
snail, Helix memoralis, which indicates a somewhat 
humid climate; above this were deposits, in which 
polished stone axes occurred, and also Helix hortensis, 
which suggests drier conditions. 
The Quaternary: Period, according to M. Piette, was 
divided into two eras—the end of the Glacial Period 
forming the dividing line. 
The intermediate Transition Period commenced when 
the modern fauna had replaced the glacial fauna ; it con- 
sisted of three phases : (1) the Cervian, when the imple- 
ments were of the same form as those of the earlier 
Quaternary era, and when the hunters of the reindeer 
made harpoons and needles of reindeer bones, and en- 
graved upon their antlers. The climate then ameliorated, 
M. Piette classifies the devices as follows: numerals, 
symbols, pictographic signs, and alphabetical characters. 
(1) Mumerals.—A large number of stones were found 
with from one to eight lines (Figs. 1 and 2) running 
across them. These the author considers as indicating 
simple numerals. Never have more than eight lines been 
yet found on a stone. Some of the pebbles are marked 
with rounded or oval spots (Fig. 3). These are regarded 
as units of higher groups of figures—either nines, or more 
probably tens, and the Egyptian system is adduced as 
an argument in favour of this view. The spots vary in 
number, one stone bearing as many as twenty-three. 
Fic. x. Fic. 2. Fic. 3. 
Occasionally marginal blotches were painted. The 
author’s enthusiasm has led him to speculate whether 
these may not be the squares of the higher grade units ; 
thus, a pebble (Fig. 4) with twelve marginal blotches and 
1x central spots is credited with indicating a total of 
1260 in the decimal system ; or 1728+60, that is, 1788 
on a duodecimal hypothesis. It apparently strikes even 
M. Piette that these are rather high numbers for the 
Neolithic troglodytes, and so he suggests that there may 
| be no significant difference between central or marginal 
spots. Asa disc surrounded by a circle has during all 
Fic. 5. 
time been considered as the symbol of the sun or of a 
sun deity, the question is asked, “ May not the circles 
in lines be signs employed in a_hieratic writing?” 
Amongst other suggestions, he speculates whether they 
may not be meant to denote objects of special value ; 
and, lastly, he seriously proposes the view that these very 
abundant numeral stones may have been counters in 
some game. Occasionally these “numerals” are orna- 
| mented, as in Fig. 5. 
as evidenced by the presence of trees, and the reindeer | 
passed away ; and (2) the Asylian phase, or the period of | 
coloured pebbles occurred. By this time man had for- 
gotten the arts of engraving and carving, and com- | 
menced to devote himself to cultivation, and painted 
quaint forms on rolledstones. (3) The Snail-shell phase 
indicated a warmer humid climate, when vegetation 
flourished, and man cultivated several kinds of fruit | 
trees.” Although the last two layers belonged to the 
Neolithic Period, polished stone axes were not found in 
them, though they occurred at a higher level associated, | 
as has been already stated, with He/éx hortensis. 
The ruddled pebbles are mostly rounded, oblong, and 
flattened pebbles of quartz or schist taken from the bed | 
of the river. In some cases the whole surface is coloured, 
but most frequently a stone is marked on one or both 
sides with simple devices. Sometimes the margin of the 
pebble is painted so as to forma kind of border to the 
decoration (Figs. 3 and 5). 
1 A description of this remarkable tunnel-like cave was given by M. E. 
Cartailhac in 7 Anthropologie (Tome ii., 1891, p. 141). This paper was illus- 
aed by two figures of the cave itself, and by a plate of some of the painted 
pebbles. 
2 M. Piette has already published a paper on the cultivated plants of the 
Transition Period at Mas-d’Azil in 2 Anthropologie (Tome vii., 1896, p. 1). 
NO. 1419, VOL. 55] 
(2) Symbols.—M. Piette candidly admits that the con- 
clusions of the “perilous study” of symbolism should 
Fic. 9. 
Fic. 7. Fic. 8. 
be stated with the greatest reserve. Crosses, especially 
the equilateral cross (Fig. 7), are abundant, but the /az 
(Fig. 6) also occurs. We need not follow the speculations 
to which such designs irresistibly lead. red) 
(3) Pictographic Signs.—Serpentine designs (Fig. 8) 
often occur, and M. Piette gives two personal anecdotes 
to illustrate the persistence of a superstitious regard for 
snakes in the Pyrenees and in the Department of Aisne. 
| Other identifications are more doubtful, as, for instance, 
“trees” (Fig. 9), “reeds,” &c. f ' 
(4) Alphabetical Characters.—The most startling section 
of this memoir is the suggestion that certain designs 
