PD Soe eae eee pose ok ice fee wold bee motising on the 
_ ‘nature of the older deposits to indicate the existence of excessive 
; action, One point, however, suggests itself to me in con- 
with the increased force of winds and currents, which 
ner re screens fe Beek tales and more rapid 
I papieke Gas pesca Sater of tac Pabscomic strate indicites that 
they were deposited along the margins of continental or insular 
‘masses of land, there is a remarkable absence of estuarine con- 
ditions in the olcer Palzozoic rocks. Indeed, except in some 
‘portions of the Carboniferous deposits, in which beds of coal 
ovcur together with snch marine species as Goniatites and 
, there seem to be no beds of Palzozoic age which 
The earliest 
_ tramsport to great land. 
eae aaciacae cic fregnency with which delta deposits occur 
| im Neozoie strata, the almost entire absence of them during the 
_ mmence earlier periods is a fact which seems to require some 
Now it seems highly probable that excessive tides would have 
_ disturbed even inland seas (if any existed 2t that time) which are 
“most favourable for the accumulation of deltas, and that strong 
marine currents would scour ont even those sheltered estuaries, 
_ which, with moderate tides, wonld have been, like those now 
existing in the Mediterranean, comparatively free from tidal 
_ action. The delta of the Ganges is nearly the only instance of a 
great river delta forming im spite of tidal fiuctmations ; but, 
although the average height of the tide here seldom exceeds 
io feet, even this moderate amount is sufficient to prevent the 
delta from pushing its way far out to sea. 
Another point which must not be lost sight of, in —— 
the influence of stronger oceanic currents, is the greater distance 
_ to which the coarser materials might be carried out to sea; so 
that it would not necessarily follow that those deposits, which we 
are accustomed to regard as evidence of the proximity of land, 
are of littoral origin. For with strong currents, even coarse grits 
and conglomerates might be widely distributed over the ocean 
Stl J. Vincent ELspDENn 
Storringion, February 25 
Palzolithic Man and Loss 
I HAVE just been reading Geikie’s ‘* Prehistoric Europe,” and 
am much interested by his digest of Dr. Nehring’s discovery at 
Thiede and Westeregeln. At p. 150 it is stated that “‘ the lower 
bedsat Westeregeln have yielded traces of man suchas flint flakes, 
charred wood, and heaps of smashed and crushed bones of varions 
anmmals~” And farther on, “‘that they could not have come from 
any distance, an inference which is in keeping with the gene- 
po Aer) character of the st ones and the state of preservation 
of the fragments of wood.” At p. 151 he describes another 
interesting find by Count Wurmbrand near Zeiselberg. ‘“‘ At 
that place the undisturbed loss yielded a2 rich deposit of bones 
underneath which occurred a blackish stratum abounding with 
fragments of charcoal and worked flints.” From the 
appearance presented by the human relics and animal remains 
{ thimoceros, reindeer, &c.) “‘it was evident that they 
could not have been ed from any distance.” 
. An idea seems to be conveyed here that the remains m both 
_ cases had been carried by water and redeposited, but it appears 
/ to gr lan egal acl cee just where Paleolithic man left 
- them. From the experience ed eleven or twelve 
of the sand-hills round gear ke Sa eet an 
the finding of blackish layers containing flint flakes, implements, 
and broken bones of Neolithic age, I believe Dr. Nehring and 
Count Wurmbrand have hit on old land surfaces on which 
- Paleolithic man lived ; that the bones have been 
cattered about by him after using the flesh for food ; and that 
ea ee i i ed 
‘the unrolled stones can be accounted for by supposing that he 
found. 
carried them to the spots where they were 
The blackish Epon as thc cami ill oF the kk coud; Sa : 
Sikave Semd to contin flint flakes and implements, are covered 
with a great thickness of sand, and I have on several 
expressed my opinion that this covering was accumulated slowly, _ 
frst by the wind depositing the sand, and secondly by the grass — 
retaining what it could shelter, the increase in thickness < 
dependent on the rapidity of vegetable growth. I first stated 
amy views on this subject at the Belfast mecting of the Brtsh 
Association in 1874, and since in several published papers (see 
Journal of the Anthropological Institute, vol. vii. No. 3, and 
BM 3 33 Prowedings Royal Irish Academy, 2nd series, vol. ii. 
oe. 3 
Antiguity of Man,” and by Dr. Geikie in “* Prehistoric Europe,” 
in reference to loess (l0ss) clearly points to its being im its present — 
condition an accumulation also produced by the joint agencies of 
wind and vegetation, and I have no doubt, from reading of Dr. 
WNehring’s and Count Waurmbrand’s finds, that during the slow 
and steady growth of the léss, many Palzolithic land surfaces 
faS 
All the pies given by Sir Charles Lyell in “ The aie 
“oe 
“a 
™ 
~~» 
and sites of camps or dwellings may have been buried up, aad — 
may now occasionally be found in an undisturbed state. Newer 
surfaces with included remains may also be found higher up, as 
= every stage the valleys would be the most desirable places to 
jive in. 
At p. 165 Dr. Geikie mentions a theory advanced by Baron 
Richthofen as to the formation of loss in China. I express no 
opinion as to the first production of the fine material, buf as to 
its deposition by the wind afterwards. I believe he was on the 
night track. In the case of the sand-hills I have sindied, the 
portions covered by grass are still becoming higher. Would it 
not be interesting to find ont if the loss, in any protected part, 
15 alo increasing in thickness at the present time? 
Callybackey, Belfast, February 18 W. J. Kyowzzs 
Pronunciation of Deaf Mutes who have been Taught to 
Speak 
Tue letter of Prof. A. Graham Bell in Nature (vol. xxv. 
p- 124) is hardly conclusive of the matter. The evidence He - 
addnces, thongh exceedingly valuable, is chiefly of a negative 
character. 
M. Hément states as a matter of his own personal observation,- 
that deaf-mutes who have been taught 
accent of their native district. M. Blanchard denies this be- 
cause, accordig to him, the prenunciation of deaf-mntes does— 
mot possess that quality of accent distinguishing human voices. 
Mr. Bell agrees with the concinsion at wiich M. Blanchard bas~ 
arrived, but denies the data on which the conclusion is based. 
Mr. Bell, in an examination of at least 400 deaf-mutes, has never 
noticed the tendency observed by M. Hement. “It is true,” 
be adds, ‘‘ that im a few cases dialectic (? dialectal) pronunciations 
are heard, but it always turns ont upon investigation that ‘sech 
children could talk before they became deaf. The peculiarity is 
undonbiedly due to the unconscions recollection of fi rmer 
speech, and cannot correctly be attributed to heredity.” ML 
Hement, however, reafirms the accuracy of his own ‘observa- 
tions, and declares himself unable to conceive how in losivg the 
case of speech, deaf-mmtes should retain the maconscions menoy 
of accent. 
Prof. Graham Bell's theory will certainly not explain the case 
of Daniel Fraser, referred to in my previons letter, who is 
sly stated to have “‘ continued ‘deaf and dumb from his 
birth till the seventeenth year of his age (PAzlosephical Tramsac- 
tions, No. 312). This case is all the more stiking simce the 
narrator mentions his inheritance of the Highland accent ma 
purely incidental manner. 
I am fully aware of the weight to be attached to the evidenre 
of an observer so able, precise, and accurate as Prof. Greham 
Bell, but that he has wef noticed the peculiarity im question can 
hardly be held to invalidate the independent te-fimony of those 
who, im Paris, Madrid, and Inverness, declare that they have 
observed i it. For my part I see no reason to doubt either their 
Ez. 
accuracy or their paar faith. A. AXON 
Manchester 
P_S.—It may be worth noting that the full discussion of the 
subject has appeared in the Comptes rendus, the current volume 
of which contains three notes by M. Hement, one by M- 
Blanchard, one by Mr. Bell, and one by the present writer. 
to speak, do so with the - 
xf 
