580 
NATURE 
[ April 7, 1870 
an aurora, which was widely observed, and also with 
earth currents affecting the telegraphic wires. From the 
appearance of the traces one is inclined to associate the 
aurora and carth currents with the oscillations of declina- 
tion rather than with those of the other elements, 
On February 11, a little after © p.m., another disturb- 
ance took place, which continued more or less for thirty 
hours. As in the previous case the oscillations of the 
declination were most marked, but these were not so 
excessive as for the previous disturbance. An aurora 
was visible at 8 50 p.m. of February 11, and one was said 
also to have been observed on February 12. 
The following is the record of sun-spots derived from 
the pictures taken :— 
2 large ones 
February 5 ... 4 small groups 
; One.5'5 a5 I rather large, 1 very large 
3 ree GS “6 2 large, I very large 
Fi LO: ws 23 ae 4 large, 1 very large 
53 DD weed: An 2 very large 
ee ire os 90 1 large, 2 very large 
An 2ONeer ys A I large 
Pi PA easily 5 1 large 
Oe cock A 
my Bcc BY Sq 
2 25 + 3 ” 
rz) cee a 
THE EXISTENCE OF MAN IN THE TER- 
ITALY WEP OGH 
ie the Bibliotheque Universelle et Revue Suisse for the 
15th February, M. Favre, in an article on the above 
subject, remarks that for some years the discovery of 
traces left by man of the pre-historic age on the earth 
have multiplied with a rapidity only explicable on the 
supposition that the population inhabiting a certain region 
of the globe was formerly abundant, and that numerous 
observers have recently applied themselves to the subject 
with extraordinary energy and zeal. He takes up the 
question whether the age of stone does or does not extend 
back to the tertiary period, and he thinks it will prove 
interesting to give a 7véswmé of the various observations 
tending to show that man inhabited the earth at an epoch 
anterior to the great extension of the glaciers southwards, 
and during the tertiary epoch. On @ friorz grounds no 
substantial reasons can be advanced against the existence 
of man at the latter period. The temperate zone was then 
somewhat warmer than at present, and the temperature 
of Greeenland and Spitzbergen sufficiently agreeable to be 
adapted to the development of terrestrial mammals. But 
it is difficult to represent the duration of the period that 
elapsed between the end of the tertiary deposits and the 
termination of the glacial epoch. The portion of the 
quaternary period characterised by the enormous exten- 
sion of the glaciers was very protracted, and many ages 
must have elapsed before the glaciers of the Alps were so 
large as to be able to transport erratic boulders to the 
height of 1352 metres on the Jura (near Soleure), and the 
glacier of the Rhone approximated the Rhine, or perhaps 
even reached it by passing across the cantons of Valais, 
of Vaud, of Freibourg, of Berne, of Soleure, and of Aargau. 
The form of the earth’s surface must have presented to the 
eye of such old world inhabitants a very different aspect 
from that exhibited at present, and if they already existed 
in the middle tertiary period, they would have been con- 
temporary with the upheaval of the Alps, and with an 
almost entirely distinct flora and fauna. Under these 
circumstances man would have to be included amongst 
the creatures who have survived two geological periods. 
M. Favre then proceeds to review the evidence that 
has at present been collected, embracing the follow- 
ing points :—First, the observations of M. Desnoyers 
in 1863 made at Saint-Prest near Chartres, but previously 
(1848) known to M. Boisvillette, and (1860) to MM. 
Langel and Lartel. Here, in a pliocene formation, were 
found the bones of the Elephas meridionalis, Hippopota- 
mus major, Equus arnensis, Cervus carnulorum, and 
two other species of Cervus, Bos, Trojonotherium 
Cuviert (a kind of large beaver), striated in such a 
manner as to convince M. Desnoyers that the markings 
were the effects of the handiwork of man. This con- 
clusion has, however, been contested by Sir C. Lyell; but in 
1867 arrow or lance-head flint instruments were found in 
this spot by M. PAbbé Bourgeois, one of which appeared 
to have been subjected to the action of fire, though this 
might have resulted from exposure to forests burning by 
the action of lightning. Soon afterwards M. Delaunay 
discovered markings of an analogous nature to the 
former, on the bone of a Halitherium at Pouancé (Maine 
et Loire) in a miocene formation containing the bones of 
Dinotherium, About the same time M. Bourgeois found 
similar flints in a still older formation (the calcareous 
strata of Beauce) at Thénay, and at Billy near Selles-sur- 
Cher. Some differences of opinion exist as to whether 
these flints are really worked by the hand of man; but 
the majority of those who have seen them, and are com- 
petent to judge, is decidedly in favour of that view. 
Nevertheless, M. Fraas observes that he has himself seen 
a lamina of silex become detached from a mass by the 
action of the sun’s rays alone in Egypt; Livingstone 
and Dr, Wetzstein seem to have observed similar phe- 
nomena; and a point that now demands intelligent 
observation is the greater or less similarity such frag- 
ments detached by natural causes bear to the flint instru- 
ments or the masses from which they have been detached. 
He refers also to two fragments of the jaw of a Rhzno- 
ceros pleuroceros found in the lacustrian chalk of 
Limaque, and which appear to have been grooved by 
man, which, however, he admits to be doubtful ; and to 
the observations of Whitney in California, which tend to 
show the existence of man anterior to the glacial epoch 
and to the period of the mastodon and elephant, at an 
epoch since which vertical erosion of the surface has 
taken place to the extent of two or three thousand feet of 
hard and crystallisable rocks. Finally he refers to the 
observations of M. Issel in Piedmont. 
MODIFICATIONS IN THE CONSTRUCTIONS 
OF DHE NEST OF WE SV VAAL OVW a 
N the tenth number of the Comptes Rendus for the 
present year, is a paper by M. Pouchet, on the Modifi- 
cations of the Nests constructed by the common Swallow, 
(Hirundo urbica Linneus,) in which he remarks that it is 
evident the mode of life of certain animals, far from being 
persistent and invariable, undergoes modifications under 
different terrestrial conditions, and that, in many instances, 
their habits are different from what they were in former 
ages. Spallanzani indeed remarks in one of his remark- 
able memoirs on the swallows, that the shape and 
structure of the nests of birds are interesting features in 
their history, and that each species constructs its habitation 
on a plan peculiar to itself, which never changes, and is 
continued from one generation to another. And this 
opinion is shared by many naturalists; observations, 
however, when sufficiently close and attentively made, 
show that it is erroneous. We do not indeed see any 
modifications of those of their habits which are associated 
with their biology, so that the arboreal species seek to 
form for themselves a subterranean nest, or rear their 
young ones in dwellings adherent to the coigns of our 
houses, but it nevertheless is ascertained that in a succes- 
sion of years, each learns to improve the construction of 
his residence. Certain birds work up only the products 
of our own handiwork, and would necessarily employ 
natural substances if these were deficient. Thus, as may 
be seen in the museum of Rouen, the Loriot of Europe 
sometimes forms its nest with thread ends under the 
