Nov. I, 1883] 



NATURE 



19 



America. From a careful study of the geological conformation 

 of the north-v\ est coast of Africa, of the Cape Verde, Canary, 

 and Azore Archipelagos, he considers that a union of the two 

 continents in remote epochs is scarcely conceivable. On the other 

 hand, the former existence of a large island, comprising the 

 Canaries, Azores, and Cape Verde group, may be regarded as 

 not improbable. But whether this island was at any time itself 

 connected w ith the African mainland is a question which can- 

 not be decided without further investigation of the local con- 

 ditions. 



LOCAL SCIENCE SOCIETIES AND THE 

 MINOR PREHISTORIC REMAINS OF BRITAIN^ 

 TN the annual address which I had the pleasure of delivering 

 ■'■ to the Esse.K Field Club at the beginning of this year I ven- 

 tured to put forward a suggestion which I will take the pre-ent 

 opportunity of enlarging upon in the presence of this gathering 

 of the representatives of so many of the local societies of this 

 country. 



Of the various branches of natural science cultivated by our 

 respective societies perhaps no subject possesses so widespread 

 an interest as the early history of man. It is only in recent times 

 that materials have been gathered with anything like scientific 

 method from the fragmentary records of the past. By the 

 methods of modern research these materials have been coor- 

 dinated into that imperfect sketch of the physical characters and 

 mode of life of the early inhabitants of this and other countries 

 which constitutes our present knowledge of prehistoric archaeo- 

 logy. But vast as have been the strides in this department of 

 knowledge within the last quarter-centnry, it is certain that even 

 now we are only on the tln-eshold of a dim region into which 

 advance is becoming more and more difficult witli the increasing 

 scantiness of the evidence the further we penetrate backwards 

 into the history of our race. The labours of cave-hunters and 

 searchers into our ancient river gravels — the excavators of our 

 earthworks and tumuli have garnered a rich harvest of facts 

 upon which is based the existing knowledge of ancient man. The 

 old method of solving problems in prehistoric archeology by 

 attaching'a tradition to any ancient monument of which the 

 history was unknown has been weighed in the balance and 

 found wanting. The erudite verbiage of the old-school anti- 

 quarian has been displaced by the shovel and pick of the modern 

 investigator. 



While the spirit of scientific inquiry is thus gradually enabling 

 us] to reconstruct some few chapters of the past history of man 

 from such remains as have been preserved to us, the extreme im- 

 portance of the relics themselves is as a natural consequence be- 

 coming more and more recogiri ed. It must have been '.vith the 

 greatest satisfaction that anthropologists heard that the ancient 

 monuments of this country, thanks to the foresight of Sir John 

 Lubbock, were to receive Government protection. For years 

 past the destruction of the most venerable relics has been going 

 on, partly through local ignorance of their value, partly thiough 

 WTlfulness, and partly throuJh the unavoidable clearance of 

 ground for building and agricultural purposes. But although 

 the larger and better-known remains are now secured from 

 demolition, there are numerous smaller and less-known relics 

 scattered over the country, which in the course of time are 

 doomed to destruction by the advancing tide of civilisation. As 

 may be seen on reference to good topographical works, the 

 irreparable losses which anthropological science has already in- 

 curred in this way are enormous. The most deplorable feature 

 in these cases of destruction is that they have occurred without 

 adequate scientific supervision, and any evidence that might 

 have been gathered by competent watchers has been for ever 

 lost. 



The systematic exploratio.n of earthworks, barrows, tumuli, 

 &c., by the method of excavation is necessarily expensive work, 

 and it is to me a matter of some surprise that the munificent 

 example set by men like General Pitt- Rivers and Canon Greenwell 

 has not been more \\ idely followed by those w ho, with the know- 

 ledge of this difficulty, have it within their means to promote 

 this branch of research. As in the case of one of the societies 

 which I have the honour of representing (the Essex Field 



* A paper read at the Conference of Delegates from Local Societies and 

 tjefore the Anthropological Section of tlie British Association at Southport, 

 by Raphael Meldola. F.R.A.S., &c. , delegate of the Essex Field Club and 

 the Braintree and Booking Natural liistory Society. Communicated by the 

 Author. 



Club), which at the instigation of General Pitt-Rivers undertook 

 the investig.ation of the ancient earthworks in Epping Forest, 

 good work can sometimes be done by a local society by raising a 

 fund for the purpose of exploring such remains in its own 

 district, and this leads me to the immediate object of the present 

 paper. 



In attempting to draw up any suggestions for the guidance of 

 local societies, the great difticulty appears to be the imi-ossibility 

 of finding any subjects for research of a sufficiently general scope 

 to be open to all societies. The subjects already proposed by 

 the committee appointed last year by the conference of delegates 

 are, as you are aware : (t) underground waters, (2) erratic blocks, 

 (3) underground temperature, (4) rainfall, (5) periodical natural 

 phenomena, (6) injurious insects. To these I am now about to 

 suggest the addition of another subject, viz. {7) prehistoric 

 remains. Here, as it seems to me, there is a useful field for 

 cooperation among the societies of all counties. Thanks to the 

 increasing interest in scientific matters now making itself felt 

 throughout the country, there is perhaps no corner of Britain 

 which does not or could not be made to fall into the province of 

 some local society or field club. In view of the imminent de- 

 struction of many of the minor remains on the one hand, and 

 the scheduling of the larger remains for State protection on the 

 other hand, 1 believe that occupation of the greatest scientific 

 importance exists for all local societies. 



The time has perhaps not yet arrived for laying down any 

 rigid system for dealing with the proposed subject, and I there- 

 fore think it advisable at present to confine myself to a few 

 general observations respecting the nature of the worlc which it 

 is desirable that local societies should take in band. It must be 

 understood that these remarks are limited to prehistoric archeo- 

 logy, as the remains belonging to the historical period are 

 CTe'nerally dealt with by archeological societies, and do not come 

 within the range of science subjects admitted by the British 

 Association. 



Assuming then that all societies have prehistoric remains of 

 some kind within their districts, the first and most essential 

 thing to be done is to draw up catalogues of these relic-, giving 

 their position, external form and structure, and bibliographical 

 references. If the societies of each county would undertake this 

 task, arranging matters so that no relic, however apparently 

 insignificant, escaped their vigilance, we should thus in time come 

 to possess a complete catalogue of all the ancient remains of 

 Britain, and at the same time we should gradually get together a 

 most valuable collection of literary references. The bibliography 

 is essential, because so many of cur ancient remains have from 

 time to time been investigated and the results buried in soine 

 obscure archeological paper, the disinterment of which is in 

 itself a piece of antiquarian research. A catalogue such as the 

 one now proposed would thus serve many useful purposes. We 

 should have an index-guide indicating precisely where prehistoric 

 remains exist at the present time, and fii. ther whether they had 

 ever been systematically explored, and if so with what results. 

 At the same time, attention would be directed to many relics 

 which the local society and the Government inspector might 

 deem worthy of being scheduled for State protection. By this 

 means I am disposed to believe that the operation of the Ancient 

 Monuments Bill would be considerably accelerated, and its 

 effectiveness thereby increased. 



It will be as yet premature to suggest any general form in 

 which the proposed catalogue should be cast. Each society 

 would no doubt at first work upon a plan of its own. But what- 

 ever form be adopted it is advisal^le that publicity should be 

 given to the results in the Transactions or Proceedings of the 

 respective societies, as the pm-ely local interest in the work 

 would be thus greatly enhanced, and the working up of the 

 whole into one compendious catalogue might possibly be done 

 later by a committee of the British Association composed partly 

 of delegates from local corresponding societies, and partly of 

 other eminent authorities in prehistoric archeology whose assist- 

 ance and advice it would be most desirable to secure. 



If the scheme now broached should be deemed woithy of con- 

 sideration by your respective societies, it would be essential, in 

 order to carry out the work effectively, to appoint from your 

 councils and members ancient monument committees, whose 

 function it would be to draw up the proposed catalogue, visiting 

 the remains to be entered in all cases where possible, and ex- 

 hausting the topographical literature in order to avoid including 

 any fictitious remains. Where no literary references are to be 

 found, and in cases where doubtful structures exist, it would be 



