Notes and Comments. 327 
the objects of the Committee before the Section of Anthro- 
pologie. The idea was received very cordially by those present, 
especially by M. A. de Mortillet, and many offers of assistance 
were received. The order for the mobilisation of the French 
army, which was issued the following day, has prevented any 
further communication with our allies on this subject. A 
considerable number of sketches and notes has been furnished 
referring to specimens in the museums of Newbury, South- 
ampton, and Carisbrooke, as well as to those in several small 
private collections. The Committee is anxious to get sketches 
of all the Bronze Age Implements in the Country. Those able 
to assist should communicate with Mr. Peake, at Westbrook 
House, Newbury. 
CLASSIFICATION OF TERTIARY STRATA BY MEANS OF EUTHERIAN 
MAMMALS. 
Prof. W. Boyd Dawkins gave a classification based on the 
evolution of the mammalia, the only group in the animal 
kingdom that was, as Gaudry writes, ‘ en pleine évolution ’ in 
the Tertiary Period, all the lower forms having already under- 
gone their principal changes and none changing fast enough 
to be of service in defining the stages. The scheme is as follows . 
Table of the Divisions of the Tertiary period. 
Descriptions. 
Historic, in which the events are recorded 
in history. 
Prehistoric, in which man has multiplied 
exceedingly and domesticated both animals 
and plants. Wild Eutheria on the land of 
existing species, with the exception of the 
Irish elk. 
Pleistocene, in which living species of 
Eutheria are more abundant than the extinct 
species. Man appears. 
Pliocene, in which living Eutherian species 
occur in a fauna mainly of extinct species. 
Miocene, in which the alliance between 
living and extinct Eutheria is more close 
than in the preceding stage. 
Oligocene, in which the alliance between 
extinct and living Eutheria is more close 
than in the Eocene. 
Eocene, in which the Eutheria are repre- 
sented by living, as well as by extinct, 
families and orders. 
Characteristics. 
Modern types of man. Man the master 
of nature. 
Modern types of man-cultivated plants. 
Domestic animals — dog, sheep, goat, ox, 
horse, pig, etc. Wild Eutheria of living 
species, 
Extinct types of mankind. (Modern 
types?) Living Eutherian species domin- 
ant. Man. 
Living Eutherian species present. Extinct 
species dominant. 
No living Eutherian species. Living Eu- 
therian genera appear. Anthropoid apes. 
Extinct genera dominant. 
No living Eutherian genera. Living 
families and orders. Extinct families and 
orders numerous. 
No living Eutherian genera. 
families and orders. Lemuroids. 
families and orders dominant. 
Living 
Extinct 
The most important break in the succession of life-forms 
occurs at the close of the Oligocene age in Europe and America. 
From this break down to the present day the continuity is 
so marked that we may conclude that the present face of the 
earth is merely the last in a long succession in the Tertiary 
Period. 
1915 Oct. 1. 
