377 
NOTES AND COMMENTS. 
‘THE EARLIEST MAN’ AGAIN. 
We learn from Nature that certain human bones discovered 
in 1911 by Mr. Hiram Bingham in gravel near Cuzco, Peru, 
have been considered to indicate the existence of man in that 
country between twenty thousand and forty thousand years 
ago. In an article in the July number of the American Journal 
of Science, Mr. G. F. Eaton, who has visited the spot, states 
that the associated remains are essentially of a modern type, 
including, as they do, bones of domesticated cattle. He there- 
fore concludes that the bones were buried some time ‘ during 
the three centuries and a half that have elapsed since the 
Spaniards brought domestic cattle to Peru.’ In a second 
‘article in the same issue Mr. H. E. Gregory states that 
although his investigations on the spot do not definitely 
disprove the theory of the great age of the bones, yet ‘ the 
geologic data do not require more than a few hundreds of 
years as the age of the human remains found in the Cuzco 
gravels.’ 
BONES OF WHALES. 
In The Scottish Naturalist for September, Mr. W. Taylor 
records a vertebra of Rudolphi’s Rorqual from the post-glacial 
sand of Elgin. It is stated that ‘as Elgin is about five miles 
from the sea, and the river Lossie at this point 50 feet above 
sea level, the bone must be very old. Probably it was washed 
out of the post-glacial sand.’ While in this case the bone may 
be ‘very old,’ it must be remembered that many bones of whales 
found their way considerable distances inland during the old 
whaling days. This was especially so with regard to jaw- 
bones, which were used as gate-posts; and vertebrae, which 
were in demand as chopping blocks for butchers, etc. We have 
many such instances in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, and some 
years ago the writer remembers visiting Nottinghamshire to 
examine some extraordinary bones which had been ‘ dis- 
covered,’ only to find that they were the remains of whales’ 
jaws, which had doubtless been carried down the Trent by 
river craft. 
PRESERVATIVES IN FOOD. 
We do not usually expect to find humour in the Report 
of a Borough Analyst, but the following remarks, taken from 
the Halifax analyst’s, are not without their moral :—‘ Our 
food is so varied, and drawn frequently from such distances, 
that preservatives are essential unless some articles are to be 
abandoned. It would appear that a return to simpler and 
fresher foods would do us good, but I fear congested town 
conditions prevent this. Boric acid, salicylic acid, and for-* 
maldehyde are the chief preservatives, and we get them at 
1913 Nov. 1. $ 
A 
