Sir IS. H. Hon-orth — Antiquity of Man. 25 



when history gives us only vague and uncertain information." 

 Turning then to his own researches, he says that what they put 

 beyond doubt is, that human bones were buried at the same period 

 and by the same cause as those of the extinct animals. He then 

 goes on to describe in detail the human remains, comprising those 

 of three individuals, which he had found in the cave of Engis, and 

 which, he said, were surrounded by those of the elephant, the 

 rhinoceros, and of extinct carnivores. He also describes a larger 

 number of human bones found in the adjoining cave of Engihoul, 

 where they were covered by stalagmite. These bones, he says, 

 agree in colour, in the degree of decomposition, and in the way 

 they occur with those of the extinct beasts ; all the bones of the 

 extremities were broken, as in the case of the other animals, and 

 the stalagmite had penetrated into and covered the fractured faces 

 with a deposit. He concludes the detailed account of the bones 

 with the words : " J'ai fini par conclure que ces restes humains ont 

 ete enfouis dans ces cavernes a la meme epoque, et consequent par 

 les memes causes qui y ont entraine une masse d'ossemens de 

 dififerentes especes eteintes. . . . L'homme, sans contredit, 

 existait avant le dernier bouleversement de notre planete." 



In a later chapter, in his second volume, published in 1834, 

 Schmerling describes how, in an exploration subsequent to those 

 described in his first volume, he had found certain objects fashioned 

 by human hands. Thus, in the cave of Chokier he found among 

 a number of rhinoceros teeth a triangular piece of bone cut from 

 another which was artificially pierced, roughly tooled, and polished. 

 Another piece of bone found in the Engis cave was pointed ; it was 

 partially covered with stalagmite. In the cavern of the Fond de 

 Foret he found some pieces of worked bone and horn. These he 

 figures, as he does certain flint fragments, of which he says : " La 

 forme reguliere a frappe, au premier abord, mon attention. Dans 

 toutes les cavernes de notre province ou j'ai trouve des ossemens 

 fossiles en abondance, j'ai aussi rencontre unequantite, plus ou moins 

 considerable, de ces silex." In regard to these flints he says — and 

 mark, this was printed in 1834: : — " Ces silex sont d'une longueur 

 et d'une largeur variables ; ils ont une face plane et une triangulaire, 

 les faces etant a-peu-pres de meme dimension ; les bords externes 

 sont tres tranchans, mais les extremites sont obtuses. Ce que 

 prouve que ces silex ont ete longtemps exposes aux influences 

 atmospheriques avant d'avoir ete enfouis dans les cavernes, c'est 

 qu'ils sont tons converts d'une croute blanchatre qui, dans quelques- 

 uns que j'ai brises, ne depasse pas I'epaisseur d'une ligne, tandis 

 que le centre est d'un gris bleuatre. La forme de ces silex est 

 tellement reguliere qu'il est impossible de les confondre avec ceux 

 que Ton rencontre dans la craie et dans le terrain tertiaire. Toute 

 reflexion faite, il faut admettre que ces silex ont ete tailles par la 

 main de l'homme, et qu'ils ont pu servir pour faire des fleches ou 

 des couteaux. . . . Le gite de ces os et de ces silex n'avait pas 

 laisse matiere a quelque doute, c'est a dire que un accident 

 quelconque avait put amener ces pieces dans les cavernes apres 



