40 RejJorts & Proceedings — Geological Society of London — 



One from the top of the Chalk at Swanscombe showed jointing in 

 situ, and some from the beach under the Chalk cliffs of Alum Bay 

 the effects of wave-driven pebbles ; but the great majority were 

 obtained by Mr. E. Heron-Allen from the beacli of Selsey Bill, and 

 it was to these that attention was especially directed. If they were 

 all of human workmanship — Sir E. Ray Lankester's contention — 

 there would be no difficulty in accounting for the characters which 

 they possess in common, notably their abundant and bold flaking ; 

 but then the fact that some examples were bounded on one side by 

 planes of Pleistocene age and on the other by planes of recent origin 

 would remain unexplained. If, on the other hand, only certain 

 specimens were selected as artefact — Mr. J. E.. Moir's interpretation — 

 then it became difficult to explain the flaking which they all possess 

 in common ; and the fact will still remain that ' rostro-carinate ' 

 forms may be produced by flaking of widely sepai'ate ages. Some of 

 the flints showed recent chipping under circumstances which suggest 

 that this had been produced by the blows of pebbles driven inland 

 from the sea : that is, in one direction. Attention was also called 

 to ' rostro-carinate ' forms projecting from the side of a large boulder 

 of flint. 



The Rev. H. H. Win wood exhibited specimens of quartzite and 

 flint implements from the Broom, Parnham, and Knowle gravel beds. 

 His object was to show the gradation from the well- worked 

 implements of undoubted human origin to the fractured specimens 

 from the Brinkworth plateau gravels 400 feet above O.D., the 

 so-called ' eoliths ', the origin of which is so much disputed. 

 A porcellanous or more probably altered chert implement from 

 Somaliland and a flint specimen from the cave shelter at Le Moustier 

 showed how universally this type prevailed. Especial attention was 

 called to a broken flint found by himself in the Knowle gravel-pit at 

 Savernake, which had a remarkable glaze over the surface, not only 

 of the fractured but also of the old surface, the cause of which yet 

 awaited explanation. 



Mr. H. IST. Ridley exhibited a series of stone implements from the 

 eastern coast of the Malay Peninsula, found in river-gravel and in one 

 case on a bed of alluvial tin-ore. Nothing further is known of the 

 race which made these tools, and it is certain that it is long extinct. 

 He also showed some modern Papuan weapons of stone, in order to 

 illustrate the methods of fastening the stones to the handles, and 

 some sandstone tanged adzes with shell ornaments and spindle- whorls 

 from the lake-dwellings of Kampong Thorn in Cambodia, also of 

 unknown date. 



Mr. 0. A. Shrubsole exhibited a few specimens from the Reading 

 district in order to show difference of age and variety of use. The 

 eoliths were from the gravel of the Easthampstead plateau (300 to 

 400 feet O.D.). The palaeoliths included hollowed scrapers (highly 

 developed from the eolithic type), gimlets or drills, knives (some- 

 times with a tang for insertion in a handle), saws, choppers, pickaxes, 

 and polishers. One of the last-named still bears a finger-print of 

 ancient man. Heavy two-handed choppers also occurred, identical in 

 form with a specimen shown from the base of the Red Crag. Two at 



