72 H. M. Bryclone — Further Notes on the Trimmingham Chalk. 



pieces of flint irregularly chipped at tlie etiges, but not apparently 

 ' formed ' in any definite way. 



In chalk wash-mills, as in the examples mentioned, much must 

 depend on the proportion of the flints to the mass of the chalk and 

 on their size, as the more numerous and the larger the flints, the 

 more will they be affected, and vice versa. Thus the power of the 

 mill, as able to shape Eolithic flints, must, in the cases observed 

 by me, be considered as non-proven. 



The difficulty of the whole question consists in this, that we are 

 trying to decide where no final decision seems possible. For those 

 who hold that certain flints are due to natural causes have never 

 seen, or can see, Nature doing what they would refer to Nature, and 

 those who uphold the human origin of the flints could never, of 

 coui'se, have seen them actually made by man. But we have actual 

 proof that man has and does fashion certain stone tools, and tlierefore 

 have good reason for asserting that man did make some of these 

 early tools, and we also know that man improves on his early 

 work, so that the best forms of these cannot be man's earliest 

 efforts. The difficulty always will lie in fixing the starting- 

 point of his 'prentice hand. 



The stages in the progression from the ruder to the more perfect 

 forms were probably these. As soon as man found that some 

 adjunct to the hand was needed in his conflict with Nature and the 

 beasts, sticks, bones, shells, and stones were used. Of these, only 

 stones, for the most part, have remaineil. 



The stones, in the first instance, would be those best adapted to 

 his needs, and were so selected. Next it might occur to hiui that 

 he might imitate those natural forms : hence the difficulty to 

 distinguish between the apparently natural forms and the possible 

 artificial ones, both having only one sharp or sharpened edge. 

 Then he would gradually learn so to adjust the angle of incidence 

 as to extend the chipping all over the flint, and at last to select the 

 kind of flint that gave the best results. The process must have been 

 a gradual one, with intermediate stages, with reversions perhaps to 

 older and ruder forms, and the difficulty will always lie in fixing 

 the starting-point of the undoubted artificial stage, and I do not 

 think that the wash-mill evidence will help to do this. But it may 

 cause those who have been too ready to accept woiked flints to be 

 more careful in the future. 



VI. — Further Notes on the Stratigraphy and Fauna of the 

 Trimmingham Chalk. 



By R. M. Beydoxe, F.G.S. 



(PLATES IV AND Y.) 



{Continued from the January Number, p. 22.) 



DOWNWASHED sand and mud much obscured the section, but 

 the clay appeared to be definitely continuous, while the chalk 

 might be continuous under the mask of mud, but did not seem likely 

 to be so. The section suggested very strongly a flat sheet of clay 



