December S, 1922] 



SCIENCE 



661 



ering is marked: the only obvious change in , 

 the engravings made by paleolithic artists is 

 that the incisions have taken on the buii' color 

 ■of the i-oek and are no longer white as when 

 first made. 



In the cavern of Tuc D'Audoubert on the 

 estate of Count de Begouen, near St. Gliirons, 

 in the Pyrenees, is an even more remarkable 

 example of lack of disintegration. In this 

 oave are the clay models of bison which are in 

 nearly as perfect condition as when made. A 

 clay model is almost a synonym for the 

 ephemeral for the reason that a short exposure 

 to ordinary air causes it to dry and crack, and 

 excessive moisture causes it to collapse. These 

 models of hison are in fact slightly cracked 

 ibut with this exception are unchanged. It is 

 possible that the cracks were formed within 

 the first few weeks after the figures were mod- 

 eled and that none has developed in the 18,000 

 to 30,000 years that have followed. This seems 

 incredible, but 'the proof of very great age ap- 

 pears to 'be well established. 



The conditions under which the art of pale- 

 olithic man has been preserved almost un- 

 changed for thousands of years are to he found 

 in the uniform temperatui'e, lack of sunlight, 

 and absence of circulating ground water. 

 Although the rock in the Altamira oave is sat- 

 urated there has been slight movement of the 

 gi'ound water and consequently little solution 

 or deposition has been' possible. In the cave 

 of Tuc d'Audoubert there is now some solution 

 and the composition of the water which drips 

 fix)m the roof of the cave has changed slightly 

 as is shown in some of the stalagmites which 

 after being built by lime deposited from the 

 water now have crater-like depressions in their 

 summits showing that ithe water is at present 

 under-saturated. It is probable, however, that 

 the moisture content of the air has remained 

 constant and that, because of this, the clay 

 models have not disintegrated. The repiark- 



3 Comte de Begouen: "Les Statues d 'Argile 

 preMstoriques de la Caverne du Tuc D 'Audou- 

 bert (Aviege). Comptes rendus des seances de 

 L'Academie des Inscriptions et Belles Lettres, 

 1912, p. 532. 



4 MaealHster, R. S. : "A Te.vt-book of Euro- 

 pe-aii Archaeology," Vol. 1, 1921, p. 481. 



able preservation of the Egyptian wooden 

 models to which reference has been made is due 

 to unifoiTU temperature, lack of sunlight and 

 absence of moisture. 



The explajiation of such remarkable preser- 

 vation thei-efore involves no new principle as 

 it is due to unlfoi'm temperature, absence of 

 sunlight, and non-jcirculation of ground water. 

 These are, indeed, the conditions under which, 

 deei) dbwn in the rocks, the skeletons of the 

 vertetoates of the past are preserved. 



Heedman F. Cleland 



Williams College 



THE BEGINNINGS OF AMERICAN GEOLOGY 



To THE Editor of Science: In his letter, 

 "The Beginnings of American Geology" 

 (Science, Octobei- 27, 1922), Dr. Marcus Ben- 

 jamin (doubtless quite uniatentionally) makes 

 a statement wMeh is riot only unsupported by 

 facts but which most unjustly reflects upon the 

 characiter and career of a distinguished Ameri- 

 can geologist, a president of the Geological 

 Society of Ameiiea, 'and also of the American 

 Association for the Advancement of Science, 

 and, I think, the most unselfish, modest and 

 self -effacing man of science I have ever known. 

 As in these days whatever appears "in print" 

 ds likely to become material for the future 

 historian it seems worth while to correct the er- 

 roneous staltemenit. 



In his reference ito Dr. Newbera-y's oonneotion 

 wa'tlh the Geological Survey of Ohio there oc- 

 curs the phrase "owing Ito the changes in po- 

 litical admiriistTation in Ohio he (Newbei-rj') 

 found himself -displaced by a subordinate." 



Neither of the two statements incorporated 

 in this sentence is true. 



No one avIio had the good fortune to know 

 Dr. Edward Orton, who was Newberry's suc- 

 cessor as director of the survey, will be willing 

 to admit that there is the slig^htest foundation 

 for what is implied in the lasit phrase; and 

 those who are familiar with the history of that 

 period of Ahe survey know -tihat Dr. Newbera-j^'s 

 failure to continue as its head was ntot due to 

 a dhange in political administration in Ohio. 



During twelve lof the sixteen years covering 

 the entire period in which Dr. NewbeiTj' may 

 be supposed to have bad any sort of connec- 



