Makcoe 1, 1901.] 
in the negative. There is alsono evidence that 
the Paleolithic hunter-populations knew any- 
thing about agriculture. 
A comparative study of the fauna and flora 
of France and England leads to the conclusion 
that the British Isles were united to the conti- 
nent during the early Quaternary. The Seine, 
instead of reaching the seaat Le Havre, flowed 
westward along the coast of Calvados, then 
north and west past the site of the present city 
of Cherbourg, to empty into a gulf of the At- 
lantic separating Cornwall from Brittany. The 
Somme traversed rather obliquely the Channel, 
and being augmented on the way by affluents 
from both France and England, passed between 
the Isle of Wight and England by way of Spit- 
head and the Solent, where it emptied into the 
same gulf of the Atlantic some distance north 
of the Seine. 
It is interesting to compare this view with 
that of Sir John Evans,* Mr. Codrington and 
the Rey. W. Fox.; The latter agree among 
themselves, although their conclusions were 
arrived at independently. They agree with 
de Mortillet in one respect only, viz., the 
river orgin of the Solent. But in their opinion, 
that river flowed east and not west, joining the 
the sea at Spithead. It was not the Somme, 
but a considerable stream, some of whose tribu- 
taries still exist'in the small rivers which form 
the drainage of Dorset and Wilts. 
There was also, during the Chellean epoch, a 
junction of Europe with America by way of the 
British Isles, the Faroes, Iceland and Greenland. 
The volume closes with the geographic distri- 
bution of the types of industry characterizing 
the six epochs of the Paleolithic period. The 
abundance of rudely chipped Paleoliths in 
North America is recognized, but they are not 
considered as synchronous with the Chellean 
epoch in Hurope. The Trenton terrace is 
referred to the same epoch as the Mousterian 
station of Santerno, Italy, which corresponds to 
‘the grand extension’ of the glaciers. 
In conclusion, by applying an absolute chro- 
nometric scale to the adopted system of relative 
chronology, the following results are obtained : 
**Ancient stone implements of Great Britain,’ 2d 
edition, p. 690. 
T Geologist, Vol. V., p. 452. 
SCIENCE. 
345 
Chellean epoch (preglacial).............. 78,000 years. 
Mousterian epoch (glacial)... ...100,000 ** 
Solutréan epoch............0+ =n ULC) 
Magdalenian epoch... no OOO) 9 
Motaleetes ee ae ee 222,000“ 
To the 222,000 years of early Quaternary is 
to be added ‘the 6,000 years since the beginning 
of the historic period in Egypt and a probable 
10,000 years of the Protohistoric and Neolithic.’ 
The authors believe this to be a very moderate 
estimate for the antiquity of man. : 
There is a limit to the amount of matter that 
can be pressed into a single volume. The one 
in question is exceedingly rich as it stands, being 
far more comprehensive than any other at- 
tempting to cover the same field. Yet many 
will regret that so few references were cited and 
that a series of maps was not incorporated. 
The science of prehistoric anthropology is sadly 
in need of cartographic enrichment. It would 
be difficult to conceive of a more fruitful source 
for such an enrichment than the combined 
knowledge of the de Mortillets. 
We may, however, hope that the desired 
maps, augmented by others, will be included in 
the promised additional volume. May it soon 
appear ! 
GEORGE GRANT MaAcCurRDY. 
Analyse des Gaz. By M.E. Pozzi Escor. Paris, 
Gauthier-Villars. 1900. Pp. 200. . 
Chapter I., on ‘Sampling,’ is by far the best 
in the book, being complete and well written ; 
the writer regrets that the same can not be said 
of the following chapters. In the important 
branch of analysis by explosion not one of 
the later forms of explosion pipette is given. 
In Chapter III., on reagents, no mention is 
made of fuming sulphuric acid, which Winkler 
showed ten years ago to be the best absorbent 
for ‘heavy hydrocarbons’; nor is any state- 
ment made of the limitations of the use of vari- 
ous reagents, nor of their capacity of absorption. 
Chapter IV., on the analytical characters and 
methods of estimating the principal gases, 
might almost—as far as any special information 
about gas analysis is concerned—have been 
taken from any treatise on chemistry. 
Chapter Y., on qualitative analysis, is admir- 
able. 
