April 27, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



661 



is difficult to conceive of a form closely related 

 to recent man as extending back to this period. 

 The most that we could imagine would be 

 that the place of man was occupied by some 

 form not higher than the Javan Pithecan- 

 thropuSj and possibly considerably lower than 

 that type, and a question naturally arises as 

 to whether a primate of this stage of evolution 

 would or could make use of implements. 



In the case of the eoliths of the Kent 

 Plateau, Dr. MaoCurdy has produced evidence 

 which seems to favor intentional modification 

 of form. On the other hand, M. Boule in a 

 recent article" has figured and described most 

 remarkable flint forms resembling eoliths, but 

 produced by the impact on each other of nu- 

 merous flints carried about in swiftly running 

 water at a cement factory. In such a case 

 as this, in which from the very nature of the 

 problem the discrimination between natural 

 and artificial becomes increasingly difficult, it 

 would appear that other evidence must be 

 called in before we can reach definite con- 

 clusions. Apparently the ultimate decision 

 concerning many of the most important points 

 relating to the very early history of man must 

 be determined by purely paleontological obser- 

 vations upon his skeletal remains, and the 

 European record of these is as yet practically 

 a blank for the Eolithic epoch. We shall, 

 however, always obtain a large part of our 

 information concerning early man from stud- 

 ies of the industries which represent him. 



In whatever way the question of European 

 Pliocene and Miocene man is finally settled, 

 the present discussion is furnishing the oc- 

 casion for considerable contributions to our 

 knowledge of the origin and distinctive char- 

 acters of flaked flints both natural and arti- 

 ficial, and will lead to a much better under- 

 standing of this side of the problem. Cer- 

 tainly no possible line of investigation which 

 can furnish us information concerning the 

 earliest man-like types should be neglected. 

 Whether or not we are willing to agree with 

 the investigators in all their conclusions in 

 this particular case, we must certainly com- 



^ M. Boule, ' L'Origine des Eolithes,' L'Anthro- 

 pologie, 1905, T. 16, No. 3, pp. 257-267. 



mend the earnest and painstaking effort which 

 is being made to come to a clear understand- 

 ing regarding the significance of the interest- 

 ing materials now under consideration. 



John 0. Merriam. 



SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND ARTICLES. 

 The American Naturalist for March con- 

 tains ' Notes on Eeptiles and Batrachians of 

 Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware,' by 

 Witmer Stone ; ' Anatomy of Acmsea testudi- 

 nalis Muller, Part I., Introductory Material 

 — External Anatomy,' by M. A. Willcox; 

 ' Affinities of Certain Cretaceous Plant Re- 

 mains commonly referred to the Genera 

 Dammara and Brachyphyllum,' by A. Hol- 

 lick and E. C. Jeffrey; 'A New Pycnogonoid 

 from the Bahamas,' by L. J. Cole ; and ' Addi- 

 tional Notes on Bahama Snakes,' by T. Bar- 

 bour. 



Bird-Lore for March-April has a well- 

 illustrated article by Herbert K. Job, entitled 

 ' Some Bird Notes from the Magdalens,' ' A 

 Familiar Sparrow Hawk,' by N. C. Brown, 

 and ' Legs and Feet of Birds,' by 0. William 

 Beebe, showing their many modifications to 

 adapt them for various uses. Under the sec- 

 tion ' For Teachers and Students ' we have 

 the fifteenth paper on ' The Migration of 

 Warblers,' by W. W. Cooke, and a ' Brief Gen- 

 eral Classification of the Songs of Eastern 

 North American Wood Warblers,' by Gerald 

 H. Thayer. In the Audubon Societies is 

 noted the recent unanimous decision by the 

 court of appeals that the sale of foreign game 

 may be prohibited during the close season for 

 similar native species. The Educational 

 Leaflet is devoted to the belted kingfisher and 

 includes a fine colored plate. 



The Museums Journal of Great Britain for 

 February contains the program for the July 

 meeting of the Museums Association, which 

 will be held at Bristol. There is an article 

 on the 'Future of Museums,' by H. Bolton, 

 which deals with the relations of provincial 

 to government museums, a phase of museum 

 administration that does not apply to the 

 United States. ' Museums and Private Col- 



