Januaby 25, 1907] 



SCIENCE 



131 



meaning or purpose. The 'reverse work- 

 ing' of true eoliths is quite another thing. 

 (6) In the mill product coarse chipping 

 alternates with fine retouches along the 

 same margin, while on the eolith there is a 

 regularity and orderly sequence of chip- 

 ping. (7) The repeated rechipping of the 

 same edge, while others are left untouched, 

 does not occur in machine-made eoliths. 

 (8) The chief difference is between the 

 haphazard and meaningless, on the one 

 hand, and the purposeful, on the other. 



The most prominent and easily breakable 

 parts suffer most in passing through the 

 mill. They are often retained intact, or 

 only slightly altered, on the eolith to serve 

 as a hand-hold, and there is a logical rela- 

 tionship between the worked and unworked 

 portions. 



The eolithic problem in northern Ger- 

 many is even more difficult of solution than 

 that of chalk-miU 'eoliths.' Dr. Klaatseh, 

 who had previously made a study of eoliths 

 in France and Belgium, was among the first 

 to find so-called eoliths in fluvio-glacial de- 

 posits in the valley of the Spree. His dis- 

 coveries were supplemented by Dr. Hahne 's 

 in the valley of the Elbe. At this latitude, 

 the deposits of the first glacial and first 

 interglacial period, containing what ap- 

 pears to be an eolithic as well as a transi- 

 tion (Strepyan) industry, were very much 

 disturbed by the second advance of the ice. 



The result is that the pieces ia question 

 are so badly damaged as to obscure the evi- 

 dence bearing on their genuineness. The 

 German geologists and anthropologists are 

 divided as to the proper interpretation to 

 place upon these specimens. After going 

 over the material with Dr. Hahne, Rutot is 

 of the opinion that after all doubtful pieces 

 are rejected there will remain enough to 

 establish the existence of an eolithic in- 

 dustry in those regions. 



Another subject studied in common by 

 Rutot" and Hahne is that of shore-made 



eoliths, the locality being a favored stretch 

 of coast on the island of Riigen in the 

 Baltic Sea. The chalk cliff is surmounted 

 by a moraine with large erratic blocks. 

 When the seas run high, the large blocks 

 and glacial till are thrown forward over the 

 cliff. Masses of the fissured chalk are also 

 loosened and fall to the foot of the cliff. 

 With recurring high seas, broken nodules 

 of flint come in contact with the erratic 

 blocks and the production of pseudo-eoliths 

 begins. If left, however, to their own fate 

 they are finally reduced to sand. When 

 rescued at the proper time, they resemble 

 more or less the true eolith. They certainly 

 form a more convincing argument in favor 

 of the natural origin of all eoliths than do 

 those from the chalk-mills. But they re- 

 semble the latter more than they do the 

 genuine eolith, which, according to Rutot 

 and Hahne, is still unaccounted for unless 

 it represents the handiwork of man or his 

 precursor. 



The differences are not great enough to 

 be detected by the untrained eye. They 

 may be compared to the differences between 

 hand-made and machine-made music. The 

 untrained ear might not detect them with- 

 out seeing the operator at work, but no 

 such substitution could deceive an expert. 

 It would be rather wide of the mark to con- 

 clude that, because pianos may be played 

 by a pianola, they were never played by 

 hand. Or if ever played by hand the re- 

 sult must necessarily be identical with that 

 produced by the pianola. 



The wide differences of opinion in the 

 opposing camps can hardly be due to preju- 

 dice alone. Faulty or insufficient observa- 

 tion and incorrect interpretation doubtless 

 play their part. Luckily, there is no dis- 

 position to drop the matter until the truth 

 appears. At the International Congress 

 of Anthropology and Prehistoric Archeol- 



" ' Eolithes et pseudo-eolithes,' M^m. de la 8oo. 

 d'anthrop. de Bruxelles, 1906, t. XXV. 



