274 Notices of Memoirs — Fossil Human Skeleton found in Italy. 



railway was made from Mentone to Vintimille. In front of the 

 cavern, and at a distance of five or six yards from the place where 

 the recently-discovered skeleton was met with, there was, sixty years 

 ago, an immense carob-tree, which almost entirely blocked up the 

 mouth of the cavern, and gave it a sombre and dismal appearance. 



The state of preservation of the skeleton is very remarkable and 

 astonishing, seeing that its age, which it is impossible to estimate 

 with exactitude, must extend backwards into pre-historic times. 

 This extraordinary state of preservation may possibly be explained 

 by an analysis of the earth in which it was found, and the unin- 

 terrupted dryness of the sheltered spot in which it was placed. 



The careful way in which the surrounding ground has been 

 cleared away, has had the effect of preserving the position which the 

 skeleton has retained ever since it has occupied the spot where it 

 was found. "With the exception of the fragile ribs, which have been 

 broken by the pressure of the overlying soil, the subject is entire. 

 The legs crossed in a natural position, and the two arms folded near 

 the head, seem to lead to the conclusion that the man to whom they 

 belonged died in his sleep, and that he had been carefully covered 

 with earth, without disturbing the ground beneath. The thigh-bones 

 measure 16 inches in length from one extremity to the other, and the 

 rest is in proportion — or in other words, the skeleton is that of a 

 man of ordinary stature. The teeth and the lower jaw are in a yexj 

 good state of preservation. The cranium, of average size, is of a 

 dark brick-red colour, and the part resting on the ground is broken 

 by pressure. Its colour, different from that of the other bones, does 

 not seem capable of positive explanation. There is an immense 

 number of small shells adhering to the cranium, leading one to 

 suppose that these shells, all drilled with a hole, have been used for 

 ornament, either twined in the hair or as part of a head-dress. 



Eound the skeleton were found several flint implements, such as 

 scrapers, chisels, and axes, together with bone needles, the curious 

 fashioning of which seems to have been effected by rubbing or 

 grinding down on some hard substance. There were also found the 

 bones of animals, and, amongst others, the lower jaws of herbivora. 

 Behind the head a stone was met with, another behind the loins, and 

 between the former and the head two stone implements of the largest 

 size found in these caverns. 



All the curious objects which have been discovered by Dr. 

 Eiviere, have been photographed by an able operator, M. Anfossi. 



H. W. Bkistow. 



II. — PaleONTOLOGIE F1IAN9AISB, OU DESCRIPTION DES FoSSILES DE 



LA France, continuee par une reunion de Paleontologistes, 

 sous LA direction d'un Comite Special. 2"^ erie — Vegetaux. 

 Plantes Jurassiques. Par M. Le Comte db Saporta. 



THIS work of mine, of which I would give a sketch to the readers 

 of the Geological Magazine, treats of the group of fossil 

 plants of the French Jurassic period. I should not have undertaken 

 it had I not received the friendly co-operation of a large number 



