BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH. XXIX 



and Crocodiles, of living and extinct species, the enormous 

 Tortoise, Colossochelys Atlas, with numerous species of Emys 

 and Trionyx ; and among fossil Fish, CyprinidcB and 8iluridce. 

 The general facies of the extinct fauna exhibited a congre- 

 gation of forms particii^ating in European, African, and 

 Asiatic types. Of the mammalian remains all belonged to 

 extinct species, but of the Beptilia and Freshwater Shells, 

 some of the fossil species were identical Avith species now in 

 existence on the continent of India; and from this fact, 

 more than thirty years ago. Dr. Falconer was led to draw 

 important inferences as to the antiquity of the human race. 

 Thrown suddenly upon such rich materials, the ordinary- 

 means resorted to by men of science for determining them 

 by comparison were wanting. Of palaeontological works or 

 osteological collections in that remote quarter of India there 

 were none. But Falconer was not the man to be baffled by 

 such discouragements. He aj^pealed to the living forms 

 abounding in the surrounding forests, rivers, and swamps to 

 supply the want. Skeletons of all kinds were prepared ; the 

 extinct forms were compared with their nearest living ana- 

 logues, and a series of memoirs by Dr. Falconer and Captain 

 Cautley, descriptive of the most remarkable of the newly 

 discovered forms, appeared in the ' Asiatic Researches,' the 

 * Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal,' and in the ' Geo- 

 logical Transactions.' The Sewalik explorations soon at- 

 tracted notice in Europe, and in 1837 the Wollaston Medal, 

 in duplicate, was awarded for their discoveries to Dr. Falconer 

 and Capt. Cautley by the Geological Society, the fountain of 

 geological honours in Engla,nd ; while the value of the dis- 

 tinction was enhanced by the terms in which the president, 

 Mr. (now Sir Charles) Lyell was pleased to announce the 

 award. 



' When,' remarked the President, ' Capt. Cautley and Dr. Falconer 

 first discovered these remarkable remains, their curiosity was awakened, 

 and they felt convinced of their great scientific value ; but they were 

 not versed in fossil osteology, and, being stationed on the remote con- 

 fines of our Indian possessions, they were far distant irom any living 

 authorities or books on Comparative Anatomy to which they could 

 refer. The manner in which they overcame these disadvantages, and 

 the enthusiasm with which they continued for years to prosecute their 

 , researches, when thus isolated from the scientific world, are truly 



