602 



HUMAN JAW AND FLINT-IMPLEMENTS 



cumstances attending the alleged discovery of a human jaw 

 in the gravel deposits of Moulin-Quignon. The fact was first 

 announced by M. Boucher de Perthes in the ' Abbevillois ' of 



to London, he considered to be spurious. 

 Having been obligingly permitted by M. 

 de Perthes to examine the jaw, he was 

 struck with the unusual combination of 

 peculiar anatomical characters which it 

 presented, and was thus led to the im- 

 pression that it was of fossil antiquity. 

 That impression he communicated on the 

 14th to Dr. Carpenter, and on the 15th 

 to M. de Quatrefages, at Abbeville, but 

 subject to the reserve of a more detailed 

 study of the materials, and on the 1 5th 

 he wrote to the same effect to his friend 

 M. Lartet, to whom the jaw was con- 

 signed in Paris. 



On April 1 6 Dr. Carpenter communi- 

 cated a short paper to the Royal Society, 

 supporting the authenticity of the disco- 

 very; and during the debate, Dr. Fal- 

 coner, in the absence of Dr. Carpenter 

 and himself, was unauthorizedly cited 

 as entertaining the same opinion. On 

 April 20, M. de Quatrefages communi- 

 cated to the ' Academy of Sciences ' a 

 note by M. Boucher de Perthes, followed 

 by descriptive remarks by himself, con- 

 veying the high authority of his opinion 

 in favour of the jaw being a true fossil 

 of geological antiquity. On April 18 

 Dr. Falconer, immediately after his re- 

 turn to London, commenced the delibe- 

 rate scrutiny of the materials which he 

 had brought with him from Abbeville, 

 and on the 21st, in conjunction with, or 

 aided by, M". John Evans, Mr. Prest- 

 wich, Mr. Busk, and Mr. Tomes, he ar- 

 rived at results opposed to the authen- 

 ticity alike of the ' detached molar ' of 

 the jaw, and of the flint haches. That 

 day, without the delay of a post, he com- 

 municated his suspicions to M. Lartet, 

 requesting him to make them, and the 

 grounds upon which they were founded, 

 known to M. de Quatrefages. But the 

 latter had already given in his affirma- 

 tive memoir to the 'Institut' on the 

 previous day (20th), followed on April 

 27 and May 4 by successive notes in the 

 same sense. On April 25 a letter by 

 Dr. Falconer, written before he was 

 aware of M. de Quatrefages' first com- 

 munication, appeared in the ' Times,' 

 questioning the authenticity of the 'jaw ' 

 and of the haches. Men of science in 

 France and England were thus suddenly 

 placed at direct issue on a grave and 

 important point of great general interest. 



But, happily, from the frankness and 

 rapidity of the communications inter- 

 changed, there existed the most cordial 

 relations, and the conviction of loyalty 

 and good faith on both sides. The 

 French savants, the more they went into 

 the case, were the more convinced of the 

 soundness of their conclusions ; while 

 their English opponents, the more they 

 weighed the evidence before them, were 

 the more strengthened in their doubts. 

 As a wordy discussion would but have 

 wasted time and must have been pro- 

 tracted, and as a personal conference 

 held out the best prospect of a speedy 

 settlement of the questio , a ' reunion ' 

 of men of science, to be lv.ld at Paris, 

 was proposed by the French savants. 



The English deputation, consisting of 

 Dr. Falconer. Dr. Carpenter, and Prof. 

 Busk, reached Paris on May 9, and im- 

 mediately proceeded to business, being 

 joined on the following day by Mr. 

 Prestwich. The French members con- 

 sisted of M. de Quatrefages, Member of 

 the Institute ; M. Lartet, Member of the 

 Geological Society of France and Foreign 

 Member of the Geological Society of 

 London ; M. Delesse, Professor of Geo- 

 logy to the Ecole Normale, Paris ; and 

 M. Desnoyers, Member of the Institute. 

 The following savants also took a share 

 in the proceedings throughout, and af- 

 forded the utmost aid in the investiga- 

 tion, viz.: — M. L'Abbe Bourgeois, M. 

 A. Gaudry, and M. Alphonse Milne- 

 Edwards. At the request of the Eng- 

 lish members, M. Milne-Edwards, Mem- 

 ber of the Institute, and the eminent zoo- 

 logist, courteously agreed to preside over 

 the Conference. 



The proces-verbaux of this Conference, 

 which extended over five days, were 

 printed in detail in the ' Natural His- 

 tory Review,' for July, 1863, with an 

 introduction and appended notes, by 

 Dr. Falconer, Mr. Busk, and Dr. Car- 

 penter. The conclusions arrived at by 

 the Conference are embodied in Dr. Fal- 

 coner's essay, which is now for the first 

 time published. 



The above particulars are derived from 

 the introduction to the proces-verbaux 

 above referred to, and from two letters 

 by Dr. Falconer which appeared in the 

 ' Times' newspaper for April 25 and May 

 21, 1863.— [Ed.] 



