232 



LECTUEE IX. 



Primeval period of Mankind. — Discovery of Human Eemains associated 

 with those of Extinct Animals. — Cuvier's Objections. — Human Eemains 

 in Caverns. — Formation of £!averns. — Stalactites. — Osseous breccia. — 

 Preservation of Bones. — Mode in which the Caverns were filled. — The 

 Extinct Cavern Inhabitants. — Extinct .and Living Species. — Extinction 

 of some species within the Historical Period. — SchmerUng's Discoveries. 

 — The Cavern of Engis. — Caverns of Lombrive and Lherme. — ■Grottoes 

 of Axcy. — Grotto in the Neander Valley. — Grotto of Aurignac. 



Gentlemen^ — We now turn from tlie living to the dead. 

 There is^ perhaps^ no subject of inquiry more interesting than 

 the primeval period of the human SMKjieSj which reaches 

 further back than written documents or tradition^ and to 

 which we can only obtain a clue by the discovery of human 

 remains or objects of human industry. The methods used in 

 historical investigations are inapplicable here^ and we are fully 

 justified in asserting that it is no longer the historian and the 

 antiquary, but the geologist alone, who is entitled to give an 

 opinion on the primitive ages, deduced from geological pre- 

 mises. The traces which primitive peoples have left behind, 

 the remains which testify to their existence, are only so far 

 distinguished from those of extinct species of animals, that 

 with their bones and teeth are found associated objects of 

 industry, which sufficiently prove that man, even at the earliest 

 period, applied his mind to multiply the. means with which 

 nature had endowed him for the struggle of existence. The 

 hyaena cracks bones by the power of its jaws. Man breaks 

 them with stones to obtain the marrow. The beast defends 

 itself with horns, teeth, and claws, given to it by nature ; man 

 endeavours to manufacture arms and tools of bone, horn, and 

 stones, and constant attention directed to these objects leads him 

 on towards civilisation. Animals enjoy the warmth of fire if 



