306 RECORDS. 



While the cause of the pressure and the manner in which it 

 had operated to produce these structures has not been de- 

 termined, the author suggests that their production may be the 

 result of the hydrostatic pressure of the sea water lying above 

 the deposits. In the instances examined, stylolites are char- 

 acteristic of marine deposits formed in water varying from 400 

 to 2,500 fathoms in depth. If sea water be taken to have an 

 average specific gravity of 1.028, then a one-foot column of 

 water exerts a hydraulic pressure of .434 lb. per sq. in. of area. 

 This would give, for the depth stated, a hydrostatic pressure of 

 from 1,041 to 6,408 lbs. per sq. in. Such a pressure as this, 

 coupled with the soft unconsolidated nature of the rock at the 

 time it might have been exerted, seems to fulfill better than any 

 other the conditions demanded by the observed facts. 



Mr. Wilson discussed Man in the earliest times before the 

 Neolithic Age and afterwards illustrated his paper by nearly 

 forty views of some of the most famous rock shelters, caves and 

 deposits of Europe which have furnished remains of Palaeolithic 

 Man, including also slides of the type implements and weapons 

 from which is derived the principal evidence of Man's existence 

 in Quaternary times. 



The paper recited briefly the history of the subject, the first 

 finds, especially the work of Boucher de Perthes, and the 

 gradual development of the science of prehistoric archaeology. 

 Reference was made to some of the disputed evidence of Man's 

 existence in the Tertiary period, and then the subject of Man's 

 undoubted existence as earh^ as the Second Glacial period was 

 treated more at length, with a consideration of the climate and 

 physical conditions which prevailed in Palaeolithic times. 



The paper closed with an attempt at a realization of the great 

 antiquity of Palaeolithic Man as shown by the immense physical 

 and geological changes which have taken place since he first 

 made his undoubted appearance. A. A. Julien, 



Sixrctary pro tern. 



