1907-1908.] 83 



be very sharply focussed to be of any real service. The paper 

 was illustrated by specimens of young coots just from the nest, 

 and by a drawing of the tongue marks on nestling birds cleverly 

 executed by the lecturer's daughter. The following members 

 spoke to the paper at the close : — Messrs. N. H. Foster, 

 M.B.O.U.; R. Welch, M.R.I.A.; W. J. Fennell, M.R.I.A.; John 

 Carson, and William Gray, M.R.I.A. The lecturer having 

 replied, the proceedings terminated. 



Archaeological Section. 



"NOTES ON PAL/EOLITHIC deposits. 



At a meeting of this Section held on Wednesday evening, 4th 

 March, Mrs. Hobson presiding, the following papers were read : — 

 " Notes on Palaeolithic Deposits," by Robert Bell ; " Conjectures 

 Regarding Recent Sand Dune Finds at Dundrum," by Robert 

 May ; and " Colours and Superficial Appearances of Flint 

 Implements," by James Strachan. 



Mr. Bell, in his paper, said the deposits which succeed those 

 of the great ice-age are characterised by their fossils, partly of 

 animals no longer existing here or elsewhere or of others still 

 represented amongst us. Their remains are found in old river 

 gravel, associated with peculiar fossils, showing distinctly the 

 handiwork of man, commonly called stone implements. These 

 constitute the only remains that man's earliest skill and intellect 

 have prepared and left us ; all are primarily marked as having been 

 shaped by what is called " chipping," and exhibit varying designs 

 and forms. They are in truth the fossil records of the thought and 

 development of successive races of men. They are found often in 

 considerable abundance amongst the drift deposits of the Thames 

 and the valley of the Axe. They have been classified as Palseoliths 

 of the old stone period. 



