264 AXXALS NEW YORK ACADEMY OF SCIENCES 



M. aphanistus Kaup is the first known member of the sub-family to be 

 discovered in Africa. He observes that the hyenas and otters {Lutra), 

 the seals (Pristiphoca) , and sabre tooths (Machcerodus) speak strongly 

 for a connection between North Africa (Egj-pt), Asia and Pliocene Eu- 

 rope. The sabre-tooth survives into the First, Second, and possibly into 

 ihe Third Interglacial Stage (see note on Chellean culture). 



Moose (Alces). — The earliest representative of the moose^^ is the Alces 

 latifrons Dawkins from the Forest Bed of Cromer. It also occurs in the 

 sands of Mosbach and of Mauer (Second Interglacial) and in the sands 

 Tinderlying the lower travertine layers of Taubach (Third Interglacial), 

 always distinguished by the relatively simple pabnation of its antlers 

 from the existing A. machlis. The animal is also recorded in the Third 

 Interglacial layer of Eixdorf and it survived in Germany into post-Neo- 

 lithic times. 



* PROBLEMATIC EVIDENCE OE MAN" 



Saint-Prest is the most ancient Lower Pleistocene deposit in the basin 

 of Paris.*'' Coarse sands and gravels form part of the '^Tiigh terrace" 

 SOm. above the present level of the river Eure and contain a First Inter- 

 glacial fauna of Eleplias meridionalis and Equus stenonis as well as the 

 "eoliths'^ known as Reutelien. This constitutes the Saint-Prestien stage 

 of Deperet. 



The locality of Saint-Prest is famous because in 1863 Desnoyer first re- 

 ported the discovery of a number of bones mth incision lines which he 

 considered to be the work of man. These deposits were at the time re- 

 garded as Pliocene and gave rise to the theory of the occurrence of man 

 in Pliocene times. The human origin of these incisions has long been a 

 matter of dispute and is still doubtful. The associated fauna at Saint- 

 Prest includes the southern elephant, the etruscan rhinoceros, the hippo- 

 potamus, the giant beaver, three species of beaver and one of the bison. 

 There is thus little doubt that this deposit is of First Interglacial age. 

 Supposed confirmation of Desnoyer's discovery was the alleged finding 

 by Abbott of several worked flints, two in situ, in the Cromer Forest Bed. 



This question has become more or less identified with the eolithic 

 theory which postulates a long stage of the artificial use of flints antece- 

 dent to the pre-Chellean and Chellean Stages, which are here considered 

 as belonging in the Third Glacial Stage, although some authors place the 

 pre-Chellean in the First Interglacial Stage. 



**5 DiETEiCH, W. O. : "Neue fosslle Cervldenreste aus Schwaben," Jahreshefte des 

 Vereins f. vaterlandische Naturkunde, Jahrg. 66, pp. 320-336. 1910. 



*7 Haug, £mile : "Traite de Geologie. II. Les P6riodes geologiques," p. 1807. Libr. 

 Armand Colin, Paris, 1908-1911. 



