﻿Address. 407 



either himself undertake the study of these other sciences 

 or call experts in them to his assistance. The evidence 

 that man had already appeared upon the earth is afforded 

 by stone implements wrought by his hands, and it falls 

 strictly within the province of the Archiieologist to judge 

 whether given specimens were so wrought or not ; it rests 

 with the geologist to determine their stratigraphical or 

 chronological position, while the Palaeontologist can pro- 

 nounce upon the age and character of the associated fauna 

 and flora. 



If left to himself the Archieologist seems too prone to 

 build up theories founded upon form alone, irrespective of 

 geological conditions. The Geologist, unaccustomed to 

 archaeological details, may readily fail to see the difference 

 between the results of the operations of Nature and those 

 of Art, and may be liable to trace the effects • of man's 

 handiwork in the chipping, bruising and wearing which in 

 all ages result from natural forces ; but the united labors 

 of the two, checked by those of the Pakeontologist, cannot 

 do otherwise than lead towards sound conclusions. 



It will perhaps be expected of me that I should on the 

 present occasion bring under review the state of our 

 present knowledge with regard to the Antiquity of Man ; 

 and probably no fitter place could be found for the 

 discussion of such a topic than the adopted home of 

 my venerated friend, the late Sir Daniel Wilson, who first 

 introduced the word " prehistoric " into the English 

 language. 



Some among us may be able to call to mind the excite- 

 ment, not only among men of science, but among the 

 general public, when, in 1859, the discoveries of M. Boucher 

 de Perthes and Dr. Ptigollot in the gravels of the valley of 

 the Somme, at Abbeville and Amiens, were confirmed by 

 the investigations of the late Sir Joseph Prestwich, myself, 

 and others, and the co-existence of man with the extinct 

 animals of the Quaternary fauna, such as the mammoth 



