﻿190 
  PROCEEDINGS 
  OF 
  THE 
  GEOLOGICAL 
  SOCIETY. 
  [Feb. 
  24, 
  

  

  of 
  fluviatile 
  beds, 
  containing 
  Implements 
  fashioned 
  by 
  the 
  hand 
  

   of 
  man, 
  capping 
  cliffs 
  abutting 
  on 
  the 
  sea, 
  at 
  a 
  height 
  of 
  fifty 
  feet 
  

   above 
  it. 
  We 
  shall 
  presently 
  see 
  that 
  at 
  Fisherton, 
  to 
  which 
  I 
  will 
  

   now 
  direct 
  attention, 
  the 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  extreme 
  antiquity 
  (his- 
  

   torically, 
  not 
  geologically, 
  speaking) 
  is 
  no 
  less 
  strong. 
  

  

  The 
  Drift- 
  deposits 
  of 
  Fisherton, 
  near 
  Salisbury, 
  have 
  long 
  been 
  

   known 
  to 
  geologists. 
  As 
  early 
  as 
  1827* 
  Sir 
  Charles 
  Lyell 
  com- 
  

   municated 
  to 
  this 
  Society 
  a 
  notice 
  of 
  the 
  brick-earth 
  and 
  rubbly- 
  

   chalk 
  beds 
  occurring 
  there, 
  and 
  mentioned 
  the 
  discovery 
  in 
  them 
  of 
  

   the 
  bones 
  of 
  the 
  Elephant, 
  Rhinoceros, 
  and 
  Ox. 
  Subsequently, 
  in 
  

   1854, 
  Mr. 
  Prestwich 
  and 
  the 
  late 
  Mr. 
  John 
  Brown, 
  of 
  Stanway, 
  

   communicated 
  a 
  paper 
  "Ona 
  Fossiliferous 
  Drift 
  near 
  Salisbury," 
  

   in 
  which 
  the 
  Drift-beds 
  at 
  Fisherton, 
  and 
  more 
  especially 
  the 
  sec- 
  

   tion 
  exposed 
  in 
  Mr. 
  Harding's 
  brick-pit, 
  are 
  accurately 
  described, 
  

   and 
  an 
  extended 
  list 
  of 
  the 
  Mammalian 
  and 
  Molluscous 
  remains, 
  

   which 
  up 
  to 
  that 
  time 
  had 
  been 
  found, 
  is 
  given. 
  What, 
  however, 
  

   invests 
  these 
  Fisherton 
  beds 
  with 
  peculiar 
  interest, 
  is 
  their 
  similarity 
  

   to 
  those 
  at 
  Menchecourt, 
  near 
  Abbeville, 
  in 
  which 
  Flint 
  Instruments 
  

   have 
  been 
  found 
  ; 
  a 
  similarity 
  pointed 
  out 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Prestwich 
  in 
  his 
  

   account 
  of 
  the 
  discoveries 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  Valley 
  of 
  the 
  Somme, 
  read 
  before 
  

   the 
  Royal 
  Society 
  in 
  1859f, 
  and 
  which 
  led 
  both 
  him 
  and 
  me 
  to 
  pay 
  

   visits 
  to 
  Fisherton 
  in 
  the 
  hope 
  of 
  discovering 
  Implements 
  there 
  also. 
  

   It 
  was 
  not, 
  however, 
  in 
  these 
  beds 
  of 
  brick-earth 
  or 
  loess 
  that 
  such 
  

   a 
  discovery 
  was 
  destined 
  to 
  be 
  first 
  made, 
  but 
  in 
  certain 
  beds 
  of 
  gravel 
  

   at 
  a 
  still 
  higher 
  level, 
  in 
  which 
  up 
  to 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  no 
  organic 
  

   remains 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  ; 
  though 
  the 
  persevering 
  researches 
  of 
  

   Dr. 
  Humphrey 
  P. 
  Blackmore 
  have 
  been 
  rewarded 
  by 
  the 
  discovery 
  in 
  

   them 
  of 
  three 
  well-defined 
  Flint 
  Implements, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  of 
  some 
  more 
  

   simply 
  fashioned 
  flakes. 
  The 
  Implements 
  are 
  all 
  of 
  oval 
  form, 
  more 
  

   sharply 
  curved 
  at 
  one 
  end 
  than 
  at 
  the 
  other, 
  and 
  equally 
  convex 
  on 
  

   both 
  sides. 
  They 
  are 
  all 
  considerably 
  stained 
  and 
  discoloured, 
  and 
  

   two 
  of 
  them 
  are 
  much 
  rolled. 
  In 
  form 
  they 
  present 
  the 
  closest 
  analogy 
  

   to 
  many 
  of 
  those 
  from 
  the 
  Yalley 
  of 
  the 
  Somme 
  and 
  from 
  Ickling- 
  

   ham. 
  I 
  have 
  some 
  specimens 
  from 
  the 
  latter 
  place 
  wbich 
  in 
  point 
  

   of 
  colour 
  and 
  character 
  of 
  surface 
  exactly 
  correspond 
  with 
  those 
  

   from 
  Fisherton. 
  

  

  The 
  pit 
  from 
  which 
  is 
  dug 
  the 
  gravel, 
  in 
  which 
  these 
  Implements 
  

   were 
  found, 
  is 
  about 
  a 
  mile 
  to 
  the 
  west 
  of 
  Salisbury, 
  nearly 
  opposite 
  

   Bemerton 
  new 
  church, 
  and 
  close 
  to 
  the 
  lane 
  connecting 
  the 
  roads 
  to 
  

   Wilton 
  and 
  to 
  Devizes, 
  and 
  nearly 
  midway 
  between 
  them. 
  It 
  is 
  an 
  

   old 
  pit, 
  for 
  a 
  portion 
  of 
  it 
  that 
  has 
  been 
  worked 
  out 
  is 
  planted 
  with 
  

   fir-trees, 
  now 
  of 
  considerable 
  size. 
  There 
  appears, 
  however, 
  to 
  be 
  a 
  

   large 
  quantity 
  of 
  gravel 
  still 
  left 
  unworked, 
  and 
  it 
  is, 
  moreover, 
  dug 
  

   in 
  a 
  neighbouring 
  field. 
  The 
  deposit 
  lies 
  upon 
  the 
  southern 
  side 
  of 
  

   the 
  spur 
  of 
  chalk 
  dividing 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  the 
  Wiley, 
  or 
  Nadder, 
  from 
  

   that 
  of 
  the 
  Avon, 
  about 
  a 
  mile 
  and 
  a 
  quarter 
  above 
  the 
  confluence 
  

   of 
  the 
  two 
  rivers, 
  which 
  are 
  here 
  about 
  a 
  mile 
  apart. 
  It 
  consists 
  of 
  

  

  * 
  Proc. 
  Geol. 
  Soc. 
  vol. 
  i. 
  p. 
  25 
  ; 
  Lyell's 
  Antiquity 
  of 
  Man,' 
  3rd 
  edit. 
  p. 
  519. 
  

   t 
  Phil. 
  Trans. 
  1860, 
  p. 
  302. 
  

  

  