﻿1864.] 
  EVANS 
  FLINT 
  IMPLEMENTS 
  IN 
  HANTS 
  AND 
  WILTS. 
  ] 
  93 
  

  

  this 
  country 
  in 
  a 
  fossil 
  state, 
  by 
  Dr. 
  Blackmore*. 
  Of 
  the 
  Spermo- 
  

   philus, 
  or 
  pouched 
  Marmot, 
  an 
  animal 
  about 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  a 
  Squirrel, 
  

   portions 
  of 
  the 
  remains 
  of 
  at 
  least 
  thirteen 
  individuals 
  have 
  been 
  

   found, 
  including 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  skull 
  with 
  the 
  teeth 
  remaining 
  in 
  their 
  

   sockets, 
  and 
  the 
  last 
  or 
  ungual 
  phalanx, 
  which 
  shows 
  that 
  the 
  

   animal 
  must 
  have 
  been 
  armed 
  with 
  strong 
  sharp 
  claws. 
  Of 
  the 
  

   Lemming, 
  which 
  is 
  closely 
  allied 
  to, 
  if 
  not 
  identical 
  with, 
  the 
  

   Owinyak, 
  or 
  Greenland 
  Lemming, 
  a 
  native 
  of 
  Hudson's 
  Bay, 
  remains 
  

   of 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  have 
  been 
  discovered. 
  The 
  two 
  most 
  remarkable 
  

   fossils 
  are 
  the 
  egg-shells 
  before 
  mentioned, 
  one 
  of 
  which 
  appears 
  to 
  

   be 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Wild 
  Goose. 
  

  

  Now, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  a 
  little 
  curious 
  that 
  all 
  these 
  additions 
  to 
  the 
  list 
  

   of 
  British 
  fossils 
  of 
  the 
  Post-pliocene 
  period 
  afford, 
  as 
  has 
  already 
  

   been 
  pointed 
  out 
  by 
  Sir 
  Charles 
  Lyell 
  f 
  , 
  some 
  presumptive 
  evidence 
  

   of 
  our 
  climate 
  having 
  been 
  colder 
  at 
  that 
  period 
  than 
  it 
  is 
  at 
  present. 
  

  

  The 
  Greenland 
  Lemming, 
  the 
  Marmot, 
  and 
  the 
  breeding-place 
  of 
  

   the 
  Wild 
  Goose 
  are 
  all 
  associated 
  in 
  our 
  minds 
  with 
  Arctic 
  regions 
  

   or 
  an 
  Alpine 
  climate. 
  

  

  The 
  large 
  blocks 
  of 
  sandstone 
  in 
  the 
  gravel 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  shore 
  near 
  

   Hill 
  Head 
  could 
  hardly 
  have 
  been 
  transported, 
  except 
  by 
  ice-action 
  ; 
  

   and 
  the 
  chalk-flints 
  in 
  the 
  gravel, 
  which 
  must 
  have 
  travelled 
  a 
  dis- 
  

   tance 
  of 
  at 
  least 
  twelve 
  miles, 
  and 
  some 
  of 
  which 
  are, 
  nevertheless, 
  

   entirely 
  fresh 
  and 
  unrolled, 
  testify 
  to 
  a 
  similar 
  means 
  of 
  transport. 
  

   Altogether 
  the 
  evidence 
  of 
  the 
  two 
  cases 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  attempted 
  to 
  

   describe 
  tells 
  much 
  in 
  favour 
  of 
  the 
  theory 
  advanced 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Prest- 
  

   wich, 
  that 
  the 
  greater 
  excavating 
  powers 
  of 
  the 
  rivers 
  of 
  the 
  Post- 
  

   pliocene 
  period, 
  as 
  compared 
  with 
  those 
  of 
  their 
  representatives 
  of 
  

   the 
  present 
  day, 
  were 
  mainly 
  due 
  to 
  a 
  more 
  rigorous 
  winter 
  climate, 
  

   probably 
  accompanied 
  by 
  a 
  more 
  abundant 
  rain-fall 
  and 
  a 
  greater 
  

   tendency 
  to 
  floods. 
  

  

  Still 
  we 
  have 
  ample 
  testimony 
  that 
  the 
  climate 
  of 
  that 
  period 
  was 
  

   such 
  as 
  to 
  permit 
  of 
  abundant 
  animal 
  life, 
  and 
  that 
  the 
  rain-fall 
  was 
  

   not 
  so 
  excessive 
  but 
  that 
  there 
  was 
  a 
  sufficient 
  supply 
  of 
  vegetable 
  

   food. 
  The 
  denuding 
  and 
  excavating 
  power 
  of 
  the 
  rivers 
  cannot, 
  

   therefore, 
  have 
  been 
  out 
  of 
  all 
  proportion 
  to 
  what 
  they 
  are 
  at 
  the 
  

   present 
  day, 
  and 
  the 
  effect 
  produced 
  in 
  the 
  course 
  of 
  a 
  single 
  year, 
  

   or 
  even 
  a 
  century, 
  can 
  hardly 
  have 
  been 
  appreciable 
  in 
  valleys, 
  such 
  

   as 
  those 
  through 
  which 
  the 
  rivers 
  now 
  run. 
  

  

  When, 
  therefore, 
  we 
  look 
  at 
  a 
  Section 
  like 
  this 
  at 
  Pisherton, 
  

   with 
  its 
  high-level 
  and 
  low-level 
  gravels, 
  or 
  at 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  valley 
  of 
  

   the 
  Somme 
  at 
  Abbeville, 
  in 
  which 
  these 
  beds 
  have 
  their 
  exact 
  par- 
  

   allels 
  in 
  those 
  of 
  Moulin 
  Quignon 
  and 
  Menchecourt, 
  and 
  when 
  we 
  

   find 
  that 
  in 
  the 
  high-level 
  gravels 
  which 
  must 
  have 
  formed 
  the 
  bed 
  

   of 
  the 
  river 
  when 
  it 
  ran 
  at 
  an 
  elevation 
  of 
  80 
  or 
  100 
  feet 
  above 
  its 
  

  

  * 
  Since 
  this 
  paper 
  was 
  written, 
  Dr. 
  Falconer 
  has 
  informed 
  me 
  that, 
  in 
  1858, 
  

   he 
  had 
  identified, 
  in 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  late 
  Rev. 
  Daniel 
  Williams, 
  amongst 
  the 
  

   fossil 
  Mammalia 
  of 
  the 
  Mendip 
  Caverns, 
  two 
  lower 
  jaws 
  of 
  a 
  species 
  of 
  Spermo- 
  

   pkilus, 
  which 
  he 
  named 
  S. 
  erythrogenoides, 
  and 
  which 
  appears 
  to 
  be 
  identical 
  

   with 
  that 
  found 
  in 
  such 
  abundance 
  in 
  the 
  cave-fissures 
  of 
  Montmorency, 
  near 
  

   Paris, 
  by 
  M. 
  Desnoyers. 
  

  

  f 
  ' 
  Antiquity 
  of 
  Man,' 
  3rd 
  edit. 
  p. 
  520. 
  

  

  