ANNIVEESAEY ADDEESS OE THE PRESIDET^T. IxXV 



historical details of their progressive discoveries and of their re- 

 spective authors. He then proceeds to discuss in the same way the 

 organic remains found in the caverns and osseous breccias in dif- 

 ferent parts of France. 



In describing the caverns of Arcy near Yermenton in Burgundy, 

 he states that in 1858 M. de Vibraye undertook the careful exploration 

 and examination of one of these caverns. He made out the exist- 

 ence of three distinct layers or formations, and in the lowest, con- 

 taining the remains of Ursus spelceus.Hycena spelc^a, Rhinoceros ticho- 

 rJiinus, &c., he found a human jaw, still retaining two teeth in sitUy 

 in immediate contact with the bones of the extinct Mammalia. All 

 the characters of the substance of this jaw were identical with those 

 of the bones with which it was associated and very different from 

 those found in either of the overlying beds. With such evidence he 

 observes that it is almost impossible to resist the conclusion that 

 Man was the cotemporary of these extinct animals. 



The author also shows, with reference to the caverns of other parts 

 of France, and especially in Languedoc and in the Pyrenees, that 

 incontestable evidence has been found, not only of the existence of 

 Man during the later periods when the Eeindeer abounded all over 

 France and the great Mammalia appear to have become extinct, but 

 even during the period of their existence ; and in concluding hi» 

 chapter on the caves and osseous breccias of the Pyrenees, he ob- 

 serves that, in the valleys of the basin of the Ariege alone, the 

 elements of human chronology from the earliest Quaternary epoch, 

 viz., that of the C/rsMS spelceus down to the time of the lacustrine habi- 

 tations of Switzerland, are such as have nowhere else been found 

 within so small a space ; and he adds that, notwithstanding these 

 accumulated proofs, there are persons who still refuse to believe in 

 the contemporaneity of Man with the gi^eat extinct species of Mam- 

 malia. " But," he adds, '' the history of science shows us at every 

 step instances of this opposition to the introduction of new ideas 

 contrary to old theories, and which wound the opinions and amour 

 projpre of individuals ; let us not therefore be astonished at what we 

 see around us on this question, but let us hope everything from time 

 and perseverance in inquiries, which will ultimately get the better 

 of these oppositions as they have already done of so many others." 



The author then proceeds to examine these Quaternary deposits on 

 the northern and southern flanks of the Alps with the same general 

 results, those of the Mediterranean, Asia, North and South America, 

 Australia, and N"ew Zealand, giving in every case an account of the 

 most recent discoveries bearing on this important and complicated 

 question ; and he shows, in conclusion, that the phenomena observed 

 in America and Australia conflirm the observations made in Europe 

 and Asia, viz., that the fauna of the great extinct Mammalia cha- 

 racterized by the ElejtTias primigenius, Rhinoceros tichorhinus, Ursus 

 spelceus, &c. must be separated from the fauna of the present day. 

 At the same time the difference between the characters of the Qua- 

 ternary fauna, when compared with those of the existing fauna, are 

 by no means the same in different classes : in the lower marine ani- 



