148 INTKODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF [lect. 



elapsed since the river ran at a level so much higher 

 than the present, and the country was occupied by a 

 fauna so unlike that now in existence there. 



6. The presence of man is proved by the discovery of 

 stone implements 1 (Figs. 55 and 56). Strictly speaking, 

 these only prove the presence of reasoning beings ; but 

 this being granted, few, if any, would doubt that the 

 beings in question were men. Human bones, moreover, 

 have been found in cave-deposits, which, in the opinion 

 of the best judges, belonged to this period ; and M. 

 Boucher de Perthes considers that various fragments of 

 human bone found at Moulin Quignon are also genuine. 

 On this point long discussions have taken place, into 

 which I will not now enter. The question before us is, 

 whether men existed at all, not whether they had bones. 

 On the latter point no dispute is likely to arise, and as 

 regards the former, the works of man are as good evi- 

 dence as his bones could be. Moreover, there seems to 

 me nothing wonderful in the great scarcity of human 

 bones; A country where the inhabitants subsist on the 

 produce of the chase can never be otherwise than scantily 

 peopled. If we admit that for each man there must be 

 a thousand head of game existing at any one time — and 

 this seems a moderate allowance ; remembering also that 

 most mammalia are less long-lived than men, we should 

 naturally expect to find human remains very rare as 

 compared with those of other animals. Among a people 

 who burnt their dead, of course this disproportion would 

 be immensely increased. That the flint implements 

 found in these gravels are implements it is unnecessary 



1 For a general account of stone implements I may refer to 

 Mr. Evans's admirable work on that subject. 



