49 



Boucher cle Perthes, in 1841, began to collect stone imple- 

 ments in the gravels of the valley of the Somme, and in 1847, 

 published the first volume of his "Antiquites CelUques." In 

 this work, he described the specimens he had found and asserted 

 their great antiquity. The facts as presented, however, were 

 not generally accepted. Twelve years later, Falconer, Evans, 

 and Prestwich examined the same localities with care, became 

 convinced, and the results were published in 1859 and 1860. 

 About the same time Gaudry, Hebert, and Desnoyers, also ex- 

 plored the same valley, and announced that the stone imple- 

 ments there were as ancient as the mammoth and rhinoceros 

 found with them. Explorations in the Swiss lakes and in the 

 Danish shell heaps added new testimony bearing in the same 

 direction. In 1863, appeared Lyell's work on the " Geo- 

 logical Evidences of the Antiquity of Man," in which facts 

 were brought together from various parts of the world, proving 

 beyond qixestion the great age of the human race. 



The additional proof since brought to light has been exten- 

 sive, and is still rapidly increasing. The Quaternary age of 

 man is now generally accepted. Attempts have recently been 

 made to approximate in years the time of man's first appear 

 ance on the earth. One high authority has estimated the 

 antiquity of man merely to the last glacial epoch of Europe as 

 250,000 years; and those best qualified to judge, would, I 

 think, regard this as a fair estimate. 



Important evidence has likewise been adduced of man's 

 existence in the Tertiary, both in Europe and America. The 

 evidence to-day is in favor of the presence of man in the 

 Pliocene of this country. The proof offered on this point by 

 Professor J. D. Whitney, in his recent work,* is so strong, 

 and his careful, conscientious method of investigation so well 

 known, that his conclusions seem irrisistible. Whether the 

 Pliocene strata he has explored so fully on the Pacific coast 

 corresponds strictly with the deposits whicli bear this name in 

 Europe, may be a question requiring further consideration. 



* Auriferous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California. 1879. 



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