700 THE ICE AGE IN NORTH AMERICA. 



A more serious arraignment of this whole evidence is 

 made by Professor W. J. Sinclair of Berkely, California. 

 It is unnecessary to review the whole of Mr. Sinclair's 

 argument in detail. But in general it is sufficient to say that 

 it is mainly occupied with throwing doubt upon the sufficiency 

 of the evidence in each of the many individual cases of alleged 

 discovery reportedby Professor Whitney and others, but fails 

 to break the f.orce of the cumulative evidence arising from the 

 great number of instances. For, it is highly improbable that 

 so many cases each with so great probability would have been 

 fabricated from such widely separated places. The theory of 

 fraud in so many separate instances agreeing in the main 

 point of contention yet differing so much in detail is exceed- 

 ingly improbable. While the supposition that the gravels 

 underneath the lava deposits had been previously worked 

 over almost the whole area, is equally improbable. 



But in particular it must be admitted that there has been 

 a mistake in respect to the Caliveras skull reported to have 

 been found by Mr. Mattison. The skull examined by Pro- 

 fessors Whitney and Wyman and now in possession of the 

 Peabody Museum of Harvard University evidently did not 

 come from under the lava deposits described by Whitney as 

 occurring at Bald Hill. For, Mr. Sinclair's examination of 

 the skull and of the incrustation enveloping it shows that it 

 must have come from some cavern in the vicinity used by 

 the Indians as a sepulcher. Hence it follows that if Mr. 

 Mattison actually took a skull from his drift under Bald Hill 

 some other skull must have been substituted for it in the 

 course of transmission. That this could have been done under 

 the circumstances without impeaching the honor of any of the 

 parties involved is readily seen from a fuller statement of 

 some of the circumstances. Such, at any rate is the opinion 

 of Professor Putnam. (See Sinclair's paper above quoted, 

 p. 129). In confirmation, I may state that in 1890 when I 

 visited Mr. Scribner he gave me the story substantially 



