from the Tertiary of Java. 477 



but he was also permitted to bring the extensive collections of 

 other vertebrate fossils which he had secured from the same 

 horizon and in the same locality where the Pithecanthropus 

 was discovered. All these were shown at the International 

 Congress of Zoologists, held at Leyden, in September last, and 

 on the 21st of that month, Dr. Dubois read an elaborate paper 

 on his original discovery and on his later explorations in the 

 same region. This communication was in many respects the 

 most important one of the session, and its presentation with 

 the specimens themselves was a rare treat to the large audience 

 present, especially to those fitted to appreciate the evidence 

 laid before them.* 



Professor Yirchow of Berlin was president of the meeting 

 on that day, and had brought many specimens to illustrate the 

 remarks he was to make in the discussion. The famous Leyden 

 museum was also drawn upon for an extensive series of speci- 

 mens of man and the higher apes, so that, if possible, the true 

 position of Pithecanthropus might then be determined once 

 for all. - Dr. Dubois, moreover, kindly invited Professor 

 Yirchow, Sir William Flower, and myself, to come an hour 

 before the meeting, and personally examine the remains he was 

 to discuss, and this invitation was most gladly accepted. 



The first sight of the fossils was a surprise, as they were 

 evidently much older than appeared from the descriptions. All 

 were dark in color, thoroughly petrified, and the matrix was 

 solid rock, difficult to remove. The skull-cap of Pithecanthro- 

 pus was filled with the hard matrix, firmly cemented to it. 

 The roughness of the superior surface, especially in the frontal 

 region, was apparently due to corrosion after entombment, and 

 not to disease, as had been suggested by some anatomists. The 

 femur was free from matrix, but very heavy in consequence of 

 the infiltration of mineral matter. The exostosis on its upper 

 portion is a conspicuous feature, but of course is pathological. 

 This feature is of little consequence, as very similar outgrowths 

 occur on fossil bones of even Eocene age. The two teeth 

 showed no characters that indicated their interment under cir- 

 cumstances different from that of the skull or femur. All the 

 physical characters impressed me strongly with the idea that 

 these various remains were of Pliocene age, and not Post- 

 Tertiary, as had been supposed. The description of the local- 

 ity and the account of the series of strata there exposed, as 

 given by Dr. Dubois in his communication, confirmed this 

 opinion, and a later examination of accompanying vertebrate 

 fossils placed the Pliocene age of all beyond reasonable doubt. 



* Compte-Rendu des Seances du Troisieme Congres International de Zoologie, 

 Leyden, September, 1895, pp. 251-271, 1896. See also Transactions Royal Dublin 

 Society, vol. vi, pp. 1-18, February, 1896; and Anatomischer Anzeiger, Bd. xii, 

 pp. 1-22, 1896. 



