Fossil Monkeys. 



Table-case 

 No. 1. 



Pithecan- 

 thropus 

 erectus. 



Spurrell col- 

 lection of fj 

 flint 

 implements . 



Monkeys. 

 Table-case, 

 No. 1. 



Human skeletons are found at Grand-Terre, adjoining the 

 island of Guadaloupe in a coral-limestone formation which 

 occurs on the sea-shore at the base of the cliffs, and more or 

 less covered by the sea at high-water. This limestone rock, 

 which is of modern formation, is composed of the detritus of 

 shells and corals of species still inhabiting the adjacent sea ; 

 it also contains some species of land-shells and crabs, identical 

 with those now living on the island. Accompanying the skele- 

 tons are found ornaments of jade, arrow-heads, fragments of 

 rude pottery, and other articles of human workmanship. 



In Table-case 1 are placed human remains from the allu- 

 vium of the Thames Valley at Tilbury, and also casts of the 

 famous Neanderthal and Engis skulls. The cranium of an 

 exceedingly primitive type possibly of man, Pithecanthropus 

 erectus, lately discovered in Java, is represented by a cast. 

 Here also are placed a number of tools and weapons made of 

 reindeer horn, from the caverns of France, and some flint im- 

 plements from Kent's Cavern, Devonshire. From the Thames 

 Valley a magnificent series of implements and flakes is exhibited. 

 These were collected by F. C. J. Spurrell, Esq., and were 

 presented by him to the National Collection. Some of the 

 specimens are of special interest because they illustrate the 

 method followed by Palaeolithic Man in making his weapons. 

 The remains of various extinct animals were found in the same 

 deposits, and of these a jaw of the Woolly Rhinoceros with a 

 flint flake adhering to it is shown in this case ; the other 

 specimens will be found in their proper places in the Gallery. 



Monkeys. — In the Table-case are also placed the remains of 

 the Quadrumana (four-handed animals), including at the pre- 

 sent day the various families of the monkey tribe, the " Cata- 

 rhine,"* or Old- World Monkeys, and the " Platyrhine,"t or 

 New- World Monkeys. Remains of these animals are very 

 rarely met with in any part of the globe as fossils. 



The earliest trace of Old- World Monkeys (Catarhina) is 

 found in the Miocene Tertiary formations of France and Italy; 

 Dryopithecus occurs in the Miocene of Sainte Gaudens, France, 

 and at Eppelsheim, Germany; Hylobates in the Miocene of 

 Switzerland: Oreopithecus in Italy : and Mesopithecus at Pikermi, 

 near Athens. Anthropithecus, Semnopithecus, Macacus and 

 Cynocephalus have been found in the Lower Pliocene deposits of 

 the Siwalik Hills, India. A single tooth, referred by Prof. Owen 

 to Macacus plioccenus, was obtained from the brick-earth of 

 Grays, Essex. Macacus has also been found in the Pliocene of 



* From Greek : Tcata, downwards ; rJiines, nostrils ; because they have 

 the nostrils approximated and opening downwards, as in man. 



t From Greek : platus, broad ; rhines, nostrils ; because the nostrils 

 open on the surface of the face, with a wide space between them. 



