332 TEE ZOOLOGIST. 



Dr. Noetling might easily have picked his up just underneath 

 one of these. The edge of the ravine, though sometimes nearly 

 perpendicular, does not overhang, and, with a ledge of con- 

 glomerate such as Dr. Noetling figures, it is certain that stones, 

 dropping over as the edge wears away, might be caught on it. 

 We were unable to look about on the plateau for further groups 

 of chips, as we had to leave Yenangyoung the next day, and 

 thought it only right to spend the rest of our fourth day in a 

 further careful examination of the ferruginous conglomerate in 

 the vicinity — but, as usual, without result. 



Besides dividing the flints into irregular lumps and flakes, 

 they can be grouped according to the original stones from which 

 they came. In some instances this can be done with certainty, 

 as, for instance, one stone was a peculiar flint brecchia, of which 

 we found three pieces ; while in very many instances the likeness 

 in colour between several pieces, even down to small peculiarities 

 — such as pink spots or white streaks in the stone — is such that 

 no reasonable doubt can be felt that the}^ come, not only from 

 the same stone, but from the same part of it. In two instances I 

 have been able to fit pieces together, proving definitely that they 

 were broken in situ, and in many other instances it is doubtful 

 whether pieces do not fit. These facts seem to me to be against 

 such extreme antiquity as is claimed for these flints by Dr. Noet- 

 ling, and especially against the theory that they were once em- 

 bedded in a stratum of rock or earth, and have been left lying on 

 the surface by the wearing away of the stratum. To believe this 

 one would have to. believe that they were originally chipped up in 

 Pliocene times, were subsequently covered up by sand to a great 

 depth, the beds were then raised into a dome by pressure, and 

 finally the pieces of stone were again exposed on the surface by 

 denudation without any disturbance of their original relative 

 positions ! 



But if the flints are not associated with the conglomerate, 

 what are they ? I would prefer that this question should be 

 answered by those more competent to give an opinion, but 

 Mr. LaTouche thinks they must be of considerable age, owing to 

 the glaze on them, and suggests that they are palaeolithic. On 

 breaking two pieces, they were found to be light-coloured through- 

 out, and not of the dull black colour characteristic of true flint ; 



