434 



THE GEOLOGIST. 



of works of human art, or of human remains in the various cavern- and other 

 ossiferous deposits, iaid yet such statements have neither been few nor 

 limited ; but, generally, certainly they have been wanting in j)recision and ex- 

 actness — they have been without point. In hardly any, if indeed in any, 

 hitherto recorded cases can we feel sure that the observations have been pro- 

 perly made, or the facts properly recorded. No one has displayed more ex- 

 actitude than M. de Perthes himself, but he is an antiquary and not a geologist, 

 and it is the geological aspect of the question tliat we regard ; and without dis- 

 puting the premises that man existed among the mammoths, we still ask how 

 long then has man been upon the earth, and how far back in geological history 

 does his creation date ? If it be as facts seem, even yet, although we pre-date 

 his first appearance by some thousands, if not even millions of years, to indicate 

 that man is stiU the most recent of the divine constructions, we do not ma- 

 terially alter the conditions of previous belief, but only modify it; and no 

 theological considerations can impede our conversion to the new doctrine, as I 

 think it would be hard to find any true biblical grounds for its obstruction. 



We are bound, moreover, to look facts fuU in the face, and to meet all new 

 opinions with careful investigation and scrutiny. 



Let us then proceed in our review of M. de Perthes' book ; and in gathering 

 our first facts from him, and in making ourselves acquainted with his opinions, 

 we shall be rendering honour where honour is due, and be basing our super- 

 structure on its proper foundations. 



BRITISH ASSOCIATION MEETING. 



( Continued from ^age 



On the Ossiferous Pissures at Oreston, near Plymouth. By W. 

 Pengelly, P.G.S. (Read before the Geological Sectio7i of the British Asso- 

 ciation, on Friday, September \^th, 1859.) 



During the last meeting of the Association I had the pleasure of calling the 

 attention of this Section to some of the results of the exploration, then in 

 progress, of an ossiferous cavern, which, early in the year 1858, had been dis- 

 covered at Brixham, in Devonshire ; and though, perhaps, none of the facts 

 then communicated were new to science, yet, when it is remembered that they 

 were obtained from a virgin cavern, which, instead of being ransacked as too 

 many have been, was systematically explored ; that the explorations were care- 

 fully conducted and sedulously watched ; that it was not allowed to regard any- 

 thing as a trifle, or as unimportant ; that the situation of every object was ac- 

 curately determined by exact measurements, and that everytliing note-worthy 

 was immediately registered, it wiU be seen that they have a peculiar value as 

 being perfectly reliable and unquestionably good in evidence. They furnish us 

 moreover with a test, or measure, of the credibility of, at least, some of the 

 facts on record in comiection with other caverns, and thus enable us finally to 

 accept or reject them as portions of knowledge. 



I regret that the case to which I have now chiefly to call attention 

 possesses no such claims ; the facts, such as they are, have come into my pos- 

 session almost by accident, and mainly from the quarrymen ; the cavern, or 

 fissure has been destroyed in the com-se of the ordinary quarrying operations ; 

 there has been no attempt to control or direct the excavation; nevertheless, I 

 am not without a hope that the particulars may be found to possess some de- 

 gree of interest. 



