TORETGN INTELLIGENCE. 



221 



those previously extracted. Lastly, at the top of the 'black bed,' where 

 the maxillary bone reposed, a sand was found exactly like that noted in 

 the alveolus. 



"After these evidences, the English savants declared themselves con- 

 vinced that the jaw had not been introduced fraudulently in the bed of 

 diluvium, and that it was contemporary with the material which formed 

 that bed. 



" As to the question as to what is the age of that deposit, that remains 

 to be resolved. 



" Thus lias terminated this interesting debate." 



Since Dr. Falconer's return to England, he has communicated the fol- 

 lowing letter to the ' Times ' of the 21st ult., and which we give at length, 

 as the appendix he has thought fit to make to the unanimous conclusions 

 of the congress must open afresh the question of the age of the Moulin- 

 Quignon deposits : — 



" Sib, — In my letter which appeared in your issue of the 25th ult., I 

 stated that the case of the Moulin-Quignon human jaw presented in its 

 then stage, as a whole, ' one of the most subtle instances of perplexed evi- 

 dence on a point of science that has come under my experience.' It has 

 since undergone an investigation at Paris and Abbeville by a joint com- 

 mission of French and English men of science, throughout which it main- 

 tained the same perplexed and contradictory character, not to be sur- 

 passed, in some respects at least, by any cause celebre on record. But I 

 am happy to say that upon one point, which it was of the last importance 

 to clear up, the commission, French and English, were unanimous, — namely, 

 that the discovery of the remarkable human relic in situ, in the gravel-pit 

 of Moulin-Quignon, was authentic, and that no imposition had been prac- 

 tised by the workmen in the case. As an inference to the contrary on the 

 pari of myself and my scientific friends was distinctly expressed in my 

 former letter, I am desirous that there should not be the slightest reserve 

 in withdrawing it. "What now remains to be established is the precise age 

 of the relic. This part of the case is still involved in obscurity, and so be- 

 set with contradictory and apparently incompatible evidence, that its satis- 

 factory solution is at the present moment of the utmost difficulty. 



" The voluminous proces-verbaux of the commission will appear in due 

 course. Here I shall merely give a brief summary of the proceedings, 

 prefacing it with a short risumd of the events which led to the con- 

 ference. 



" On the 14th, 15th, and 16th of April, I was at Abbeville, where, on the 

 14th, I met Dr. Carpenter, and on the 15th M\ Quatrefages. I communi- 

 cated to both my then impression, subject to the reserve of a more detailed 

 study of the materials, that the jaw was an authentic fossil, and on the 

 15th I wrote to I lie same effect to my friend M. Lartet, to whom the jaw 

 was consigned in Paris. On the 16th Dr. Carpenter gave a short paper to 

 the Royal Society, supporting in guarded terms tin 1 authenticity of the 

 discovery; and on (he 20th of April M. dc Quatrefages communicated lo 

 the 'Institut' a memoir by M. Boucher de Perthes, followed by descrip- 

 tive remarks by himself, conveying the high authority of his opinion in 

 favour of the jaw being a true fossil of geological antiquity. On Saturday, 

 the 18th, immediately after my return to London. 1 commenced the scru- 

 tiny detailed in my former letter, and on the 21st, in conjunction with, of 

 aided by, Mr, John Kvans, Mr. Prestwich. Mr. Busk, and Mr. Tomes, 1 

 arrived at the results which are there stated. That day. without the de- 

 lay of a post, I communicated my suspicions to M. Lartet. requesting 

 him to make them, and the grounds upon which they were founded. 



