FOSSIL DEEE'S HORN FROM CLACTON. 



353 



quite uninjured. When it was shown to me, it was suggested that 

 it had been dredged np before, the horns sawn off, and the base 

 thrown back into the sea ; but, on applying a lens, I perceived on 

 the sawn surface a portion of the peculiar sandy matrix bound toge- 

 ther with oxide of iron, which adheres to all the fossil bones from 

 Clacton. 



Of course it would be very difficult to prove a geological antiquity 

 for these saw cuts, because a film of iron left in the process of a recent 

 sawing might, in undergoing oxidation, have cemented some grains 

 of sand together ; but the general condition of the surfaces, leads 

 me to think that vre have before us the work of an ancient man, and 

 he not very unskilled in the use of his tools. The girth of the base 

 of the bone is nine inches. 



When I called upon you on the 10th inst., to leave with you the 

 specimen of the deer's-horn for making an illustration, you were so 

 good as to point out to me an incision and hollowing out of one of 

 the cut faces with the apparent intention of fixing a flint implement 

 of some kind in it, and at the same time you directed my attention 

 to some specimens in the British Museum. As these illustrate the 

 possible use for which Dr. Brees' specimen may hnve been intended, 

 I will shortly describe them. The specimens are four in number. 

 None of them are so old as the drift. The first is from the Lake 

 dwellings recently discovered at Neufchatel in Switzerland ; it is a 

 portion of deer's-horn of a very remarkable form. From a to b is 

 three and a half inches, and from c to d 

 7 three inches. The hole to carry the stone 



axe at c reaches upwards into the portion, 

 d, which was intended for insertion into a 

 stout wooden handle, so that the axe would 

 stand at right angles to the handle, and 

 the shoulder, a b, would resist the momen- 

 tum of the blow. 

 The other three specimens are from superficial deposits of the 

 valley of the Somme. From a to b is 

 four inches, and from d to e two and a 

 quarter inches, b c is a flint celt rubbed 

 perfectly smooth inserted in a hole at b. 

 d is a branch of the horn cut off, and 

 the stump pierced with a small hole to 

 carry the handle of the axe.* 



The other two specimens are from the same locality, and of a very 

 similar form. The flint celts have fallen out. They appear at pre- 

 sent with rude flake-shaped implements inserted into them, but these 

 are evidently not the original ones, and the plaster of Paris into 

 which they are fixed is easily discernible. In all these axes it is 



* This specimen is figured at p. 22 in vol. iv. of this magazine. 

 VOL TV. 2 0 



