22 Mr. R. Bruce Foote on the occurrence of 



They have also been thought to be possibly the tools 

 used by the ancient Implement chippers in producing the 

 other Implements. 



In size they vary considerably — the largest I have seen 

 was a little more than 4 inches across and rather less than 

 2 inches thick in the centre. There is also considerable 

 variation in the proportion between the central diameter 

 and the circumference of this form. 



The third class finally includes Flakes, the simplest forms 

 of stone fragments which could be used by man for warlike 

 or industrial purpopses, and such as do not exhibit unequi- 

 vocal indications of human design, because their shapes are 

 such as might have been produced by accident in the opera- 

 tions of nature. 



Still as such unfashioned Implements are found in the 

 European Implement gravels as well as in the graves of 

 people living at much later periods of the earth's history 

 and of much greater degrees of civilization — it may be as 

 well to draw attention to the occurrence of similar frag- 

 ments occurring in intimate association with the spear- 

 heads and axe-heads, in the laterite formations. They are 

 not very numerous, and generally of smaller size. The 

 forms which have come under my notice appear to have 

 been used as knives and arrow-heads, and were probably 

 chips formed in the preparation of more elaborate Imple- 

 ments. They present clean cutting edges and points of 

 much greater sharpness than do the best even of the 

 fashioned Implements, and for this reason would be better 

 suited to serve the purposes of knives or arrow-heads. A 

 sharp strong edge like that shown in Plate XIII a would 

 be no inefficient instrument for skinning an animal killed 

 in the chase — or for scraping a piece of wood or bone. 



The flake figured in Plate XV bears great resemblance 

 to some of the ancient knives found in caverns in Europe 



