234 
THE GEOLOGIST. 
obtain as many facts as possible, and get the question settled. My 
first acquaintance with these objects occurred about fifteen years ago*; 
for as I was uncovering some Anglo-Saxon remains in the Kempston 
Gravel-pit, near Bedford, I found several round stones perforated 
through ; and so strongly was I impressed at the time that they were 
the personal ornaments of the ancient chieftain just exhumed, that 
I actually presented them to the Archaeological Society as Saxon 
beads. Subsequent examinations of the Drift gravels, however, con- 
vinced me that the balls were of an earlier period than the Anglo- 
Hollow specimens of Coscinopora from the Gravel Drift of Bedford. 
Saxon, wbether works of art or natural productions. They are de- 
scribed by some naturalists to be specimens of the Chalk fossil 
named as the Coscinopora glohularis ; but the great question for con- 
sideration is, how did they become perforated ? The theory put forth 
by some objectors is that they were bored by an insect or worm when 
they were in their soft, primitive condition ; but it is difficult to un- 
derstand how the most voracious insect could seize upon a perfectly 
round object and drill through it, most accurately, a thoroughly 
straight tunnel of uniform bore. I have lately examined more than 
two hundred specimens from the low gravel without finding a single 
crooked or winding bore ; but on making sections of some of them I 
have seen markings which appeared to me to indicate drilling with a 
tool after the object was fossilized, rather than the gnawing of an 
insect whilst the sponge was soft. There are certain facts in connec- 
tion with these little globes to be borne in mind in the discussion of 
the question : — They are found in the Pleistocene Drift gravels and 
sands which contain the fossil bones of the extinct mammals and the 
flint implements ; and the perforation is not a natural condition of the 
sponge ; were that the case, the specimens would be uniform in that 
respect, whereas some are found entire, without the slightest hole. 
The gravel-beds of this county, as well as those of Abbeville and 
Amiens, contain them, and we know that they have been regarded 
as works of early art in Trance as well as England ; and they are 
such perfect beads that general observers unhesitatingly (and not 
unreasonably) pronounce them to be portions of ancient necklaces. 
The learned Dr. Bigollot, who devoted great attention to the Drift, 
gave the opinion that "les petites boules avaient servi a former des 
colliers a I'usage des peuples sauvages :" but subsequently a strong 
objection was taken to this opinion by M. Albert Gaudry, who, in a 
