505 
have not hitherto discovered any undoubted skeletons of the 
fabricators of these implements. If the absence of such skeletons 
is not looked on as a serious objection in tlxe way of our belief in 
Palaeolithic man, the want of those of their supposed ancestors 
cannot he regarded as of greater moment. The fact is that the 
fossil remains of quadrumanous animals are of very infrequent 
occurrence, doubtless for a similar reason to that of the rarity of 
fossil human reliquiae. The intelligence and agility of the monkey 
tribe generally, enable them to escape from such dangers as sudden 
floods or accidental drowning, to which the conservation of a large 
proportion of fossil mammalian remains is probably due. In 
Mr. A. R. Wallace’s recent work on ‘ The Geographical Distribution 
of Animals,’ ho gives, as at present existing in the tropical region 
of the old world only, 13 genera and 109 species of Primates, 
excluding the Lemurs. Compared with this, it will be seen that 
our total knowledge of the former quadrumanous inhabitants of 
the world is of the most meagre character, when we remember 
that of the entire period, comprising certainly some millions of 
years, during which these animals have existed, we have discovered 
in the whole world, proofs of the existence of only about a dozen 
species altogether. ZS'or does this statement give anything like an 
adequate idea of the real facts of the case, for most of these species 
are known to us either from unique or fragmentary specimens. 
For example, there arc in the British Museum live imperfect jaws 
of some monkeys from the extensive and rich Miocene deposits of 
the Sivalik hills of India. These five fragments, with a single 
astralagus, are as far as I have been able to ascertain, all that we 
at present possess of the skeletons of the innumerable animals of 
this order that have existed in India during the countless ages of 
the Tertiary epoch. In fact there is only one fossil monkey known 
to science, the Mctopithecus Penfdici , with the skeleton of which 
we have more than a fragmentary acquaintance. 
The co-existence of the quadrumana with large numbers of 
carnivorous animals would formerly, as at present, have quickly 
removed all traces of their comparatively fragile skeletons. So 
speedily is this now effected, that Dr. Falconer says, in India, 
