249 
I have endeavoured to comply with this request, and pro- 
pose to take the questions thus : — 
1 . What are the facts referred to ? 
2. What are the inferences to be drawn from them as to the 
extent and relative age of the earth-movements, and their 
bearing upon the origin and age of the river-deposits from 
which the remains of man have been procured. 
We have, first, the evidence of elevation in the raised 
beaches recorded at various localities all round our own coasts ; 
and, secondly, the evidence of depression in the submerged 
forests. 
Connected with the raised beaches we have to inquire into 
the direction of the drift of the stones of which the shingle' 
is composed, as illustrating the set of the currents, the posi- 
tion of the straits, and open shores. We have to compare 
the shells and other organisms preserved in the old shore- 
deposits with those that exist on the nearest coast at the pre- 
sent day, and with those that characterize the same or adjoin- 
ing areas when glacial conditions prevailed in that same area. 
We have to consider the characteristics of a true, raised 
beach, and also whether all forest-beds over which the sea 
flows may be taken as evidence of submergence, or, if not, 
how we may distinguish the different kinds. 
What it seems to me I am asked to do, is, therefore, to 
inquire into the earth-movements which have taken place in 
assume, that the gravels which have been found to hold human implements 
are exclusively river-gravels. 
I entertain great doubt on this point. The distribution of our superficial 
gravels seems to me to indicate that some of them do not belong to any 
river system, but that they have been spread over hill and valley by marine 
action. If human implements have been found in gravels of marine origin, 
an entirely new element is introduced into the question. 
My own belief is, that a submergence under the sea to the extent of upwards 
of 2,000 feet has been one of the very latest of geological changes. During 
part of this submergence, glacial condition prevailed over a large part of 
what is now Europe. 
My further impression is, that man appeared on the scene when the land 
was emerging, and that the elevation was comparatively rapid. During this 
period it is most probable that heavy rains prevailed, and if so, the double 
action of elevation and of continual floods would greatly shorten the time 
required for the cutting out of the beds of streams or the deepening of 
valleys. 
The Paleolithic weapons indicate a people somewhat in the condition of 
the Eskimo, and they may have been the outliers of races in a very different 
condition, who lived in non-Glacial climates to the south. 
I wish the attention of geologists were more directed to the question con- 
nected with the admitted fact of sea-gravels at a high elevation on our Welsh 
and Scottish mountains.” 
