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it was at one time asserted that the deposits found there were of extreme 
antiquity, — I allude to the deposits in which the earlier works of man were 
found. This was the theory in England ; but it was not exactly this supposi- 
tion that set M. Bouchier de Perthes, who was the first great explorer in 
that region, to work. He started on the basis of a very definite 
theory, which he explains in his elaborate books, certainly interesting, 
and which I have perused since I read my last paper here. His 
supposition was that man was contemporaneous with the mammoth 
(of which there can be no doubt) ; and that wherever the bones of 
these great extinct animals are found, there also, in the course of time, 
would be found the works of man and his remains. This was his theory, 
and he began to examine what was then called the diluvian strata, which 
I think in England are now called the drift. He set to work to find 
such remains in the drift, and although he was ridiculed, he persevered for 
many years, and never ceased till he had found, not only the works of man 
in the diluvium, but also what were clearly his bones. (Hear, hear.) The 
works of M. Boucher de Perthes prove that the diluvian strata are not 
formed by pluvial deposits, but by some great cataclysm. I do not believe 
that any of the causes at present at work have formed the valleys or can 
account for the configuration of the hills ; but that we must go to much more 
powerful causes in order to account for what we see. (Applause.) 
Mr. D. Howard, F.C.S. — With regard to the level of valleys, it is 
sufficiently ascertained that the deposit made in the valley of the Lea is 
now going on, and that there is no denudation ; in fact, it would rather 
appear that there has been an actual rise in the level of the valley. The 
points traditionally referred to as being where, at the time of King Alfred, 
the Danes sailed up, are at such a level that it would be impossible for them 
to sail to at the present day. But that there is some foundation for this 
tradition is shown by the fact that some remains, which appeared to be 
those of a Danish vessel, were found near Old Ford, at a spot to which the 
tide would not, apart from the question of the gateways which prevent its 
flowing freely, now allow such a vessel to reach. But, with regard to the 
question that has been raised in reference to these valleys, there is one point 
which I have never heard fully explained, and that is, how far the bones of 
man are found in them. Undoubtedly, the presence of the bones of man 
would be much more satisfactory than the finding of flint implements. The 
vagaries of flint when weathering are so extraordinary, that it requires 
cumulative evidence to give satisfactory proof of the pieces that are found 
having been made by man ; but bones are things that require no cumulative 
evidence, because it can be shown at once that they either are or are not 
of human origin. (Hear, hear.) 
Mr. T. K. Callard, F.G.S. — I am afraid that we are somewhat at a 
disadvantage to-night, in not having had the paper which has been read, in 
a printed form before us, and Professor Hughes will excuse me if I am not 
able to deal with the subject as readily as I might have done had I been 
able to refer to the paper, and mark it as he went along. I am very pleased 
