NATUEE AND VALUE OF THE EVIDENCE. 
301 
in general be worn as much as any other materials derived from such a source, — a wear 
necessarily in excess of that of the newer portion of the gravel, — whereas, on the contrary, 
the bones are amongst the least worn substances in it*. 2. Neither do the bones or teeth 
show any mineral character, nor is there any substance adhering to them, different to that 
which would be imparted by the matrix in which they are now imbedded. Nor, if they 
had only been originally subjected to then.’ actual extent of mineral change, would they 
have been in a better condition to resist destruction by subsequent exposure and wear 
than they are now. The teeth of the Elephant are mostly much decomposed, and tend, 
without great care, to fall to pieces on exposure. Many of the bones are also very 
friable, the greater number being porous and free fr’om any foreign matter. 3. No 
older beds, that could have furnished such mammalian remains, are known to exist in 
the district f. 4. The delicate and friable shells, found associated with the bones at 
St. Acheul and Menchecourt, and that could not possibly have withstood any transfer, 
are such as are associated with similar remains elsewhere in France and in England, 
where we have no reason to doubt the contemporaneity of the two sets of organisms. 
5. At St. Acheul part of the lower jaw with the teeth, and considerable lengths (4 and 
5 feet) of the tusk, of E. primigenius have been found. At Menchecourt the bones of 
the leg, lying in their natural position, and nearly the whole skeleton of a Rhmoceros, 
were found entire J, — the first being an improbable, and the second an impossible con- 
tingency, had the remains of the animal been washed out or removed from some older 
deposit. 6. Lastly, the extinct mammalia are of species which occur, both in England 
and France, only in the latest geological deposits, whereas if these remains were here 
extraneous, we should expect to find some species peculiar to deposits of anterior date. 
An objection has also been taken on the score of the large number of flint-implements 
discovered at St. Acheul. But this is confounding two distinct propositions. To sub- 
stantiate the discovery of a fact, it is not necessary to be prepared with an explanation 
of all the phenomena connected with it. In this light it, no doubt, presents a difficulty, 
which, however, it is to be hoped that future research will clear up^. I may mention in 
* The wear which will hardly affect a flint-fragment will reduce a calcareous stone to a pebble-form. The 
local gravel of an oolitic district is usually composed of smooth flat pebbles, whilst if flint-fragments are 
present, as is common, they are angular or subangular. Extraneous fossils, as in the Crag, necessarily 
present, in general, the maximum of wear, besides showing more or less lithological dissimilarity. 
t It is quite possible, at the same time, that here, as elsewhere, older gravel beds may have furnished 
some of the materials of this gravel. In fact I should judge such to be the case, from the circumstance of 
many of the flints found in the white chalky beds being of a brown colour and all the edges rounded, show- 
ing therefore a mineral condition incompatible with their present position, and a large amount of wear. 
J On this essential point I give the evidence of a late distinguished naturalist of AbbeviUe. Appendix (C) . 
§ To show, however, how abundant flint-instruments must have been at periods when the use of metals 
was in its mfancy or unknown — at Cantin, near Douay, there were found, in 1824, 600 ancient flint flakes 
or knives amassed together in one heap (Mem. Soc. d’Emul. d’AbbeviUe for 1836-37, p. 257) ; and the 
eminent antiquary, M. Woesaae, of Copenhagen, in a letter written with reference to this subject, mentions 
that he and a friend “ collected, in the course of a few weeks, more than a thousand rude flint-implements ” 
on the borders" and islands of the small lake of Maribo. (The Athenaeum for 31 December, 1859, p. 889.) 
— November, 1860. 
2 s 
MDCCCLX. 
