Putnam.] 
148 
[January 19, 
human remains or implements of an earlier geological period than 
the present, especial attention he given to their study, and their 
comparison with those found in other countries.” This request 
of Mr. Peabody makes it incumbent on the Trustees of the 
Museum to do what they can in aid of such explorations as those 
conducted by Dr. Abbott, and on my calling the attention of the 
Board of Trustees to the importance of his investigations, appro- 
priations were at once granted to enable him to continue his work 
in connection with the Peabody Museum. The results of this 
work have been presented to-night, and they have certainly 
shown that palaeolithic man lived on the Atlantic coast of 
America at a time so remote that the implements which he made 
were now found buried in the same glacial gravel and reassorted 
river drift which contained the remains of the bison and the 
mastodon, and under conditions corresponding with those under 
which implements of the same character had been buried in the 
gravels of the river valleys of Europe. 
Dr. Abbott, with proper scientific caution, has not mentioned 
the discovery of a peculiar human skull under such reported 
conditions as would, if true, show it to be contemporaneous with 
the stone implements of the gravel. Still as the skull was not 
secured by Dr. Abbott until some time after it was said to have 
been dug out of the gravel several feet below the surface, its 
consideration must be deferred until further evidence' is obtained 
of human bones in the Trenton gravel. 
As Dr. Abbott has stated, in his historical summary of the 
discovery of the implements in the gravel, it has been my good 
fortune to take, with my own hands, five unquestionable palaeo- 
lithic implements from the gravel at various depths and at differ- 
ent points. The relation of the circumstances under which one 
of these (now on the table) was found will be sufficient to 
convince you that the implement was in the position where it 
was buried by the four feet of gravel which had been deposited 
over it. 
A short distance from Dr. Abbott’s house and very near where 
the Trenton gravel joins the marine gravel, there is a deep gully 
through which flows a smell brook. In this gully the gravel bank 
is constantly washing away and presenting new surface exposures. 
