The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-21 00:00:00

Anthropological Society.

Yesterday evening the first ordinary meeting for
the session of this society was held in their rooms
in St. Martin's-place—the president, Dr. J. Hunt,
in the chair. The names of 42 gentlemen were read
who have been elected members of the society since
the last meeting, and 12 additional local secretaries
have been appointed. The presents of objects for
the museum and of books received were very nume-
rous. On the table there was a large display of the
lower jaws of different races of men, and to contrast
with them was the jaw of a gorilla, which, in its
gigantic proportions and the immense size of its
formidable canine teeth, bore little resemblance to
any of the human jaws ; the absence of chin mark-
ing also a strong characteristic difference.

The first paper read was a report by Mr. Carter
Blake, on the anthropological papers read'before the
British Association at Nottingham, in which he con-
.gratulated the society on their success in having,
after a struggle of two years, gained a distinct re-
cognition of the science of anthropology in that
association ; a separate department having been
appropriated to it.

A short report was then read by the Rev. Dunbar
Heath, on the recent opening of the Manchester
Anthropological Society, which is the first branch
of the London society that has been formed in the
provinces. The proceedings promised much suc-
cess, as many as 200 persons being present, includ-
ing ladies.

The most important business of the evening was
the reading of a report on the Belgian bone caves,
by Mr. Carter Blake, who had been especially com-
missioned by the society to visit the recently dis-
covered caves in the province of Namur, where
human remains have been found mingled with flint
implements and the bones of extinct animals. The
absence of human remains associated with the flint
instruments discovered in the " drift" has hitherto
thrown a doubt on the existence of man at the same
time with the extinct elephant and rhinoceros which
at some remote period inhabited Europe, and the
discoveries in the bone caves of Belgium of human
remains so associated was viewed with great interest.
The cast of a lower jaw, which had been forwarded
to the society, increased the interest, for it exhibited
several characters not previously observed in any
human jaw, and induced some persons to conceive
it to be the " missing link" between man and apes.
The jaw was on the table, but is only fragmentary,
the teeth being absent, and one side broken off.
The report described the position and general cha-
racter of the caves, of which there are 24, and in them
were found deposited, apparently in regular strata,
at the depth of several feet, great numbers of flint
implements, and mingled with them the bones of
extinct elephants and hyenas and of the rhinoceros.
In the cave called the Trou de la Neulette the jaw
bone, the cast of which was exhibited, was found
also some human teeth. Mr. Carter Blake said that
the jaw presented peculiarities which he had never
before seen in any human specimen. Though it re-
sembled in some respects the jaw of an ape, he con-
sidered it decidedly a human jaw, and it approached
most nearly to that of an Australian. A nose bone
had also been discovered that appeared from its flat-
ness to belong to the Malay type. With regard to
the age of the strata, he did not think they belonged
to a very remote geological period. Dr. Webb
agreed with Mr. Blake in considering the characters
of the skull very peculiar, and, though he thought it
was decidely human, it bore some resemblance to
the young of the anthropoid apes. Mr. Jones, the
local secretary of the society in Belgium, who had
first directed their attention to these bone caves,
was of opinion that the deposits within them were
of a much more recent formation than had been
conceived by Dr. Dupont and others who had
examined them. He complained that there had
been too much reticence by Dr. Dupont in his account
of the excavations, and contended that all that had
been discovered should be made known. Some other
gentlemen joined in the discussion, after which the
meeting adjourned.