Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1872-02-08

Ii is easy 10 demonstrate the existence of a
man of the reindeer period as cotemporaneous
with that of the maximum extension of the gla-
ciers at Schussen, in Wurtemberg. This, how
ever, does not give us cbTOnometrical estimate
on which we can base distinct generalization
as TO the amount of time which has elapsed
since men split fints and sawed reindeer bones
in the caVerns near the source of the SchuSsen
river. Still less do the comparatively modern
caves in D0rdoene, or the far more ancient ones
of Belgium, afford us any precise chronometri.
cal measures. We may, indeed, hope that the
spices of the Belgian government, has carried
on for so long, will lead TO the establishment OF
some precise indices which will enable us to es-
innate the enormous lapse of time which has
taken place since the Trou de la Nauette was
used as a place of sepuliure by the human CO.
temporary of the rhinoceros, the byena, and the
cave lyon, and since the men Of that period,
with their rems rkably formed jaws, gave place
TO another subsequent and MongOloid race
which existed during the period of the reindeer
and the deposition OF the enormously thick bed
of angular pebbles which extends along the
whole Lesse valley. And this is not all. Since
the reindeer man was extinct in southern Bel
GUM, deposit Of duviatile mud has spread
over all the older beds, and appears to indicate
that the gap which separates the reindeer man
of the TrOu du Frontal from the existing Wal
loon must even on the moderate rates of COM
el1plONGu ny 1IOI. 1rONOU, DC Geck-
oned by thousands of years.
Prof. Forel draws a vivid picture of the time
which has elapsed between the deposition of the
Schussen beds and the earlier lake Indications.
A lapse of time of unknown duration had
passed away, and at the commencement Of the
luscustrine epoch the following changes were
accomplished; The fauna had changed, The
reindeer and the mammoth had passed away,
the BOs pFinld.genilLS alone surviving as a con-
temporary of the wild boar red deer and roe
buck. The fora had changed. 70 the Alpine
fora, with its scanty vegetation of MOSES and
lichens, which were just able TO grow on the
ice-mud, had succeeded rich and brilliant forests.
The level of the lake had fallen thirty metres,
and had assumed its present aspect. And man
seems to have changed from the poor reindeer
hunter Of the Saleye TO the intelligent and
active fisher, agTiculturiSt and manUfac-
turer, to whom are due the relatively
highly civilized lake habitatiOns of ancient
Switzerland. But the use of metal had not been
introduced yet, and pottery alone indicates the
comparatively high grade of civilization at.
which the builders of the PfdhLbdutOR had ar
rived. Long after came the ages Of bronze and
iron, and finally the Roman period, with its
fixed dates and absolute chronology. A rapid
review Of the history of humanity in Europe
shows us an uninterrupted series of events,
looking back from the Roman period through
the various lacustrine epochs, as far as the most
anelent remains OF polished stone. But there
OCCuIS zap. we are not IN the presence OF
fixed dates, and the continuity of the dates
alone gives us perfect kew to their relative an
tiquity. Professor Forel asks: "Has this fauna
lasted hundred years, a hundred thousand, or
millions of years" And, while he does not at
tempt to precisely estimate its duration, he
proves congincngy that the gap is considera-
Bile, but that it is not enormously large
The age Of trees which must have grown in
the rich vegetable beds of Morges, after mold
had been slowly formed from the debris of the
pebble beds Of the glacial period, indicates a
lapse of time. Professor Forel enters at great
length into certain results at which he arrived
after sounding the RhOne at various levels, and
precisely estimating the amounts Of mud which
the river annually transports. He considers
that space of 300 900 years is necessary in or.
der to fill the lake of Geneva, and that in time
the lake will be entirely filed up. His conclu-
sions, in fact, are that the space of time which
separates the archaeological ages of the reindeer
and of the red deer (palaolithic and neolithic
epochsl is considerable, and ought to be;counted
by thousands of years; it is not infinitely great,
and ought not to be counted by millions OF