, 1873-08-03

Liogc district from ita auoont to TN nrcoont
form,-so many old underground channels
through which brooks md rivera flowed in tlie
cavc porlod beng now dry and ol,okod IN. al.
mum Of tino required for tlloao changes in nlya.
ieal geography, wo onnnot fail to perceive that
tho period must hive boon ono Of worry protrnot-
cd duration. and that othcr agoa Of comparative
inaotion mny Eayo followed before tho historic
ngo, constituting al ntcrval Of no lesH indotlnito
c1tont.
Several remarkable cnyes havo boon discovered
In tho South OF Franco confirming tho roau!ta
presented by tloao In Belgium. In 1873, II.
sns bss md tn e a. the y, z Of nnS, nnsu
with fragments Of rudo pottery, and tho re-
n,niils Of 1nammAlia. sonio Of extinct, others
OF roeont species. Tho human bonos wero In
tho nnn1o chemical condition as those OF tho
%rn dY eoua o be In rasroa tS 99non 10 ae7 of
dtluvial catastrophe; thoy had cyidontly not
been suddenly washed ID by any transiont
flood ,,od TIT, hat mnst have been gradually intro
at successive periods. Rimi1ar diBcoyorieg Yoro
mado about tho same tlmo by III. Cbristai in
another part OF Languodoo. Iio found human
bones in tho Same mud with the mud Of an ox-
NICE @ hyona ana III 1htnoceros. The conclusiono Of
It ssas maintained TINT tho human bones mI9ht
bc roferTed to lator poriod tlnp tho nrnFigt0r;o
aagoB. Bir Charles Lyoll waa at first Inclined to
tho same opinion. But hc has boon convinced
and many other extinct mammalian sneoiog ynry
common in caves, occur In undisturbed aIluyiuu,
Embodied in Buoh manner as to leave no doubt
that man and tho mammoth have coe1lntod.
Ono OF the most celebrated caverns containing
both human remaina md tho bones Of extine3
quadrnpods Is that Of Aurignao, which has boeu
fully described by II. Lartet. In 1862, Sir Chorlos
Lyol examined tho fossil bonoB and works ot
art discovered In this grotto by Ii. Lartot,
tho @ oayo 1T ssep pBBo rs i'd dsoosorv oS v'.sa
made by 4 laborer In 1869. Whilo digging
stone for repairing the roads, ho obsoryod q
rabbit-holo among the rubbish, and, on reaching
into II tho longth OF hiH arm, ho drow out, to hia
ton: Hfs curiosity WAS excited, and a,,spoctine
that tho hole communicated with q subtorranoan
cavity ho commenced digging q trencl, and In q
foT hours came to 2 largo slab Of rock placed
vertically against the entrance. Removing this,
!archcd cavity Utmost tlllod With
bonoB. Among thom were two cntiro skulls,
which ho at onco recognized aa human. Tho
pooplo Of Aurignsc, astoniahed to hoar of 40
many human relics rel IN 30 lonely spot, fockod
man, ordered them to be Inferred IN tho parish
ccmetory.. Moantime his knowledge Of anat-
omy lod him to conclude that tho
bonea munt have formed parts Of soven-
Hor tsao s9s5oe pso o Of erhs a9 9 e 49, s9a e.
visited Auriguac, but tho village Ao1ton could
not toll tho exact spot whor6 tho bonea had boon
buried, and Of course thoy could no longer bo
identified: Ho determined, however, to explore
great variety Of bones aud implements, but no
human remaina. On a subsequent vsit in 1864,
ho found inside tho grotto q mass Of boncs,
among which wero eeyoral Of tho human
foot. with fragments Of other animals, An OK
animation OF tho rubbish thrown up during the
first diggings brought to light moro than sixty
human bones, principally Of tho hands and feet,
with bonos of the reindeer. or, and rhinoceros.
Many circumstances lod to tho conclusion
aepu1t.,ro, but. after visit to tho spot t dur IT.
ing tho last year (t872), Sir Charles Lyoll
found that the earth had been 90 much dis
turbcd by frequent Rearcllos that It would DO
hopcloas to ondcavor to aacertain at present tho
ago Of tho intorments.
Tho instances to which no have roforrod form
but small proportion Of tho discoveries OF
human rolicB at pcriod far remote from tho
ordinary dates OF chronology. Sufficient, how
ever. III, havo boon presented to furnish an ioa
regard to tho exact geological ago, it is
not easy to form positive. estimate. It has
been nferrod that the remains Of tho cage Of
stone, In certain localities evince IN antiquity
Of at lcast 1000 years, though that is believed to
be long posterior to tho time when tho mammoth
and other extinct mam1nalia fourishcd togothe-
with man In Europe. Such computations can
DO regarded only as tentative in tho present
state OF our knowledge, and domand much
collateral evidence for their confirmation. At
oil evonts, tho first appearance Of mau, according
to tho results thus fur afforded by geological in
quiry, must have been extremely modor1l, in re-
latioD to the ago Of the existing fauna and flora,
or even to tho timo when mott OF tho living
species Of animals and plants attainod thoir &C.
tual geographical distribution. Still tho occur
once Ia helioycl to DO 80 remote as to cnuBo the
historical poriol to appear quito insignificant in
duration, when compared to the antiquity Of tho
human race.