El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-04-03
Of ONE Of
FIRST ENGLI5HI5
FOUND IN GRAVEL
Shows Transition From the
Ape Species to Early
Type of Man.
LIVED BEFORE SEA
CUT ENGLAND OFF

r ONDON, Eng, April 3.-In the
South Kensington museum a re-
- markable display Of fossil re
mains Of man has just been put on
view. Dr.. Smith Woodward says Of it.:
True man, though Of very low de-
gree, had certainly reached Europe by
the end Of the pliocene or the begin
ming Of the pleistocene period. He
had even spread so far as the south
enr part Of England-then united with
the Continents proved by the dis
covery OF portions OF a remarkable
skull and lower jaw in a river gravel
near Fetching, almost midway be-
tween Browborough and Lewes, in the
Weald OF Sussex. This discovery was
made in 1913 by Charles Dawson
1.-The Piltdown gravel had attracted
the attention Of Mr.. Dawson for some
time. because he had noticed IN It nu-
merous flints from the chalk, which
could not have been carried to the
spot by any existing stream
In Bed Of Ancient Stream.
'aThe nearest water course is the
River Ouse. which has cut a valley so
feet deep. since the gravel in question
was deposited, and this river at pres
ent has no source in the chalk. The
geography OF the region, in fact, has
completely changed, and the PiltdOWn
gravel may have been left not even
by the Ouse, but by some river that
has disappeared It is therefore an
unusually old river gravel, preserved
by accident, and any fossil that re-
mains in it must naturally be Of spe-
WOrImen Find skull.
THE discovery Of the gravel on an
ancient river bed must be taken as
the first link in the great detective
story. The next link came when work
men began to dig up the gravel for use
on roads. They dug up a human skull,
broke il up and threw il away
One fragment was fortunately pre-
served and given to Mr. Dawson who
recognized its Importance and at once
began a search for the remainder Of
the specimen Enough pieces were re-
covered to show the essential pecun-
arities of the skull. Part Of the low
er Jaw and lower canine teeth eventu-
ally were found in an adjacent undls-
turbed gravel, and both implements OF
human workmanship and fragmen-
tary remains Of animals also were met
Beast Man Of Far Off Days.
From the moment OF the discovery
the best brains in the world have been
at work on these fragments. Physl-
r1anE snow LuaL II mas no ALaAEE VI
disease and therefore represented a
fair specimen Of the beast man Of those
far off days Anthropologists meas
ured the skull and wondered at its
thickness. and biologists worked out (
the CAPACITY Of the huge brain that |
mOrpholOgists discovered a connection /
between the hideOus, apelike canine /
teeth and the milk teeth OF modern I
child.
DR.. Woodward gives as part OF his i
conclusions from the Investigation OF !
all the remains stored up IN all the I
Mans Predecessors.
Man. having skeleton Identical /
with the existing one, has lived IN /
western Europe for a long period, dur
ing great changes Of climate, much i
alteration Of geographical contour and 4
the dying out Of numerous wild quad
rupeds He was here long before the I
British Isles were separated from the
mainIands Of Europe. His immediate I
was a form Of man Mean
derthal or MOnsterian), which more
nearly resembles the apes Still ear
lfe- Heidelberg man, though with typi-
cally human teeth, had much more
retreating bony chin, suggestive OF
closer relationship with the apes FL
nally Piltdown man. which is at least
as old as the Heidelberg race, and
probably older. had both lower Jaw
and front teeth as nearly on the ape
pattern as was compatible with their
working on a human skull or normal
width Although the facts are stin (
scantv It is shown that the further hu- I
man remains are traced back in geo
logical time the more marks they re-
tain Of an apelike ancestry. They sug-
gest a gradual approach to a primi-
tive forest animal with an overgrOWn /
brain. which was destined to begin a
fundamentally new departure in Or
ganic evolution"