floor, some of the wandering tribes of the early Britons may have prowled into the recess, or occasionally sought shelter there; and stone implements, bones, or any hard substances left on the ground, would soon sink a few feet into the soft ossiferous mud, and become hermetically sealed up, as it were, by the stalagmitic deposit. From the phenomena thus rapidly surveyed, we learn that the hills, plains, and forests, of Europe, were once inhabited by unknown species of herbivora, and carnivora, belonging to genera, some of which are annihilated, and others are almost entirely restricted to southern climates; that some of the caves were tenanted by successive generations of Bears, Hyenas, Wolves, &c.; and that all these races have become extinct, except the few allied species which still inhabit the European Continent, and Islands. In England, the only living representatives of the three families of carnivora which swarmed in these latitudes during the Mammoth period, are the Fox, of the dog tribe, the Wild-cat, of the feline order, and the Badger, of the bear family. CHAPTER VI. - PART VII. FOSSIL HUMAN SKELETON. Wall-case D.-About forty years since, great interest was excited by the discovery of several human skeletons, male and female, imbedded in limestone on the north-east coast of the Isle of Guadaloupe; and the specimen now before us, found on board a French vessel captured by one of our cruisers, and presented to the British Museum by Admiral Sir T. Cochrane, afforded English naturalists an opportunity of investi gating the nature and age of these first known examples of the bones of Man in a fossil state. An excellent memoir by the eminent mineralogist and geologist Mr. König, was published in the "Philosophical Transactions" for 1814, in which the nature of these petrifactions was fully elucidated. In this specimen the skull is wanting, but the spinal column, many of the ribs, the bones of the left arm and hand, of the pelvis, and of the thighs and legs, though somewhat mutilated, are distinctly seen. The bones still contain some animal matter, and the whole of their phosphate of lime.1 An entire skeleton was dug up in the usual position of burial adopted by the Peruvians, and is now in the Jardin des Plantes.2 1 The skull of this very skeleton is said to be in a museum in South Carolina, having been purchased of a French naturalist, who brought it from Guadaloupe. 2 See "Wonders of Geology," p. 87. These fossil human skeletons were extracted from the sloping bank of limestone that extends from the base of the high cliffs of the island to the sea-shore, and is almost wholly submerged at high tides, as shown in the annexed diagram (Lign. 115). This limestone is composed of consolidated sand, and the detritus of shells and corals of species that inhabit the neighbouring sea. Land-shells, fragments of pottery, stone arrow-heads, carved wooden ornaments, and detached human bones, are occasionally found imbedded in it. A polished slab of this limestone forms the top of the table in front of Wall-case D. This LIGN. 114. FOSSIL HUMAN SKELETON; FROM GUADALOUPE. (The original 4 feet 2 inches long, by 2 feet wide.) rock is a modern concretionary limestone, consisting of the detritus of shells and corals cemented together by infiltration of carbonate of lime from the percolation of water; a common formation along the sea-shore of tropical countries; as, for example, in the Bermudas, where limestone, compact enough for building, is rapidly formed by a similar process.1 The human skeletons of Guadaloupe are the relics of a tribe of Gallibis, that were slaughtered by the Caribs in a conflict that took place near the spot about 150 years ago; the slain were buried in the sand on the shore, which subsequently became indurated by the process above described. Fossil human skeletons have also been found in solid calcareous tufa near the river Santa in Peru. Bones belonging to some scores of individuals were discovered in travertine, containing some fragments of marine shells which retain their original colour; yet this bed of stone is covered by a deep vegetable soil, and forms the face of a hill crowned with brushwood and large trees. From the facts thus briefly noticed,2 the reader will perceive that the occurrence of remains of Man with those of extinct animals, in a deposit overlaid by a thick mass of solid rock, must not be regarded as affording a certain proof that the human bones are as ancient as those of the quadrupeds with which they are associated. In Europe, the first appearance of MAN, as indicated by the remains 1 "Wonders of Geology," p. 84. 2 For a fuller consideration of this problem, I would beg to refer the reader to my "DISCOURSE ON THE CONNEXION BETWEEN ARCHEOLOGY AND GEOLOGY," previously cited.-Archaeological Journal, January 1851. of human skeletons and works of art, was immediately after the great inundation which spread the rolled boulders and detritus of the Drift or Diluvium over the valleys and plains, and into the caverns and fissures, in which the bones of the mammalia that inhabited the land are found entombed. What species, now extinct, were existing at the period of the first advent of the human race into Europe, it is scarcely possible to determine. The Irish Elk, two or three species of Bos, and probably a species of Horse, Beaver, and Bear, are apparently the only lost forms which the facts at present known point out as contemporaries of the aboriginal tribes of the British Islands and the neighbouring Continent. In the ancient tertiary strata, though the bones of many species of quadrupeds of existing genera, and even some species believed to be identical, abound, yet no vestiges of Man or of his works have been detected. While, therefore, we may reasonably expect to find fossil human remains in strata of higher antiquity than any in which they b. Modern limestone, in which the human skeleton was imbedded. have hitherto been observed, it does not seem probable that traces of Man's existence will be met with in the Eocene, or ancient tertiary formations; for, notwithstanding the occurrence of existing genera and species of mammalia, even of that race which approaches nearest to Man in its physical organisation, the quadrumana or Monkey-tribes, there are no just grounds for assuming that physical evidence will be obtained by which the existence of Man, and, consequently, of the present order of things, may be traced back to that remote era. In reference to this problem, I entirely concur in the opinion expressed by Professor Whewell," that the gradation in form between man and other animals is but a slight and unimportant feature in contemplating the great subject of the origin of the human race. Even if we had not Revelation to guide us, it would be most unphilosophical to attempt to trace back the history of man, without taking into account the 1 Anniversary Address of the Geological Society of London. most remarkable facts in his nature; the facts of civilization, arts, government, speech;-his traditions-his internal wants-his intellectual, moral, and religious constitution. If we will attempt a retrospect, we must look at all these things as evidence of the origin and end of man's being; and when we do thus comprehend in one view the whole of the argument, it is impossible for us to arrive at an origin homogeneous with the present order of things. On this subject the geologist may therefore be well content to close the volume of the earth's physical history, and open that divine record which has for its subject the moral and religious nature of Man." APPENDIX. A. page 94.-" An Account of some enormous Fossil Bones of an unknown species of the Class Aves, lately discovered in New Zealand;" by the REV. W. COLENSO, was published in the "Tasmanian Journal," 1842; and republished in the "Annals of Natural History." The length to which the text has extended, forbids, the insertion of an abstract of this able commentary on the nature and relations of the Moa and its kindred. B. page 96.-Mr. Walter Mantell's Collection of Fossil Remains of the extinct Birds of New Zealand, in the British Museum, Room II. The first collection sent to England by my son, in 1847, consisted of nearly 900 specimens; such an assemblage of the fossil bones of Birds was, I may venture to affirm, never before seen in Europe; every palæontologist who saw it expressed astonishment at its extent and variety, and no one more than Professor Owen, to whom I gave the exclusive privilege of describing the specimens.1 It was catalogued by my son as follows: BIRDS' BONES.-Crania and mandibles, 19; vertebræ, 250; sterni, 7; pelves, 30; femora, 37; tibiæ, 42; fibulæ, 35; tarso-metatarsals, 40; phalangeals, 200; unguals or claw-bones, 30; ribs, 30; egg-shells, 36 portions. SEALS.-Jaws and teeth, portions of crania, vertebræ, ribs, scapulæ, bones of the extremities. TERRESTRIAL MAMMALIA.-One femur of a species of Dog. C. page 111.-Professor Owen's Memoirs on the Dinornis, &c. are published in the "Transactions of the Zoological Society of London:' they consist of five parts:-I. "Notice of a Fragment of the Femur of a 1 The following is an extract from a letter now before me from Professor Owen, dated "Royal College of Surgeons, Christmas Day, 1847." "I feel very sensibly the mark of kindness and confidence which you have given me in placing your son's unique rarities in my hands for description; the more so as this liberal and generous conduct contrasts with that of others from whom I had expected better things." |