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Un des symboles suivants apparaftra sur la dernidre image de chaque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole ^^^ signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to hottom, as many frames as required. The fo owing diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre film6s d des taux de reduction diffdrents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 d partir de Tangle supdrieur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdthode. rata lelure, H 32X 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 ADDRESS BT CHARLES C. ABBOTT, Vice Fresiornt, Section H, BEFORE THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION rOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. At THE Clkvki,and Meeting, ACOUST, 1888. [From the PROOBEoiNas of the American abbooiation for the advancement OF SCIENCE, Vol. XXXVII.) PRINTED AT THE SALEM PRESS. SALEM, MASS. 1888. b '^O EVIDENCES OF THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN EASTEBN NOBTE AMERICA. SECTION OF ANTHROPOLOGY, I t^mm^^mmm^^^^^^m .m, ' Jii'i'iyiii'ii us. "J" i"JT"""i V .vm [From t rn\ EVIDENCES OF THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. ADDRESS BT CHARLES C. ABBOTT, ViCK Prksidknt, Skction II, BEFOKR THE SECTION OF ANTHROPOLOGY, AMEIUCAN ASSOCIATION FOK THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE. At thk Clkvki.and Mkkting, AU0IJ8T, 1H8 8. tFrom the Prockeuinos opthk Amkuican AssocrATioM vn\i tiik Aovancemknt or SCIKNOE. Vol. XXXVIl.l PUINTED AT THE SALEM PKESS, SALEM, MASS. 1888. / ADDllKSS 11 Y DR. CHARLES C. ABBOTT, VICE-PRESIDENT, SECTION II. EVIDENCES OF THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN IN EASTERN NORTH AMERICA. An ecclesiastical body has recently decided, by a significant vote, that man, perfect in all his parts, had been created de novo from tiie dust — that tiie law of evolution lias nothing wiiatever to do witi\ him or his ; if, indeed, it is not a very flimsy figment of tlie imagination, and a liarmfid playtliing with which men wlio aim to be scientific, or rational, solace themselves, because, in their fool- hardiness, they decline to accept the asserted initial separate crea- tion of all living beings, from the highest to the lowest, now living or that have lived. If this decision of an eccilcsiastical body really represented the truth, instead of being a painful exhibition of stultifying ignorance, Anthropology would be shorn of nnicii of its attractiveness, and the term " i»rehistoric " would have little, if an}', meaning. In such a case, the races of America would scarcely be worthy of con- sideration, being but the rapidl}' degenerated and discolored de- scendants of the physically perfect, yet painfully weak-kneed Adam of Paradise. There is, on the contrary, unquestionably but one method of cor- rectly interpreting the past, as to the history of man, and tliat is to adopt the same methods and draw the same inferences as have been done in tracing the evolution of the horse, camel, elephant or ox. This, strangely enough, seems repugnant to very many who feel that any relationsiiip, however remote, with less intelligent creatures is a reflection upon tiieir own intelligence ; while, in fact, (3) i;l !t \\ n 4 SECTION H. tlipy compromise tlicir claim to a liip;ii intellectual standard only when tliey deny tlieir purely animal origin. To determine at wliat precise point in geological time, man ap- peared upon the earth, is, it seems to me, obviously impracticable, from the fact that the dividing line separating humanity from the non-human cannot be drawn. It were as easy to name the mo- ment when the gloaming merges into night, or shout with confi- dence, now ! as the dawn brightens into day. Nor is it demonstrable, with our present knowledge, to point to that country where tiic momentous change first toolt place, if it occurred but once. At present, however, we can safely say that Miocene man is extremely problematical, and Pliocene man a question as yet unsettled ; the auriferous gravels of California being pronounced late Tertiary by Whitney, and by LeConte as representing "the beginning of the Glacial Epoch." At all events, we have neolithic man as far back as the Glacial Epoch and possibly in the Pliocene. Man in tiie Tertiaries, there- fore, championed by my honored predecessor. Professor Morse, becomes something more tangible than a hypothetical creature. Professor Putnam has pithily outlined this important subject in a recent communication to the Boston Society of Natural History. He there remarks : " When we compare the facts now known from the eastern side of the continent, willi those of the western side, they seem to force upon us to accept a far longer occupation by man of the western coast than of tiie eastern ; for not only on the western side of the continent have his remains been found in geo- logical beds unquestionably earlier than the gravels of the Missis- sippi, Ohio and Delaware valleys, but he had at that early time reached a degree of development equal to that of ti' i inhabitants of California at the time of European contact, so far as the char- acter of the stone mortars, chipped and polished stone implements, and shell beads, found in the auriferous gravels, can tell the story. On the Pacific coast, where tlie conditions of life were more favor- able, he had passed beyond the pahcolithic stage before his works were buried in the gravels under the beds of lava ; while at a later period on the Atlantic coast he was still in the paljBolithic stage. Either this must be accepted, or else the geological changes on the Pacific coast have been entirely misunderstood ; for we can no longer question the man}' instances of the discovery of the works of man, and also of his bones, in the Californian gravels. The or ks he ADDUK9S BY CIIAHLKS C. ABBOTT. same 8tory is told by the heautifiilly cliipped imploiiiont of obsidian found by Mr. JIcGeo in tlie (juatcruary d('i)()sil8 of Lalvo Lahonlan in Nevada." Man in America, tlierefore, must l)e .studied from a geoloj^ieai 8tandi)oint ; and not only, as we have seen, is tliis true of the Pa- cillc coast, but signally so, when, coming eastward, wo reach the Mississippi. Mr. Warren Ui)ham has, during the present year, published in full, a lucid account of his carefid examinations of the drift forma- tions at, and in the vicinity of Little Falls, Minnesota, where, in 1879, Miss Babbitt found those extremely rude but unquestionably worked quartzes, concerning whicii there has been much needless comment, unfavoralile to tiieir human origin or their asserted an- tiquity, even from presumal)ly learned sources ; and of (!ourse, lame attempts to belittle the discovery by those who siiould know better are still heard. The conclusion of Mr. Upham's paper is as follows : " While the deposition of the valley-drift at Little Falls was still going for- ward, men resorted there, and left, as the remnants of their man- ufacture of stone implements, multitudes of quartz fragments. By the continued deposition of the modified drift, lifting the river up- on the surface of its glacial flood-plain, these quart^ chips were deeply buried in that formation. Tiie date of this valley-drift must be that of the retreat of the ice of tlic last glacial e[)och, from wiiose melting were supplied both this sediment and tlic Hoods by wiiicli it was brought. The glacial flood-plain, beneath whose surface the quartz fragments occur, was deposited in the same manner as additions are now made to the surface of the bottom-land ; and the flooded condition of the river, by wliich this was done, was doubt- less maintained through all the warm portion of the year, while the ice-sheet was being melted away upon the region of its head-waters. But in spring, autumn and winter, or, in excei)tioual years, liuough much of the summer, it seems proi)al)le lliat the river was confined to a channel, being of insullicient voluuie to cover its flood-plain. At such time this plain was the site of human habitations and in- dustry." In 1883, as the result of exhaustive studies of glacial deposits, from New Jersey westward, across Ohio, Rev. G. Frederick Wright predicted that traces of pahuolithic man would be found in the lat- ter state. Commenting upon sucii evidences as occurring else- y SECTION n. where, he remarks : " Man was on tliia continent at tliat period when the cliniute and ice of Greenland extended to tiie moutli of Now York lliirijor. Tiie proljiihilily in that if lie was in New Jersey at tliat time he was also upon tlie banks of tiie Oiiio, and tlie exten- sive terrace and gravel d"posits in tlie southern part of our state sliould l)e closely scanned by archieologists. When observers be- come familiar with the rude form of these paheolithic implements they will doulitless find them in abundance." ralieolithic implements, concerning which there can be no doubt, have not been discovered in abundance as yet, but Professor Wriglit's belief proves to have been well founded. Dr. C. L. Metz of Madisonville, Ohio, has discovered two specimens which set the matter at rest. Both were found at signilicant depths ; one of them, nearly thirty feet below tiie surface. The region, where found, is opj characterized by immense gravel deposits of glacial age and origin. They have been carefully studied and reported upon by Prof. Putnam and by Mr. Wright, who remarks, in conclusion, vvitli reference to the discoveries of Dr. Metz: "In the liglit of tiie exposition just given, these implements will at once be recognized as among tlie most important arcliajological discoveries yet made in America, ranking on a par with those of Dr. Abbott, at Trenton, N.J. They show that in Oliio, as well as on the Atlantic coast, man was an inhabitant before tlie close of the glacial period. We can henceforth speak with confidence of inter- ghiciai man in Oliio. It is facts like these which give arciiieologi- cal significance to the present fruitful inquiries concerning the date of the glacial epoch in Nortli \merica. Wlien the age of the mound- builders of Oliio is reckoned l)y centuries, tliat of the glacial man who chipped these paheolithic implements must be reckoned by thousand:, of years." Mr. Ililborne T. Cresson will, at this meeting, present notices of his discovery of two chipped implements of argillite which he found in situ, at a depth of several feet from the surface, in railroad cut- tings through the old te4'race of the Delaware river in Claymont county, Delaware. The geological position of tliese specimens will excite discussion, but their great age will not be questioned. Of particular interest in relation to discoveries in tlie gravels at Tren- ton and Ohio, is the discovery of a large flint implement found by Mr. Cresson in tlie glacial gravel in Jackson county, Indiana. An account of this specimen will also be presented to this section dur- ADDUESS BY CHARLES C. AnnOTT, (J.1- iile iiul- nian by cs of )un«l cut- nont will Of "rcn- ilby An dur- ing the meeting by Tiof. Putnam for Mr. Cresaon. I ain permitted to call attention in advance to tiiesc new facts in tlio distri'Mitiou of [)alft;olitliic inipienientH, and I may add tliat it is of extreme im- portance tiiat these rude implements from New Jei-Hcy, Dchiware, Oiiio, Indiana and Minnesota arc in the Peahody Museum at Cam- bridge, where they can be freely studied and compared \yith each other and with the specimens from the gravels of tlie old world. Nor are these instances of the discovery of pnlieolithic man, in North America, all that are upon record ; but are tiicy not enough? Why, indeed, should tiic bare mention of the poor fellow's name still excite a sneer? Tiiere will probably always be over-cautious folk who will only accept cum grano Hctlis, tlie Man of tlie Tertia- ries, however elocpiently he may be plead for ; but no one willing to accept otlicr testimony than his or iicr own eyes — often tlie most treacherous of guides — can in fairness turn their baciis, when we speak of that primitive chipper of Uinty rock, who, with no otiier weapon, at least, held at bay, the savage beasts of primeval times ; and who, with a cunning that is ever I)etter than mere strength of limb, proved a powerful foe of botli the mammoth and tiie masto- don. Such a man stands out in the geological liistor}' of the Mis- sissippi and Ohio valleys, not as a dim shadow, but a substantial fact. Was he conlincd to these two portions of the country? By no means. On the contrary, it would appear that as either seaboard was neared, his numbers increased, and tiiat as a coast-dweller he preeminently ilourished. In the valley of tlie Delaware river pa- Ireolithic man has left such abundant traces of his former presence, in the form of rudely-fashioned stone implements, that for long they were considered as the hasty or unlinished work of the later Indians. As the first to point out what is now maintained by competent archa-'ologists to be their real significance, I may be pardoned for devoting the conclusion of my address to a consideration of that region — the Delaware valley — so far as its physical character and the traces of prehistoric man found there have a bearing on the question of the antiquity of Man in America. The literature of the subject is now so considerable — not includ- ing the inanities of the ignorant — that a brief resume would of it- self outreach reasonable limits, and I purpose therefore to confine myself more particularly to the results of my own work. But do 8 SECTION H. not suppose tliat otliers have not carefully gone over the same ground. Shalor, Btlt, Whitney, Wright, Pumpelly, McGee, Carvill Lewis and our State Geologist, Cook, as geologists are practically one in their view that the gravel deposits are so far ancient as to be very sigiiilicant as to whatever traces ^i man or other mammals, they may contain ; while Dawkins, Tylor, Putnam, Morse, Ilaynes, Wilson and De Costa have all been more or less successful in find- ing traces of palajolithic man in this river valley, and admit with- out qualitication, his former presence. The question may now be asked, what is a palreolithic imple- ment? It is not very readily delined as there is considerable va- riation in the shape ; but as I understanly varieties of it, the term slate being only rightl'Mlly used when slaty cleavage is deveh)ped. The argillite out of which these spet'iniens were made has no trace of cleavage." Aecoi'ding to I'rofessor Ilaynes, a skilled observiir, who has given !nuch time to the sludj' of paheolithic man in Europe, as well as in this country, " the term palieolithic is primarily restricted in meaning to such objects .... when met wilh under peculiar geo- logical conditions ; that is to say, when found embedded in the gravels which have i)een dei)osited by certain rivers during the period known to liie geologists as the (juaternary or pleistocene period. At that time their volume of water was much greater 10 SECTION H. than it now is, which was caused by tlic melting of the great ice- cap tliat once covered the nortliern portion of both continents, ac- companied by a climate much more humid than we have at present. Such accumulations of gravel are often of very great thickness and embedded in them, side by side witii the stone implements above described, are found the fossil bones of extinct species of animals, such as the mamniotii." After mentioning, in the same paper, the various localities in Europe that he had carefully exam- ined, he remarks with reference to the locality under considera- tion : "From these various experiences I feel myself warranted in stat- ing that the general appearance of the countrj' and the character of the gravels at Trenton, N. J., present a most striking resem- blance to what I have seen in the various localities in the Old World to which I have referred. There is the same rudely strati- fied mingling of coarse materials marked by a similar absence of clay Speaking . . . from an archaeological stand- point, I do not hesitate to declare my firm conviction that the rude argillite olijects found in the gravels of the Delaware river, at Tren- ton, N. J., are true palicolithic implements." My own impressions of their true character was not suddenly reached. The evidence, of other kind, of the antiquity of the In- dian, led me to consider them as rude objects made for some trivial purpose and discarded. Later, I became couviiiced that the\' were older than ordinary surface-found relics, and assumed that the In- dian of histor}' commenced his career in this valley while in the palaeolithic stage of culture. Thus, wiiilc pursuing my collecting of Indian relics, it was grad- ually forced upon my mind that these rude implements were more intimately associated with the gravel than with tiie surface of the ground and the relics of the Indians found ui)on it. Acting upon this, J continued for two years to examine most carefully both the surface of our fields and every exposure of the underlying gravels ; and in June, 1876, after having fouml several chipped implements in situ, expressed the opinion that the Dela- ware river, " now occupying a comparatively snudl and shallow channel, once fiowed at an elevation of nearly fifty feet above its present level ; and it was when such a mighty stream as tiiis, liijit man first gazed upon its waters and lost tiiose rude weaixms in its swift current, that now, in the beds of gravel which its fioods ~^n ADDRKSS BY CHARLES C. ABBOTT. 11 lie ,(1- rc ill I Sl- ow Us lat its )(ls have deposited, are alike tlie puzzle and delight of the arclueolo- gist. Ilud those lirst comers, like the troglod3'tes of Fnmce, con- venient caves to shelter thcni, doubtless we should have their better wrought implements of bone to tell more surely the story of their ancient sojourn here; but wanting them, their history is not alto- gether lost, and in the rude weapons, now deeply emi)edded in the river's banks, we learn, at least, the fact of the presence, in the dis- tant past, of an earlier people than the Indian." Thus it will i)e seen that I have i)een fairly cautious in my state- ments and slow in reaching any conclusions with reference to t.iese implements which sei)arated them from ordinary Indian relics. In September, 1876, Mr. Putnam, the Curator of the Pealjody Museum of Archmology at Cambridge, Mass., favored me with a visit, and together we carefully examined the river blulf below Trenton, and succeeded in finding two specimens in, situ, sucii as I bad previously described in the American Naturalist. At his re- quest, I continu'- ' my examinations of those gravels, acting under an api)ropriation made by the Peal)ody Museum for this puri)ose ; and, in November of the same year, submitted to him a rc[)ort On the Discovery of Supimsed iMlwolithic Implements f mm the Glacial Drift in the Valley of the Delaioare liioer, near Trenton New Jer- sey. Still realizing how all-important it was in this matter to make haste slowly, I i)urposcly referred to these chipped stones as sup- posed paliBolithic inii)lements, and gave, in detail, my reasons for thus considering them. Keferring to this report, Mr. Putnam remarked, in his annual report to the trustees of the Peabody Museum, that " from a visit to the locality with Dr. Abbott, I see no reason to doubt the gen- eral conclusion he has reached in regard to the existence of man in glacial times on the Atlantic coast of Nortli America." IJefore this report was published these gravel de[)osits were vis- it(,d by Prof. N. S. Shaler, who was fortunate enough to lind a characteristic S[)eciinen, but not in situ. I also found one, like- wise in the talus. Of those sijeciniens, Professor Shaler says, " Although the whole face of the escarpment is in motion, cree[)- ing slowly under the intiuence of frost and gr;ivity towaids its base, it was dilllcult to believe that these si)ecimens, fountl about twelve feet below the top of the bank, had travelled down from the superficial soil." Continuing my own researciics, in 1S77, 1 made a second re[)ort 12 SECTION n. on the occniTence of these implements, and re-afHrmed my convic- tion tiiat in tlic specimens of artidcially c!iipi)e(l pel)l)les, from tiiese gravel deposits, we have evidence of man's presence at an earlier date than the supposed advent of the Indian ; and referred them geoloijically to tlie glacial ej)ocli, in accordance with the writings of I'rofcssor Cook, state geologist of New Jersey, who had pronounced these gravels as of glacial origin. This, briefly, is the history of my own lai)ors in this field ; la- bors continued to the present time and with results that have in- variably confirmed my impressions, as I have outlined them. But admitting that a given class of stone implements is char- acteristic of a given fie{)osit of gravel, and I think we nnist admit this now, wliat is the geological history of this deposit? Is it too recent to be of special import, or too ancient to be of archseologi- cal significance? IJoth views have i)eon hold, and neither proves tenable. That the former view should have found supporters is in- deed strange. Certainly there is now no movement of the gravel by the river, whatever its condition or freshet stage ; and certainly, if these rude forms were of identical origin with common Indian relics, then rude and elaborate alike, — ^jasper, quartz, porphyry and slate together ; axes, siiears, pottery and ornaments, all of whicli are found upon the surface, should have gradually become com- mingled with the gravel, even to great depths. Any disturbance that wo\ild bury one, would inhume alike the various forms of neo- lithic implements. Such, however, is not the case. How old and not how recent are the Delaware valley, or, as they are now known, Trenton grave's? This, it is all-imi)ortant,.'.lu;MUl be definitely determined. Until recently, there has l)een the widest range of opinion upon this point, and so great an antiquity claimed, that it was wholly incredible that man should then have lived. How true it is, as I'rof. Morse has tersely remarked, "Man, profoundly interested in his origin and antiquity, finds himself hampered in his investigations by the opinions and prejudices that have grown up with him. He finds it well-nigh impossil,>le to step outside of himself and regard himself as a mammal among hundreds of other species of nnunmals." Depending upon others for my geology, under the circumstances mentioned, it can readily bo understood why I was often so sadly bewildered. It was not only an instance of many men of many minds, but occasionally the same individual with numerous opin- ADDUKSS BY CHARLES C. ABBOTT. 13 low (Uy i\ in >\vu e of Lher K'OS aiy any )in- ions. Ai'cliroolojrical investigation, under sucli circninstancea, was jin np-iiill task, tiie patli to tlie trutli hein;^ i)!()ckcil l)y tiie obsta- cles tiiat ignorance, prejudice and iiasty conclusions heaped about it; but all the wiiile, tlie gravel-beds theniselve.5 were inexorable and continued to yield evidences of man in s[)ite of the interdic- tions of the bartled prophets. A clear light was linally thrown upon these implement-bearing gravels, as the result of a careful study of them, from a geological standpoint, by Rev. G. Frederick Wright, who, as we have already seen, has determined the relationship of all such deposits, lying immediately' south of the terminal moraine, to tliat greater deposit, and so given us approximately, their own agt; antl connection with tlie last glacial epoch. It is not necessary to give in detail, the conclusions reached by I\[r. Wright. Sullice it to say, that he shows these gravels to be the last important result of the glacial epoch, the direct result of the melting of the glaciers, as they retired northward ; and that while this was in progress, the rude implements of palreolithic man were lost and embedded in them. Admitting this, how long ago did it take place? How great an antiquity does it imply? In this matter, Mr. Wrigi)t has been very generous, for which we are duly thankful, for the archicologist has an almost insatiable ap[)etite, never j'ct having had his fill of ages. Concerning the antiquity of |)aliUolilhic man in North /anerica, Mr. Wright has remarked as follows : "A word may properly be said with reference to the bearing of these facts upon the date of man's appearance in America. In the lirst place, it should be observed that, to say man was here be- fore the close of the glacial period only fixes a minimum point as to his antiquity. How long he may have been here previous to that time must be determined by otluM- considerations. Secondly, with our present knowledge of glacial |)henomena, the date of the close of the glacial period is regarded as much more modern than it was a few years ago. Sir Charles Lyell's estimate of .'5.'), 000 years as the age of the Niagara gorge, which is one of the best measures of [)ost- glacial time which has yet been studied, is greatly reduced by what we now know of the rate at which erosion is proceeding at the falls. Ten thousand years is now reganled as a liberal allowance for the age of that gorge. IJiit, linally, the term "close of the glacial pe- riod" is itself a very indelinile exi)ressiou. Theg'acial period was 14 SECTION U. a lonj; time in closing. The erosion of tiie Niaa;ara gorge began at a lime long snbscfjuent to the deposit of tiie gravel at Trenton and at IMadisonville. Between those two events time enongii nnist have elapsed for the ice-front to have reeede Coslii liiis, niKlor tlio title of" Tlio Ghiciiil Unn in Anu'iicti " piilillslu'd ii very llioiiiilitful pjipor in wliicli ho en- deavors to mIiow, from historieid diilii, the pliuisihijily of the view that the Esidnio now representH this most uneient of America's ruees. This author states that " whatever may ho eonehided ultimately respecting the antitpnty of the Delaware flints, it is quite apparent that the red-man found in Amoriea at the period of its rediscovery by Cabot, Vesinieei, and Columbus, was not the descendant of any glacial man. No lino of connection can be made out. This con- tinent does not appear to have any Kent's Hole like that at Torbay, alforilinjf a continuous history, beloits, either in the continent whore the}' sprang into life or where they died. ... In Now England he must have suc- cceiled the people known as Skriel lings. Prior to that time, his hunting-grounds lay toward the interior of the continent. In course ol time, however, he came into collision with the ruder people on the Atlantic! coast, the descendants of an almost amphibious glacial man. Then the coast-dweller, unable to maintain his position, re- treated toward the far north. The northward movement, however, ADDRESS iiy ciunt.p.s c. AnnOTT. 21 may have 1)oen voluntary in part. During lon occurs in place and likewise oll'ereil the lirsl available mineral for ellectiv(s imi)lements otiier than pebl)les, and these were largely covered with , water and not so readily obtained, as at present; while the >\vy land of thatda}', the Columbia gravel, contained almost exclusively, in this region, small (juartzitc pebbles an inch or two in hMiglh. If the pahoolithie iin|ih'nu'nts were strictly conlineil to the gravel deposits, like fossils in tlie underlying marl-beds, then, as it seems to me, the Eskimo theory woidd fall. ;ind we eouhl only conclude with Dawkins that " we cannot refer them ((. e., the pahuolithic folk) to any branch of the human race now nil ve;" but, as a matter of fact, there is nosuchhreak — no evidence of an hiatus of greater or less duration between i)alaM)lithic man and the Indian. The former continued to dwell here until the last pebble of the great gravel deposit had been laid down, and possibly into the soil-mak- ing i)eriod, but not now, as paheolithic man. Whether the change wrought by the alteration of climate, and itsinthience on the fauna and llora, had to do with it, or through other inlluences it was ef- fected, none can tell, but the signilicant advance to the manufact- ure of more specialized implements took place ; the rude argillite pala'olith, the same in form the \\orld over, giving way to S[)ears anil other dclinite forms. The form of the i)roduct altered, but the same material, aigillite, continueil in use. There was no pot- [ 22 SECTION H. teiy, no polislied stone, little if any attempt at ornamentation ; still, when wecompare these later olyccts of argillite with the earlier unil original patterns, we see what a tremendous forward stride had been made. Had it aught to do with the acquirement of power of speech? as argued by Mr. Hale, that the " speaiung man " is a descendant of the " speechless man " of the River drift. But great as the change is, it is insignificant when com[)ared with the handi- work of the Indian — of his handiwork prior to any European contact. Oil what grounds can this dissociation be l)ased ? Does mere rudeness in the fashioning indicate a dilforencc of origin? Why may not the spearpoints of argillite be the work of Indians as well us similar objects made of jasper? These are KKSS I5Y CHARLES C. ABBOTT. 25 U't llic lioso SlU'll \\v ol' illilc o of ; ; yet, to the minds of candid infpiirers, there is a decree of probability in the interpretation of known facLs that closely lm<;s the bounds of certainty. This brielly covers the ran