is of the same antiquity as the strata containing the
implements. In the great majority of cases, this is the only
kind of evidence possible to advance.

It is now well known that the first stage in the culture of any
people, is what is called the Stone Age. That is to say, their
weapons and implements were made from stone, or at least the
majority of them were. We will discuss on another page this
point, and also the grounds leading us to infer that many of the
extremely rude forms are really the work of man.

Let us now return to the Miocene Age, in which we are to seek
for the presence of man. In 1867 a French geologist, by the name
of Bourgeois, who had been searching some beds of the Miocene
Age, near Thenay, France, found a number of flints of such a
peculiar shape, that he concluded they could only be explained
by supposing that man formed them. In this case there is to
question as to the age of the stratum containing the flints.
All geologists are agreed that it is of the Miocene Age.
The question then is, whether the flints were artificially cut
or not. On this question there has been a great division of
opinion, and we can not do better than to examine and see where
the Principal scientific men stand on this point.

In 1872, at the scientific congress in Brussels, this question
was referred to a committee composed of the most competent men
from the different countries of Europe. We are sorry to say
that, after a thorough consideration of them, the judges were
unable to agree. Some accepted them, others rejected them, and
still others were undecided. Some of the latter have since