by vague and erroneous conclusions, which but a slight acquaintance with the elements of geology would have enabled him to avoid; for the mineralogist will perceive at a glance that the so-called antediluvian works of art, figured and described by M. Boucher de Perthes, are nothing more than accidental forms of pebbles and stones, similar to those that occur in strata of immense antiquity, and which can never have been fashioned by the hand of man.
In this essay I propose to consider,—
Firstly,—The conditions under which the relics of man and his works may become imbedded and preserved in the strata now in progress of formation;
Secondly,—The occurrence of human bones, and instruments, and coins, in deposits of modern date;
Thirdly,—The presence of similar remains in more ancient sediments, associated with those of extinct animals; and
Lastly,—The probability of discovering indications of the existence of the human race in the earlier tertiary formations.
I.—On the Imbeddlng of Human Remains in the Strata now in Progress of Formation.
Notwithstanding the feeling of respect for the remains of the dead which appears to have prevailed in all ages, and that has given rise to the various modes of interment adopted by different nations from the earliest periods, and thus consigned the countless skeletons of successive generations to the grave, and mingled their dust with the superficial soil,—yet, incalculable numbers of human remains must have been at all times engulfed in the beds of lakes, and rivers, and seas, by ordinary casualties. And as the bones of man differ in no respect in their structure and chemical composition from those of mammalia, they must undergo the same changes when subjected to like physical conditions; hence the skeletons of men and animals deposited in the same stratum will be found in a similar state of mineralization. Fossil human bones, therefore, may occur in an earthy or a porous state, like those of mammalia imbedded in loose sand or earth; or of a dark brown colour, from an impregnation of iron, and retaining a large proportion of animal matter, as are those of the Moa, Irish Elk, and Mastodon, found in morasses and turbary deposits; or they may be permeated by carbonate of lime and have the medullary cavities lined with spar, like
