CHAPTER XVI.
HUMAN REMAINS IN THE LOESS, AND THEIR PROBABLE AGE.
NATURE, ORIGIN, AND AGE OF THE LOESS OF THE RHINE AND DANUBE—IMPALPABLE MUD PRODUCED BY THE GRINDING ACTION OF GLACIERS—DISPERSION OF THIS MUD AT THE PERIOD OF THE RETREAT OF THE GREAT ALPINE GLACIERS—CONTINUITY OF THE LOESS FROM SWITZERLAND TO THE LOW COUNTRIES—CHARACTERISTIC ORGANIC REMAINS NOT LACUSTRINE—ALPINE GRAVEL IN THE VALLEY OF THE RHINE COVERED BY LOESS—GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF THE LOESS AND ITS HEIGHT ABOVE THE SEA—FOSSIL MAMMALIA—LOESS OF THE DANUBE—OSCILLATIONS IN THE LEVEL OF THE ALPS AND LOWER COUNTRY REQUIRED TO EXPLAIN THE FORMATION AND DENUDATION OF THE LOESS—MORE RAPID MOVEMENT OF THE INLAND COUNTRY—THE SAME DEPRESSION AND UPHEAVAL MIGHT ACCOUNT FOR THE ADVANCE AND RETREAT OF THE ALPINE GLACIERS—HIMALAYAN MUD OF THE PLAINS OF THE GANGES COMPARED TO EUROPEAN LOESS—HUMAN REMAINS IN LOESS NEAR MAESTRICHT, AND THEIR PROBABLE ANTIQUITY.
Nature and Origin of the Loess.
INTIMATELY connected with the subjects treated of in the last chapter, is the nature, origin, and age of certain loamy deposits, commonly called loess, which form a marked feature in the superficial deposits of the basins of the Rhine, Danube, and some other large rivers draining the Alps, and which extend down the Rhine into the Low Countries, and were once perhaps continuous with others of like composition in the north of France.
It has been reported of late years that human remains have been detected at several points in the loess of the Meuse around and below Maestricht. I have visited the localities referred to; but, before giving an account of them, it will be desirable to explain what is meant by the
