Journal of Proceedings.
xcvii
implement previous to the striation. This discovery of Palaeolithic
implements in the Boulder-clay is both interesting and important, for
it seems to prove that the men who used them must have lived before
the Boulder-clay was deposited in that hollow, and, therefore, before the
great Glacial Age when the Boulder-clay was deposited. These imple-
ments were sent to Mr. Worthington Smith for examination, and he has
very kindly allowed his remarks upon them to be used. He says of—
" No. 1. ' I take this to be a good example of a Palaeolithic hammer.
The abrasion was made before its last deposition, as the colour shows.'
" No. 2. ' I should say that this must be a hammer, probably Palaeo-
lithic. Neolithic hammers are often almost exactly like this, and
similar stones may be found on the surface; the Palaeolithic ones
generally have the abraded parts softened down and tinted ; the
Neolithic ones look much fresher.'
" No. 3. ' This, of course, is genuine, and, I should say, Palaeolithic ;
it may be the bulk of a little pointed tool ; the crust of it is scratched.'
" No. 4. ' Very interesting. Where this genuine little Palaeolithic
tool came from, there must be others, as well as flakes ; the buff and
purplish tinted old natural surface on the better side is very curious and
instructive; it shows that the better side naturally approached the
required shape before chipping was commenced.' "
Mr. Worthington Smith pointed out that Mr. Rowe's specimens had
been obtained from below the Boulder-clay ; a proof that the men who
made the implements had worked on the spot before the Boulder-clay
had been deposited.
The Rev. Edward Gepp, M.A., of Felstead, wrote :—
" I will take this opportunity of telling you of a little discovery we
made lately: viz., a small mass of Crag (containing five or six fossil
shells, mostly damaged), in a sand-pit at Stebbing. We sent the shells
to Prof. Prestwich at Oxford, and he seemed to think it an interesting
discovery. He reported on them as follows :—'I have carefully looked
at the specimens. Although very fragmentary, there can, I think, be no
doubt of their Crag origin. From your account of them and from their
appearance, I do not think they were in situ, but that it was a trans-
ported mass. Even as such the discovery is very interesting. The nearest
place where I know of Crag, in situ, is at Benthall (?), near Colchester.
There are, I believe, Crag beds near Clare, but I never found any shells
in them. Your specimens include Astarte (sp.), Pecten (sp.), Cardium
(sp.), Psammobia (sp.), and Terebratulina (sp.). I think I have seen
most of the pit* in Essex and all the main railway cuttings, but have
no recollection of having found similar transplanted specimens.' We
have also found a good number of bones in a brick-field near Stebbing,
which we have sent to Cambridge to be examined, but I do not expect
much from them."
Mr. Worthington Smith read a very amusing sketch entitled,
" Lepores Paleolithic!, or the Humorous side of Flint Implement Hunt-
ing " [see ' Essex Naturalist,' vol. ii. p. 7-13].
Hearty votes of thanks were returned to the readers of papers, and
the meeting concluded with the usual Conversazione, at which Mr.
Greenhill's magnificent collection was examined with great interest.