We know, too, of some mosses in Renfrewshire and Ayrshire, and no doubt elsewhere, containing logs and remains of oak of good size. One tree dug out of the Cart has been set up in the garden at Poloc. It is of great dimensions, hollow from age before it fell. The gardener assured me that twenty people (I may not be correct in the number, for I speak from memory, but it is easy to ascertain) could sit within the trunk. I wish the gentlemen of that country would give us a detailed account of those forests under the mosses. We hear every now and then of single trees of enormous size, but the actual measurement is not given. They speak, too, of great numbers, but that is too indefinite. I do not mean that they should count the trees in the moss, that might be difficult, but let them at least imitate Dr. Arthur Mitchell, and give us some idea of the extent-in yards or in miles--over which the trees have been found. But above all give us accurate mensuration, for a fallen tree, or the root from which a tree has been cut, seems larger than the tree when alive.

I hear of some remarkable remains of this nature in Loch Doon, and it would be very desirable to have the facts precisely ascertained.

TRANSACTIONS OF THE GLASGOW ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

NO. XXIII.

ON THE GEOLOGICAL BEARINGS OF THE QUESTION AS TO THE ANTIQUITY OF THE HUMAN RACE:

BY

JAMES SMITH, Esq.

[Read at a Meeting of the Society held at Glasgow on 15th February, 1864.]

My present purpose regards a question which it is the object of archæology not less than geology to elucidate, namely, How long has man been an inhabitant of this world? Hitherto, in that voluminous history of the earth which geology unfolds, that of the human race has been supposed to occupy not more than the last chapter of the last volume, or, rather, the last page of the last chapter. Has this portion of geological history been extended by the late researches into the antiquity of the human race, and what is the extent?

Now I think that there is little doubt but that to a certain extent it has, that we can synchronise the human race with the remains of animals that are now unknown to exist, and which we may safely conclude are extinct; this, however, proves no more than that the period of their extinction is less remote than has hitherto been supposed, but throws no additional light on the absolute lapse of time which has intervened between the creation of man and the historic period. One of these extinct species, the Irish elk, we have every reason to believe was co-existent with man; another, the dodo, we know existed within the last four centuries. In Great Britain, the bear, the wolf, the beaver, and bustard have become extinct during the human period, and other species are to all appearance wearing out; and in any case, however remote the period when the elk and other animals which we have reason to suppose lived during the human period existed, they all belong to the most modern geological epoch. We must also remember that geological changes, such as those I am about to mention, necessarily produce geographical changes which must influence the fauna of the countries which have been subjected

to them. When at Malta, I procured from a Maltese geologist-Mr. St. George-the fang of a molar tooth of an elephant, which he found attached by stalagmite to a rock in the island of Gozo. Now it is perfectly clear that so small an island could not have afforded sustenance to a race of elephants. It must to have done so, have formed part of a larger country, but we have the clearest and most unequivocal evidence that the Maltese group has during the human period formed part of a more extensive region. The island is composed of flat beds of soft tertiary rock, which is traversed by wheel tracks more than a foot deep, that have no connection with the present towns or villages of the island, and about which there is no tradition. These tracks pass under the sea as far as they can be seen in the clearest weather, and reappear in the adjoining islands of Gozo and Filfolo; the latter a rocky islet surrounded by mural precipices, whilst the south side of Malta, which is also "iron bound," that is, girt with mural precipices, lies opposite to it at the distance of about a mile. Here, then, we have evidence that during the human period geographical changes, the result of geological changes, have taken place which must have affected the fauna.

Ancient discoveries shew that the remains of cave animals occur in Malta, and should human remains be found associated with them, we see in the changes which we know to belong to the human period sufficient cause for their having become extinct.

Of late years human remains, or at least works of art, have been found imbedded in gravel, under circumstances which I think prove that they are older than the beds which contain them. Some of them no doubt are fictitious, but still I think we have sufficient evidence to warrant the admission that works of art have been found in beds of gravel which in their present position are no longer subject to geological changes, and therefore of greater age.

It will probably be in the recollection of some of the members, that two or three years ago I exhibited two extremely interesting relics of the stone period, one of them a highly polished celt, or stone hatchet, found in one of the Glasgow canoes, the other an unfinished ornament of cannel coal, which was found in undisturbed gravel, according to the account of the person who found it, fifty feet above the present level of the sea. Inferences drawn from the observations of others are of little value: I am satisfied, however, that the gravel beds were marine, and although the height at which the object in question was said to be found is probably not very exact, we may

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safely conclude that it was deposited at the bottom of the sea, inferring no doubt a change of the sea level of at least fifty feet. shew that such changes imply no very remote antiquity, I will now with the permission of the meeting read an extract from a paper of mine to prove that much greater changes than are sufficient to account for the phenomena in question have taken place within the historical era.

I do so with less scruple because I arrive at my conclusions from principles that are quite as archæological as they are geological :"The phenomenon of submerged forests is nowhere more largely developed than on the coasts of Brittany, Normandy, and the Channel Islands. The great rise of tide, amounting in some places to nearly fifty feet, and the flatness of the shores over which it ebbs and flows, in some places not less than seven miles, afford opportunities for observation probably nowhere else to be found.

"The chief peculiarities which distinguish this forest are, first,"The freshness of the wood. When exposed, the wood does not differ from that of other submerged forests in respect of decay. Such was the case with what I observed in the bay of St. Ouen, in Jersey, but Colonel Le Couteur, who lives in that neighbourhood, shewed me the stem of an oak which had been laid bare by a heavy gale, in the most perfect state of preservation. In a communication to the Agricultural Society of Jersey, he thus describes it: After the gale, which had greatly denuded the sands, I had the good fortune to see the stem of one of these ancient oaks. The trunk stood four feet above the peaty soil in which it was firmly rooted; its diameter was about three feet. . . . It was still heart of oak.'

"I observed at low water on the shore betwen Granville and Avranches, stems of oak in the attitude of growth in a similar state of preservation, and in the same locality the stem of a large tree standing upright. Being surrounded by water I could not approach it sufficiently near to ascertain the species, but it is known to form part of the original forest.

"According to the Abbé Manet, these ancient stems are locally termed coerons, and in some places canaillons. The wood is used for economical purposes, such as beams in the roofs of houses, furniture, in which its hardness and dark colour give it the polish of ebony, and for espaliers, 'qui resistent long temps aux injures de l'air et qui portent avec eux leur peinture.'-(p. 63.)

"The next peculiarity which distinguishes these forests is, that

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they contain the ruins of ancient buildings and works of art. I cannot speak as to this from my own observation, but the Abbé Manet has brought forward a great mass of evidence proving their occurrence on the French coast; and Falle, the historian of Jersey, states that there are buildings in the submerged forest of St. Ouen. I can, however, give the authority of Captain (now Admiral) Martin White, R.N., who has executed under the directions of the Admiralty an elaborate survey of this part of the French coast. He informs me that on a shoal which is named in the French charts La Parisienne, he has brought up with the lead, fragments of brick and tile, and is quite satisfied that it has been formed by the ruins of an ancient building. He has also seen under water, lines running along the bottom, evidently artificial, and which are probably the same as those mentioned by Borlase in his account of the Scilly Isles, which are locally called "hedges," i.e., ancient stone walls, which, he says, are frequently seen upon the shifting of the sands in the friths between the islands.' The same author also mentions a straight-lined ridge, like a cause way, running across the old town creek in St. Mary's, which is now never above water.

"Another peculiarity of this forest is the great vertical range through which it can be observed. The tide rises and falls, as already noticed, in the Bay of Cancale nearly 50 feet, and Admiral White informs me he has seen, as far as the eye can penetrate below the surface at low water, stumps of trees in situ beneath the sea, with roots shooting out in every direction. He has observed this phenomenon both on the coasts of France and Jersey. These trees could not be less than 60 feet below high water.

"The most important point connected with this forest, however, is the precision with which the date of the submergence can be ascertained.

"The account given by ecclesiastical historians and metrical chroniclers is as follows:

"About the beginning of the eighth century, St. Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, founded a church in honour of the Archangel Michael upon the mount which now bears his name, which was then surrounded by a forest, and was more than two leagues distant from the sea. Being anxious to procure some relics of the patron saint, he sent two priests to Mount Garganus, in the south of Italy, for a portion of the red altar cloth which the Archangel had left when he visited that place, and of the marble of the altar upon which he