The Professor in His Chair Again

           Tounderstandthisapostropheofmyuncle’s,madetoabsentFrenchsavants,itwillbenecessarytoalludetoaneventofhighimportanceinapalæontologicalpointofview,whichhadoccurredalittlewhilebeforeourdeparture.

           Onthe28thofMarch,1863,someexcavatorsworkingunderthedirectionofM.BoucherdePerthes,inthestonequarriesofMoulinQuignon,nearAbbeville,inthedepartmentofSomme,foundahumanjawbonefourteenfeetbeneaththesurface.Itwasthefirstfossilofthisnaturethathadeverbeenbroughttolight.Notfardistantwerefoundstonehatchetsandflintarrow-headsstainedandencasedbylapseoftimewithauniformcoatofrust.

           Thenoiseofthisdiscoverywasverygreat,notinFrancealone,butinEnglandandinGermany.SeveralsavantsoftheFrenchInstitute,andamongstthemMM.Milne-EdwardsanddeQuatrefages,sawatoncetheimportanceofthisdiscovery,provedtodemonstrationthegenuinenessoftheboneinquestion,andbecamethemostardentdefendantsinwhattheEnglishcalledthis‘trialofajawbone.TothegeologistsoftheUnitedKingdom,whobelievedinthecertaintyofthefactMessrs.Falconer,Busk,Carpenter,andothersscientificGermansweresoonjoined,andamongstthemtheforwardest,themostfiery,andthemostenthusiastic,wasmyuncleLiedenbrock.

           Thereforethegenuinenessofafossilhumanrelicofthequaternaryperiodseemedtobeincontestablyprovedandadmitted.

           ItistruethatthistheorymetwithamostobstinateopponentinM.EliedeBeaumont.ThishighauthoritymaintainedthatthesoilofMoulinQuignonwasnotdiluvialatall,butwasofmuchmorerecentformation;

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