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SCIENCEHtltlely liakeu s t o n ( l ~   ar e Hot confined to t i l ~   greaL t}llnrric>s; ll w

ra w material wa s worl\etl wllerevt-'r it was found spattered nvcr

fhp. ~ l I r f a c e   or t i le J.{rolllIt1, Th e refuse lleposits of villu;;c ~ l I l dt , \ I O U f ' ; [ { ~ i   ( , I f ' ' I U ~ Y   ne:!-"lJS": .\Nll TliE PILEOJ . lTl l lU lodge sHes located eOIlVeni01\lly to th e stolle· yielding- di::.triClS oIso

t. ~   TfIEOr:y. naturally eonlaill UlallY r e . i ( ~ c ( s   of lllunufaclure. Beyond lhese\ " 1

limils - tbe limits of lilo ra w material - the rude specimens afl:;!'Irarely rOl l l l lL The main liiffcrl'lIce lH.?twecn th e quarry ::ihaping'

()L-lE of tlte B10:::t illlJ1f)l"tulIl i n d l l ; j l r i ~ : : i   enq;nged in l;y th e A Ifll:ri· and 1he ~ h a r i l l g   done npoll i:=iolalptl tihnpti i1I1U '('il1age and lodge:'\.ea n aborigines in " r e ~ C I ) I U n l i d i l n  Dnd largely ab o in p o s l ~ C ( ) l l l l I l bite::; i   Iha t llPOII Lhe t 'lH'lnoi·, where t.he work Wilti l:lIrried 011 t:'x

'ilJiau limes wa s tlw ~ f : : a n : h   fo r and aequircmellt of th o ra w mutt:'rial tell:sh·t1ly an d c ( J I l s i ~ t p d   in :-:tc.:uring tile raw I U n t ~ r i a l l n  coovcnlt"ut

-:1 for makiJlg ir.llplt:rnt.:nt.s and u t ~ r t ! : - i b   of stune. Quar,rillg and r\)rll.l for trallspo('tatioTl and Irnde, 110 ~ p e c i u l i z a t i o n   , , : . . : . ~   llulh:r

rniniug were carrieu Oil in many pl'I(;83 upon a va:::it scale , nud ill laken, wlteren!:i UPOll ordinury l:ihop and dwelling ::iites th e lull

one case at least. th e worL: has been prusecuted witholll; i nte rru p ra ng e o f tile roughing-ullt alld tinblling· operalions wa s s o m e l . i l H ~ s  tion down to the pre::iC'1Jt lirne. Th e o p e r a t i o n ~   w e n ~ .   ill r O ( J ~ t   conducted, tlte. implement l:ihaped being carried directly through

eases, earrietl ()n in remotB or ou t of th e wa)' placed, ::30 that the from h t ~ g i n u i n p ' ;   to Ouish. Tn al l cus('s th e operations of shaping

"I sites remained fo .. a long Lime l I 1 1 d i ~ c o " e r t > d ,   and th e i n c l l 1 ~ t l ' Y   were, in th e quarries. contilJeu to free-hand p t ' r ~ u s o i o n ,   forther

an d its accompanying arb; h ..ive lo a gl"Lmt extent escaped the an d m O r l ~   retined shaping l ) ( ' i n ~   coudlleted ~ b e \ \ ' ! l e r e   aut! em ·

'1 altention of arclueologist::J. This work is no w UlH.lerg·oing· thor· playing- the mure delicate methods of indirect yercussion an dil oogh in vestigillion, an d will henceforth take its place unlong th e pressure.-=- .most important a e h i e v ~ m e n t 5  of the rHltive races) a 'Nark daintiu15 Th e hammerj util:'d in breaking up th e rock and in flaking ar e

precellence over nearly al l oLhers, Iyill/; as it does at Lhe very very IlUIUerOIl:.i in rnost of the quanies; 50 0 examples, varying1 thrl::!sllOld of ar t anti conlllitutillg tile foundations IIpon which th e frum 1 to 12 inches in diaOletel', w e r ~   picked up in a f ~   d a y ! ) ~  "j super;LrncLure or human culture is built. Within the IilUiLs uf work in on e c,f th e grcat quarries of Arkansas, These 1iG.lllnlC'I"'S1

I th e United State::; flint, ellert., novaculite, fJuartz, quartzite, slate, are generally of artificially discoid or globuJar forms. Such ~ u t i aq;illilc, jasper, pipestone, s l ~ a t i t e ,   mica, i l i id copper were mo:st ridal forms flf hilHHllcrs are rare, however, ill Lhe bowlder quar,I extensivBly suught. ries of the cast, ~ i n c e   howlders of suilable rorw could be picked

ITh e work in the quarries producing f1akaIJl.: vilrielies or tilonc up on al l hands an d were di:ieanled an d fresh oue:3 selected before

was eonlilled almo::;t e x c l u t i i \ ' ~ l y   to utJtaining an d testing' the raw lhe outline wa:;; perceptibly or ~ E ' r i o u s l y   modified by use,

!\ material and to roughing ouL th e lools aw l IItensil.:; lo he made. Th e Lrue ' I"arry, or more I'lUperly speaking Lhe quany-shop,

Th e quarrying wail accoUlplished mainly by th e aid of sLune, prodnct - t h a t is to say, Lhe article. m'tde anll carriell aw a y

wood, and bone l I t e l l ~ i I : : i .   aided in SOme cases, perhaps, by fire, ma y readily he determillcd in each case. This is rendered easy

WiLh Lhese simple llIeans tb e solill bells of rock were peneLraLed Lo by tl,e occurreuce in th e LJuarries of specimens broken at all sLoges

depths oftt'll reachillg t,INenLy· f i v ~   feet, an d UXlelltiiH; areas were of p r o g r e : : s ~   From tho heginning Lo the cnd of th e roughing·outI. - . ~ ; . - - worked over. chang-iug' lh e nppearaut:e of valleys an d fj"lHiodeling I"·o<:(,"s. Th " Il/ll,1 '1uarry-shol' form - anll it IllIlSt be e,pecially

I Lills an d ulolinlaiJl:;;. Tile extCllt of thi::; work is ill sevr.:ral c a ~ e s   noled that Lhere wa s practically but ulle form - is naturally

::m v a ~ t  as lo fill I"lie heholder wilh astooitihlllent, I n one place in something- beyond or higher than th e

l U o ~ t  tiui::ih€j (arm found\ Arkauswj it hi t:"stilllutud that upward::i of 100,000 cubic yllrd::i uf ~ I l t i r c   ~ l r l \ o n g   tile l ' e f l l ~ e ,   This fono i   ncces:Jarily, however,

Istone have oecli r ~ l f l o \ ' l ; ' d   an d workeu o\'er. Tile 1C1Ost notable qllile well reprcsented by specimenH l>rokcn at or near the final

II

teal-llres of the::;/.: nJlJlal'kal,lc quarry tiites a n   tlte iunllnJerabli; J l i t ~   stagcl3 o( the work. A. most e x h a l l ~ t i v e  cxaminl.lt.ion of th e great

anrllrencht\ti aud tile heapti UflJ ridgl::'ti of excavated deuri.'1 and quarry siLcs has shuwn beyond Lhe shadow oe a dOllbt Lhnt this

r c f l l ~ l e   of IIlunuLq;tllrc :::IulTol1uding lIwlIl. final form was ullllo:;L exclusively a Il'af-shaped blade, represented

MafJ)" of the oxcuvaliolls have a ncw look, :lti if d i : ' : j e l ' t ( ~ d   bu t on lh e :sile's IIIO:st accurat.ely by hr:okcn pieces, ull th e acceplalJlo

rect:nlly, wlIiI:,t (Jtiler:=i an.: alUlUtiL wholly olJlilera[.('d us if IJy agc. IJladcf:i havillg Leell carriod away. This is th e blade, varying- ill

III. iii '·s:-'l..'1l1 ial If ) ol ' l ' l t :1' \ "(' , hOWe\'t'l'l that wl,,'re pit::; a n   :.mnk iu sizt:: and outlillu with I.lie nHtlll"U of th e IUnler::.d an d the particulor

solill n ~ c k   and lIpCW COli ve x durfaccs they fill very l'iJowly, an d end kept in view by the workruclI, ::;0 often found in eache::i or

t.hat tiwse in fl'lul>lc malerials an d upon :slopes Or ConC;L\'e sur bOllrdcg dislrilmt.ed over the country and o c c u r r i n ~   in greater or

faces till rapidly. Th" oldcst appearillg may, Lhere(ure, be Lhe les::i nu n ..bel's on nearly every important \·jJlage site, Th e place

young-Cdt. of tiJil:! blude in th e stHies of progressive stages of lhe manufacture

.~ . - .   Sclveral great '(lHl.rrit's frum wldch th e ftakt'd slone irnplenlents 0( flaked tools is realilly ascertained by a systemaLic study of Lhe!I. uf thi) aborigines \ \ " ~ ! " I : ~   flerh'etl have heen cX8nliuNI. On e of the 8ubject. I t is th e form Lhrough which nearly every common:

mOtit imporlunL i:i situated in tlw District ut Collllilhia. lWo ar c ill American variety of hi!;hly-deveJoped flaked tool DluSt pass he·'!Ohio, t .WO occur in }. rkansas, (HIe is in P c n n ~ ' y l v a n i a , and another fore its final specialization is attempted. Tt is th e blank formIin t.he llldian Tun itory. T h e s ~   quarries cover areas varying ready fo r th e tinishing shops, testell in tbe quarry sbop. fortfrolo a few ucre:3 to ~ e v e r a l   tiqllure mile::i in extent.. Tho)' ar e quali&y of material anll availabilily for (urLher elahuration, an d

l pitted "n d trellched Lo ~ a r i · ) u s   lIepths, alld ar e thickly strewn reducell in w e i ~ h t  so far, anll only 80 far, as to make tran8porta

I with tIte c l c l J r ' i ~   oc maoufacture, including countless numbers of tiu" easy or protitable.

parLially w o r ~ e d   or incipiellt implements rejecLefi on account of Tn most of th e quarries a limited unmber of cores ore found,

defect. of LexLnre "n d fracture resulting in eccentricitips of shape. from which small, gene"ally very delicate, t 1 a k ~ s   were removed

These rejec.:ts are extremely llnifortn in type in thc::,e ' luardes a8 for use iIi th e arts, and u!:ien, as a. rule, apparently without ~ u c h well as elsewhere throu/;huUL the c'luntry, varying little save with modifieaLion of shape. They were probably hafted fo r u s e ~   in

Tariation:t in th e nature i ! l l d conditions of lLe raw material, tue which delicate manipulatinn wa. necessary. Their prollucLiun

general result aimed at bdo({ a l \ V u y ~   th e ::ia II I e. It is therefore wa s no t an important featm'e of the qnarry-shop work.

inallvisable in this hrief sl,ct"h Lo describe the quarries selJaraLely The quesLion, very properly raised, os to what we really know),;.

or in great detail, a9 otLer 1110re important matters must reecive of th e naLure an d destination of the leading quarry·shop prolluct,

attenLion. th e hlade ur blaok form, ma y he an8wered by as k in!; anuther

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SCIENCE. [VOL. XX. No. 512

question. Let us inquire whence came the millions of flaked

implement,s of quartz, quart.zite, chert, flint, slate, arg'illite, jasper,

and novaculite that cover the hills und v a l l ~ v s   of America, that

occur upon e\·er,,-' fishiug-grol1ud, shell b a n k ~ ,   refLlse heapl and

village site occupied by the American abol'igines, historic and pre

historic? They did not grow to be picked lik" ripe fruit, from

,t,rees, DOl' could they have been dug up like potatoes f"om the

ground. Where are the quarries and the shops from which the

Indian secured his enormou, supplies? For every million of spear

and arl'OW points, knive3 , perforators, and scrapers - and there

were many millions used by h i r r l - t h e r e a r e ~ o r n e w h e r e in AmPTic£l

many times as many willions of broken an d malformed f ~ i l u r e "  of

the very kind found in our quarries and shops, and where are they

no wbut. in

t h e s c q u a r r i e ~  ami shops? The coneluslon ig

inevitable.

The fiuished and the unfinished (or rude) forms complement each

'Other, and constitute a unit in art and in time. It. was only our

-ontfre lack of knowledge of tbe subject, t,hat made other themies

!lecessary or other conclusions pos.siblp.

These determinations wit.h re8pect to the nature of the great

body of the rudely-flaked stones of America ma y be expect.ed to

hu ve some bearing upon the quest.ion of t.he occupat.io n of tbis con

tinent in glacial times by u people no t yet., advanced h ~ y o n d   the

prinml or palroolithic st.age of culture, since tile theory of that

{)ccupation is based upon t.he discovery of c1o,ely analogous ob

jects in th e gravels and elsewhere.

Before the refuse of quarrying and mannfacture were studied

:!lnd the t.rue nature of the rudely-tlu.ked forms determined, these

object,s had been qnite extensi"ely collected, and hecansc of their

rudeness and t.beir supposed close reser.nbla'nce to tbe early forms

of European flaked-stone tools, had been classed as paJreolithic

an d were so labelled in many museums, and as such found a place

in the archreologic literature of both continent,s. I t is now con

ceded by scientific men tbat tilis is all wrong. and that in the

present state of our knowleclge the separation of a sinp;le specimen

~ r o l l l   the main body of flaked otone art. in America, sa'-e upon

purely geologic el;idence, is wholly unwarranted.

It is manifestly folly to attempt to select from tbe mass of these

,objects certain indfvidual specimens to be arbitrarily called palreo

litbic. The selections made ar e quite as likely to be the J·oungest

'" the oldest.. I t is a well-established fact. that marry of the

:rudest flaked forms known, the simplest possible ar t shapes, are

<Jbtained from the shell-deposits and from the soapstone quarries

,of thE, eastern United States, and t.hus represent the most modern

]phases of neolithic Indian work in stone. Even if it be conceded

~ <   the sake of argument that there are multitudes of true palreo

litbic objects and iroplements scattcred over the count.,ry, it is

certain that up to t h   preseut date we have established no standards

f form-cornparisoll by meallS of which they can be detected.

Until gt-'Ologie formations, glaCial or other'wise, have furnished

dilmonstrably palreolithic forms in sufficient numbers to warrant

th e establishment of types of implements peculiar to tbese formations, snrface finds can be of no service wbatever to advocates of

'.!le palmolitbic idea.Tbe reported discovery of rude fot'ms of implements in the gravels

at Trenton, New Jersey, and subsequently at several points in

th e ;\Iissishippi Yalley, led to the conclusion tbat palreolithic ma n

d w'clt here in !Ira vel-forming time, and the t!leory that a well

differentiated period of rude flaked stone ar t precedes, in tbe

Dormal order of development, a pecked and polished stone period,

found a foothold in this country. Ohservations have multiplied,

an d tb e occurrence of flaked stones in 'h e gravels is now supported

by a large body of evidence. I f even a small percentage of these

'Ohserl'ations are authentic, the evidence ought to be consfdered

"Sufficient to settle one of the questions at issne, tbat of the age of

'Occupation; for the finding of a very small number of works of

art, either implements, shop rejects, or f la kes - i n fact, anything

"-rtificial- in t.he gravels by competent, and reputable observers of

,geologic phenompua is all that is rt?quired to satisfy the scient.ific

world of th e presence of man of some grade of culture, primitiveor otherwise, in gravel-forming times. To this conclusion there

·"an be no serious objection. So far as I kno\\", the possibility that·

~ h e r e   were glaci,aJ men, i D t e r · ~ l a c i n l .   <.t.nd post-glacial men some

The infancy of the race may bave been passed upon t,he eastern

have bad a share in the nuralng. . -

As I am not prepared to challenge tbe testimony brought for

continent, but. the-re is 110 snfficient reason wb v America mar no t

ward by variolls collectors tending to establish the p;laciaJ age of

be, I wiiI no t raise the question of age, hu t proceed to consider

human occupatioll, defect,iV'e 3S much of that testimony seems to

t,he beD ring of thtl el'idenee furnished by th e quarr.<' shops upon

the question of the grade of cuIt.ure indicated by the so-called

gravel finds; the age, or period, of th e occllpation Dnd th e grade

of cuIt.ure att.ained being two very distiocL things. Admit,Ung

glacial timeR, I take up the question as to whetber the cnlture of

for present con'renicnce, then, that. men d\\'elt in Arne.rica in

the hypoth"tic people, as indicated by the eddence furnished, issurely palmolitbic. I t has been repeatedly stated, and is still be

lieved h.v many, that the /Ira vel fillds of the eastern Unit.ed States

implements. The cl"itical obse"ver will find, howe,-er, that this

closely resemble w e l l - e s t a . b l i ~ h e d   European typl's of palreolithic

resemblance is superficial, and that thcy ba"e a ,"cry milch clo.er

analogy with the r"de quarry·shop rejects of America: and the

lat,ter are not really implements, and should not be called sllch

quarries at Oarrara should be classed asstatuary. The distinctive

an y more than the fault,y blocks of marble left. in and about the

their evidence of specialization of form, their adaptation to

feature of European palreolit,hic implements is, or ought, to be,

whereas the"" objects from the American gravels, with rare ex

definite use, indicated by what is known as seconda.ry flaking;

cepbons fndeed, exhibit a total lack of this character. Tbe sem

blance of specializDtion in thousands of the rude quarry rejects

which have been worked hardly more tban to test the flakability

ance of t.he implemenl; contemplated by the workman, is more

of the stone, not having begun to assumc the cantotil' and appear

pronounced thall in Dny of these gravel specimens. Appearance

01' specialization of forlll, may, therefore, siguify nothing, and, if

found, must not be taken alone as sufficient e,'idence that tbe ob

It should be furtber noted that not only are the gravel finds

ject ha,'ing it is a bonafide implement.

identical in form and material with the ordinary failures of tbe

modern aborigines, bu t t,hat they display the same mastery of

shaping operations, hep:inning in th c same way, progressing along

the same lines. and euding at, the samc points, exhibiting no evi

denee of special adaptation t.o use in cutting, digging, pickin,g.

served that none of tbese articles exhibit well-defined evidences

striking, Or any other prilnitivc manipulative act. It is also ob·

of having been used, although it must be conceded that the rudest

peoples made their tools for use; alld it would appear that, as

a rule, if they had been used they would bear very decided indi

zation as a result of tbat use, Gonsidering all of theEe poiuts, Ications of that, use, and would show a certafn amount, of speciali

call attention t.o the extreme probabilit,y that these reputed gravel

objects ar e no t implements at all, bu t ordinary failures reSUltingfrol>l the manufacture of more highly specialized forms.

coast and some of thoae east of tire monntains ar e neolithic, tbe

Again, it will be remembered tbat the gravel finds of the Pacific

forms being of a high grade tecbnically and functionally, so tbat,

neolithic ma n is shown to bave probably existed upoutbe continent

whilst the eastern gravels were forming, and the condition of the ar t

phenomcna imply tbat he had dwelt here or somewhere east, west,

north, or s o u ~ h ,   for a 't"ery· long time, for t.hou:3andR of years, if

primal stages of ar t desfgnated palreolithic.

no t for tens of t h o u ~ a n d s ,   and that, too, since he had passed tbe

found so sparin"ly scatt,ered through the gravels at Trenton and

How then is it to be proved that these particular rude forOlS,

elsewhere. really represent and prove Dpalreolithic age, since they

ma y simply be tbe rejects of mann facture left upon the banks of

the glaciall'iver. by ad vaneed neolithic men, who d welt, as intel

li"ent men ,vould upon the lIpper terraces ant, of reach of tbe icyfloods? The argument that in these gravels rude forms onl., are

found has no "alue whatsoever, since, as I have shown,it. i"s

therule that where the ra"" material wao sought be.vond habitable

sites nO work save the roughing-out. w'u.s undertaken, and no

flaked forms save rude ones were left upon the ,!round. Because

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SCIENCE.

gra,els, and no highly specialized forms Or other works o[ art ar e

found with them, tbe conclusion is reached that they are palmo

lithic implements and that the ar t of the gravel-forming time was

exclu,ively rudc 01' palaJolithic. Yet we may go down to thePoto

mac in tbe District of Columbia, or to the Wasbita in Arkansas, orto the Neosho in Indian TerriWry, and gather tons of similar rude

forms made by our modern neolit,hic tribes, witbout finding a

single specialized form or a single Object o[ ar t aside from these

rude forms. I t is not my intention, howcver, to try to reconstruct

the culture o[ that time, as 1 am not sut'e that there wus any

culture, but to point out the total inadequacy of the e,idence upon

which the theories of a particular culture are based.

The tOlTent-swept fiood.plaill9 of glacial times were hardly babit

ahle places, and we do uot lenow that there was game or tish to be

sougbt there; but the great beds of bowlders then and there accu

mulating furnished mare or less raw material .uitable for fiaking,

and if men, supposing they existed, corning down to the banks of

the streams during periods of low water, es.ayed to rough-out

their spear-points and kn;"cs in the usual rashion, the ever-re

cun-ing torrents would scat.ter tbe refuse about, leaving tbe coarse

pieces in one eddy and whirling the lighter ones to other eddiesbelow.

From this an d from what has gone beforeit

is cleal'ly seen thatthese reputed gravel objects are probably no t implements at all,

and, whether they are or not, that they ar e as likely to have been

left by neolithic as by palreolithic men.

So fa r have the advocates o[ a b:uropean classification for

American phenomena g'one beyond the limits of prudence in the

treatment of thcse soealled palreolithic stones, that a radical

cbange is uemanded in the methods of classifying and labelling

these objects in many of our museums; and it is to be lamented

that a revision of all literature relating to the subject cannot be

made in order to prevent the flj rther spread of errors already too

deeply rooted in the minds of the people, without offensive criti

clsm of the ,vork of li ving' sludents.

This point ma y be illustJ'llted by one ()xample of the many

that could be cited. The quartz objects from ~ I i n n e s o t a ,   usually

known as the Babbitt finds, of which so muell bas been said and

written. prove on careful examination to be modern wOl'k-shop

refuse settleu into the talus of the glacial termce. The slightly

worked pieces heretofore collected and published as palooolithic

implements almost without 4uestion on the part of archooologists

as to their origin or manlier or occurrence, have no more intin1at.e

relation to th e history of the glacial telTaces than have tbe trees

that grow upon their surface or the rodents t.bat hUlTOW ill their

sandy soil.

No rude flaked stone should be classified Or labelled as an im

plement until it is proved to be an implement, and no specimen

shonld he called palooolitbic simply because it is rude or bec'lllse

it is fonnd in the g'ravels, howsoever old. The attempt to

classify these ruLle stones and to arrange tbem unLler types after

the manuer of European implements is sufficiently characterized,

when it. is stated that tl",re is no t in the lUu,eUlllS of Europe or

America a . ingle piece of tlaked stonc found in place iu the gravels

of America and s a t i s f a c t o ~ i l y vel'ified tbat can with absol ute safety

be classitied as an implement. at all.

I f I should find a rude stone in place in the g'ra, 'els- I have

tried long in va in - I should permit myself to 'Il.y only this,

" Here is a work of ar t dating back to glacial times, I canuot tell

whether it is a finished implement or not, as there ar e bu t slightsigus of specialization and no indications of use, and I canuot tell

whether it was made and left by a pulreolithic 01' by a neolithic

people, because neither of these peoples had a patent upon rude

forms." Even if rude flaked stones are found in gra vels ten times

as old as the Trenton gravels, it must st.ill be shown that t.hey ar e

no t neolithic be [are it can be safely asserted that Lhey are palreo

lithic, for the exclusively rude period of flaked ar t observed in

Europe is so extraordinary that its repetition in other countries

would approach the marvellous.

Little by little the advocates of a period of ralreolithic cultnre

in America have been forced to give up the idea that there is an y

other reliable Lest of the age of a culture than that furnisbed hy

geology; ye t they ar e still going on utterly [ailing to recognize

the equally important fact tbat geologic phenomena cannot be

safely obser-ved Eave by geologists, and I may add with respect to

gravel phenomena that the observations of geologists al'e no t

always infallible, the obser.-ations of g'eologists who have no t

especially studied gra,els being of little greater weight thanthose of laymen. They must further concede that the finding

of rude implements in the gra,'els or other ancient formations is

no t proof of a palreolitbic age until it i. sufficiently proved that

the culture represented is exclusively rude culture, a point no!

attained, and I fear well nigh unattainable.

It follows from the above considerations tbat all speculations

upon the cnlture status, ethnic relationships and geographic dis

tribution of gravel· man in America based upon the di,covery of

rude forms of art are premature and misleading, and that, instead

of being on firm ground an d well ad vaneed in respect to the an

tiquity and history of early ma n in America, we are not yet safely

on t.be thresbold of the study; and it is patent t!.lat until geologists

take hold of the problem and prosecute tbe work, not as a side

issue but as a. great and leading question germane to the field ot:

geologic research, little true progress will be made.

)Iy explorations have been made with the greatest care and

rarely without tbe aid an d advice of some of the foremost geolo

gists and anthropologists of the country. The conclusions reachedhave been freely discussed, an d are generally approved by tbose

familiar with the facts. These conclusions are subject to modifi

cation through the acquisition of new evidence derived from actual

research in the tield and in no other wa)'.

In closing I wonld add that conservative students of American

archaaology will find it wise to consider well the following points

relating to early ma n in America. 1. Is there a sufficiently full

and sound body of evidence to demonstrate the presence at glacial

man in America? 2. Is there satisfactory" evidence that glacial

man, if his e x i s ~ e n c o   be admitte(l upon the evidence available.

was in any particular region in the palmolithic stage of culture?

3. Is there satisfactol'y evidence that the rude glacial finds in any

case are implements at all? 4. Are deductions as to the habits,

customs, a.rts, industries, institut.ions, a.nd racial affinities of a-

people called for until at least. one implement left by them is dis

covered, veri6ed, anu found to bear illdbl'utahle evidence of

adaptation to or employment in some kind of use?

MODERN SYi'lTHETIC GEOMETRY VERSUS EUCLID.

BY ROllBR1' J. ALEY, l X D [ A ~ A   UNIVERSiTY, B L O O l 1 ~ G T O N )  IN'D.

FOR mare than two tbonsand years Euclid has held almost un

disputed sway in the field of synthetic geometry. So strong a

hold has it on school men that few American colleges dare offer

anything else to freshmen. Is tbis because of t.raditioD) or is

there something in Euclid that makes it intrinsically betler than

anything mathematics has produced in modern times? To say

that it holds its place merely becanse of tradition wonld probablJ'

be too BeVel·e a cntieislll, and would cert"inly call forth ";gorous

protest f)'om it s frienus and defenders. To say that the wonder

fu l advance in geometrical science in t.he last two hundred years

has gj,'en us nothing supenol' to Euclid woulLl be a doubtful

statement, and almost an insult to the labors o[ wc h men as

~ : I o n g e ,   Poncelet, Carnot., Steinel', Von Staudt, and Cremona.

No other bra.nch of mathelllatics clings SQ tenaeiom;;(y to that

wbich is old) as geoll1etry. In analysis, physics, mechanic::!, as-tronomy, everywhere but in geometry, the results and met.heds of

modern thought are [rcely used, an d no one doubts the propriety

of their use. 'Vhy no t talee advantage o[ the same advances in

geometry?

I have no quarrel with Euclid. I t has been an d ia still a great

factor in education. The severe training it gives in logical, clear

thinking would be hard to equal. No doubt every student leaves

Euclid with his mental powers greatly strengtlwned, and with in-

crea.sed ability to grapple with other s t l l c l i e ~   and wit!.l the practi

cal problems o( life. Considered as to its euucational \'alue, hut

few objections cun be urged against it. Mathematically consid

ered. there are many tbings in favor of the modern synthetic

g c o ~ e t l ' Y .   Euclid is far more nearly a ll'eati,e on logic than en