,transcriber's ,note3 ,minor typographical errors have been corrected without note4 ,irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed4 ,words printed in italics are noted with underscores3 italics4 ,notes on the ,fenland by ,t4 ,mc,k,e,n,n,y ,,hughes1 ,m4,a41 ,f4,r4,s41 ,f4,g4,s41 ,f4,s4,a4 ,woodwardian ,professor of ,geology with ,a ,description of the ,shippea ,man by ,,alexander ,,macalister1 ,m4,a41 ,f4,r4,s41 ,m4,d41 ,sc4,d4 ,professor of ,anatomy ,cambridge3 at the ,university ,press #aiaf ,,cambridge ,,university ,,press ,c4 ,f4 ,,clay1 ,,manager ,london3 ,,fetter ,,lane1 ,e4,c4 ,edinburgh3 #ajj ,,princes ,,street ,new ,york3 ,g4 ,p4 ,,putnam',s ,,sons ,bombay1 ,calcutta and ,madras3 ,,macmillan ,,and ,co41 ,ltd4 ,toronto3 ,j4 ,m4 ,,dent ,,and ,,sons1 ,ltd4 ,tokyo3 ,,the ,,maruzen-,,kabushiki-,,kaisha ,all rights reserved ,,contents ,,page ,,geography ,,of ,,the ,,fenland #a ,,subsidence ,,of ,,the ,,valley ,,of ,,the ,,cam #b ,,turbiferous ,,and ,,areniferous ,,series #c ,,absence ,,of ,,elephant ,,and ,,rhinoceros ,,in ,,turbiferous ,,series #f ,,absence ,,of ,,peat ,,in ,,areniferous ,,series #f ,,fen ,,beds ,,not ,,all ,,peat #g ,,sections ,,in ,,alluvium #g ,,peat2 ,,trees ,,etc43 ,,tarn ,,and ,,hill ,,peat2 ,,spongy ,,peat ,,and ,,floating ,,islands2 ,,bog-,,oak ,,and ,,bog-,,iron #ac ,,marl3 ,,shell ,,marl ,,and ,,precipitated ,,marl #ag ,,the ,,wash3 ,,cockle ,,beds 7,heacham73 ,,buttery ,,clay 7,littleport7 #ah ,,littleport ,,district #ah ,,buttery ,,clay #ai ,,the ,,age ,,of ,,the ,,fen ,,beds #bj ,,palaeontology ,,of ,,fens #bj ,,birds #be ,,man #bg ,,description ,,of ,,the ,,shippea ,,man ,,by ,,prof4 ,a4 ,,macalister #cj ,,geography ,,of ,,the ,,fenland4 ,the ,fenland is a buried basin behind a breached barrier4 ,it is the drowned lower end of a valley system in which glacial1 marine1 estuarine1 fluviatile1 and subaerial deposits have gradually accumulated1 while the area has been intermittently depressed until much of the ,fenland is now many feet below high water in the adjoining seas4 ,the history of the denudation which produced the large geographical features upon which the character of the ,fenland depends needs no long discussion1 as there are numerous other districts where different stages of the same action can be observed4 ,in the ,weald for instance where the ,darent and the ,medway once ran off higher ground over the chalk to the north1 cutting down their channels through what became the ,north ,downs1 as the more rapidly denuded beds on the south of the barrier were being lowered4 ,the character of the basin is less clear in this case because it is cut off by the sea on the east1 but the cutting down of the gorges pari passu with the denudation of the hinterland can be well seen4 ,the ,thames near ,oxford began to run in its present course when the land was high enough to let the river flow eastward over the outcrops of ,oolitic limestones which1 by the denudation of the clay lands on the west1 by and by stood out as ridges through which the river still holds its course to the sea--the lowering of the clay lands on the west having to wait for the deepening of the gorges through the limestone ridges4 ,a submergence which would allow the sea to ebb and flow through these widening gaps would produce conditions there similar to those of our fenlands4 ,so also the ,witham and the ,till kept on lowering their basin in the ,lias and ,trias1 while their united waters cut down the gorge near ,lincoln through a barrier now #bej feet high4 ,the basin of the ,humber gives us an example of a more advanced stage in the process4 ,the river once found its way to the sea at a much higher level over the outcrops of ,jurassic and ,cretaceous rocks west of ,hull1 cutting down and widening the opening1 while the ,yorkshire ,ouse1 with the ,aire1 the ,calder and other tributaries1 were levelling the ,new ,red ,sandstone plain and valleys west of the barrier and tapping more and more of the water from the uplands beyond4 ,the equivalent of the ,wash is not seen behind the barrier in the estuary of the ,humber1 but the tidal water runs far up the river and produces the fertile estuarine silt known as the ,warp4 ,the ,fenland is only an example of a still further stage in this process4 ,the ,great ,ouse and its tributaries kept on levelling the ,gault and ,kimmeridge and ,oxford ,clays at the back of the chalk barrier which once crossed the ,wash between ,hunstanton and ,skegness4 ,the lowlands thus formed lie in the basin of the ,great ,ouse which includes the ,fenland1 while the ,fenland includes more than the ,fens properly defined1 so that things recorded as found in the ,fenland may be much older than the ,fen deposits4 ,,subsidence ,,of ,,the ,,valley ,,of ,,the ,,cam4 ,during the slow denudation which resulted in the formation of this basin many things happened4 ,there were intermittent and probably irregular movements of elevation and depression4 ,glacial conditions supervened and passed away4 ,the proof of this may be seen in the ,sections1 ,figs4 #a1 #b and #c1 pp4 #h1 #i and #aj4 ,at ,sutton ,bridge the alluvium has been proved to a depth of #gc feet resting on ,boulder ,clay4 ,at ,impington the ,boulder ,clay runs down to a depth of #hf feet below the surface level of the alluvium4 ,that means that this part of the valley was scooped out before the glacial deposits were dropped in it1 and that the bottom of the ancient valley is now far below sea level4 ,in front of ,jesus ,college1 gravel with ,elephas primigenius was excavated down to a depth of #cj feet below the street1 while in the ,paddocks behind ,trinity ,college the still more recent alluvium was proved to a depth of #de feet1 i4e4 #af feet below ,o4,d4 ,these facts indicate a comparatively recent subsidence along the valley1 as no river could scoop out its bed below sea level4 ,we need not for our present purpose stop to enquire whether this depression was confined to the line of the valley or was part of more widespread ,east ,anglian movements which are not so easy to detect on the higher ground4 ,from the above-mentioned sections it is clear that the denudation1 which resulted in the formation of the basin in the lowest hollow of which the ,fen ,beds lie1 was a slow process begun and carried on long before glacial conditions prevailed and before the gravel terraces were formed4 ,as soon as the sea began to ebb and flow through the opening in the barrier1 the conditions were greatly altered and we see the results of the conflict between the mud-carrying upland waters and the beach-forming sea4 ,,turbiferous ,,and ,,areniferous ,,series4 ,the ,fen ,beds belong to the last stage and1 notwithstanding their great local differences1 seem all to belong to one continuous series4 ,seeing then that their chief characteristic is that they commonly contain beds of peat it may be convenient to form a word from the late ,latin turba1 turf or peat1 and call them ,turbiferous to distinguish them from the ,areniferous series which consists almost entirely of sands and gravels4 ,when the land had sunk so far that the velocity of the streams was checked over the widening estuary and on the other hand the tide and wind waves had more free access1 some outfalls got choked and others opened2 turbid water sometimes spread over the flats and left mud or was elsewhere filtered through rank plant growth so that it stood clear in meres and swamps1 allowing the formation of peat unmixed with earthy sediment4 ,banks are naturally formed along the margin of rivers by the settling down of sand and mud when the waters overflow1 as seen on a large scale along the ,mississippi1 the ,po1 as well as along the ,humber and its tributaries4 ,the effect of a break down of the banks is very different4 ,a great hole is scooped out by the outrush1 and the mud1 sand and gravel deposited in a fanshape according to its degree of coarseness and specific gravity4 ,a good example of this was seen in the disastrous ,mid-,level flood at ,lynn in #ahfba and the more recent outburst near ,denver in the winter of #aiad-aeb1 of which accounts were published in contemporary newspapers4 ,the varied accompanying phenomena can be well studied in the process of warping in ,yorkshire or the colmata in ,italy4 #a ,times1 ,cambridge ,chronicle1 ,may #ca1 #ahfb4 #b ,times1 ,jan4 #af1 #aiae4 ,this was a much commoner catastrophe in old times1 before the banks were artificially raised1 and1 as the streams could never get back into their old raised channel1 this accounts for the network of ancient river beds which intersect the ,fens4 ,the bottom of the ,turbiferous alluvium is always1 as far as my experience goes1 sharply defined4 ,this of course cannot be seen in a borehole or very small section4 ,the surface of the older deposits seems to have been often washed clean either by the encroaching sea or by the upland flood waters4 ,in saying that there is an absence of sand and gravel in the ,fen ,beds we must be careful not to force this description too far4 ,for when the first encroaching water was washing away any pre-existing superficial deposits the first material left as the base of the ,fen ,beds must have depended upon the character of the underlying strata1 the velocity of the water and other circumstances4 ,this is well seen in the ,whittlesea brickpit where an ancient gravel with marine shells rests on the ,oxford ,clay and over the gravel there creeps the base of the ,turbiferous series4 ,it here consists chiefly of white marl which thins out to the left of the section and above becomes full of vegetable matter until it passes up into peat1 over which there is a flood-water loam4 ,about a mile west-north-west of ,little ,downham near ,ely1 and within a couple of hundred yards of ,hythe1 the ,fen ,beds were seen in a deep cut carried close to the gravel hill which here stretches out north into the ,fens4 ,they consist at the base of material washed down from the spur of gravel and sand of the ,areniferous series against which the ,fen ,beds here abut4 ,this basement bed is succeeded by beds of silt and peat of no great thickness as they are near the margin of the swamp4 ,when any considerable thickness of the older ,areniferous gravels has been preserved1 the base of the ,turbiferous series is smooth or only gently undulating4 ,but where only small patches or pot-holes of gravel remain1 there the top of the clay has been contorted and over-folded so as often to contain irregularly curved pipes and even isolated nests of sand and gravel#c4 ,the base of the ,areniferous gravel must generally have been thrown down upon clay which had been clean cut to an even surface by denudation without any soaking of the surface or isolated heaps of gravel sinking into the clay under alternation of dry and wet conditions1 such as would puddle the surface under the heaps and allow the masses of heavy gravel to sink in pipes and troughs4 ,these small outlying patches of gravel are sometimes so little disturbed that we leave them in the ,areniferous1 whereas they are sometimes so obviously rearranged that we must include them in the ,turbiferous series1 taking care not to include derivative bones from the older in our list of fossils from the newer series4 #c ,cf4 ,archaeol4 ,journ4 ,vol4 ,,lxix1 ,no4 #bgd #bnd ,ser42 ,vol4 ,,xix1 ,no4 #b1 pp4 #bje-bad4 ,,absence ,,of ,,elephant ,,and ,,rhinoceros ,,in ,,turbiferous ,,series4 ,the basement beds of the ,turbiferous or ,newer ,alluvial ,fen ,beds are clearly separated by their stratification from the ,areniferous or ,older ,alluvial ,terrace ,beds down the sloping margin of which they creep1 but there is not anywhere1 as far as ,i am aware1 any passage or dovetailing of the ,fen ,beds into the gravel of the river terraces1 while the difference in the fauna is very marked4 ,it is however from such sections as those just described that the erroneous view arose that the ,elephant and ,rhinoceros occurred in the older ,fen ,beds4 ,it is true that they have been found under peat in the ,fenland1 but that is only where the gravel spurs of the ,old ,alluvial ,terraces or ,areniferous ,series have passed under the newer ,fen ,beds4 ,i saw the remains of ,rhinoceros tichorhinus in the gravel beds belonging to the older or ,areniferous ,series at ,little ,downham1 and from the base of the gravel in the ,whittlesea brickpit ,i obtained a fine lower molar of ,elephas antiquus4 ,this was1 however1 not in the ,gravel1 but squeezed into the soft surface of the underlying ,jurassic ,clay4 ,there have never been any remains of ,elephant or ,rhinoceros found in the ,turbiferous series4 ,,absence ,,of ,,peat ,,in ,,areniferous ,,series4 ,it is not easy to realise what the conditions were during the formation of the later ,terrace ,gravels 7,barnwell type71 and1 if it is a fact1 why there was not then1 as in later times1 a marshy peat-bearing area here and there between the torrential deposits of the upper streams near the foot of the hills and the region where the tide met the upland waters4 ,a few plants have been found in the ,barnwell gravel but they are very rare in this series4 ,the older ,terrace ,gravel 7,barrington type7 might be expected to furnish evidence of the existence of abundant vegetation if we are right in assigning it to about the age of the peaty deposits overlying the ,weybourn ,crag4 ,but at present we have no evidence of any such deposit in the ,cambridge gravels4 ,although there are great masses of vegetable matter formed in the swamps of tropical regions1 peat is essentially a product of northern climes4 ,pliny#d evidently refers to peat as used in ,friesland but not as a thing with which he was familiar4 #d ,lib4 ,,xvi1 cap4 #a4 ,,fen ,,beds ,,not ,,all ,,peat4 ,it must not1 however1 be imagined that the ,fen ,beds consist wholly or even chiefly of peat4 ,as we travel north from ,cambridge the surface of the alluvium is brown earth for miles and only here and there shows the black surface of peat4 ,the numerous ditches for draining the land confirm this observation1 and when we have the opportunity of examining excavations carried down to great depths into the alluvium we usually find only a little peat on the surface or in thin beds alternating with silt and clay and marl4 ,sometimes1 but only sometimes1 we have evidence of the growth of peat for a long time1 then of the incoming of turbid water leaving beds of clay1 then again of the tranquil growth of peat4 ,all this points to changes of local conditions and shifting channels during a gradual sinking of the area1 for some of the peat is below sea level4 ,i believe that the volume of clay is much greater than that of peat1 although from the common occurrence of peat on the surface and clay in the depth the area over which peat is seen is greater4 ,we have not1 however1 the data for estimating the proportion of each4 ,in embayed corners along the river even above ,cambridge we find little patches of peat1 while on the other hand in deep excavations near the middle of the valley we find only thin streaks of peat or peaty silt4 ,in the trial boreholes at the ,backs of the ,colleges there was only this kind of record of former swamp vegetation4 ,,sections ,,in ,,alluvium4 ,in digging the foundations for the chimney of the ,electric ,lighting ,works opposite ,magdalene ,college the following section was seen 7,fig4 #a1 p4 #h74 ,under the new ,tennis ,courts in ,park ,parade facing ,mid-summer ,common the section was somewhat different 7,fig4 #b1 p4 #i74 ,while in the pit dug some years ago by ,mr ,bullock at the other end of the ,parade at the lower end of ,portugal ,place in the south-east corner of the ,common there was a section very similar to the last 7,fig4 #c1 p4 #aj74 ------ ,made ground #g'-h' ------ ,black silt #g'-h' ------ #d' ,peaty silt ------ #d' ,gravel ------ ,gault ,illustration3 ,fig4 #a4 ,section seen in foundations of chimney for ,electric ,lighting ,works near river opposite ,magdalene ,college1 ,july1 #ahib4 ,these three sections1 immediately north of ,cambridge where the valley of the ,cam opens out on to the ,fens1 are important as showing the variations right across the alluvium from side to side and the absence1 here at any rate1 of any indication of a constant sequence distinctly pointing to important geographical changes4 ,a section seen under ,pembroke ,college ,boat ,house gave #af feet of clay and peaty silt on the black gravel which here1 as in the borings at the ,backs of the ,colleges1 forms the base of the alluvium4 ,about half way down were bones of horse and stag1 but ,i do not believe that these are of any great antiquity1 probably not earlier than mediaeval4 ,thickness ,depth ------ ,irregular made ground #e ,clayey ,alluvium #e ------ #d ,peat #i ------ #aj-ab ,sand and ,gravel #ba ------ #b ------ ,gravel #b #be ------ #d'f ,running ,sand #bi' #f ------ ,gault ,scale #h' to #a ,illustration3 ,fig4 #b4 ,section seen in digging foundations of ,tennis ,courts on ,midsummer ,common1 ,cambridge4 ,lower down the river near ,ely a most important and interesting section has recently been exposed4 ,a new bridge was built over the ,ouse near the railway station and to obtain material for easing the gradient up to the bridge a pit was sunk close to it on the east side of the river1 and was carried down to the ,kimmeridge ,clay thus giving a clear section through the whole of the alluvium 7,fig4 #d1 p4 #aa74 ,depth a ------ #d' b ------ #g' c ------ #aj' d ------ #ab' #f e ------ #ac' #b f ------ #ba' #b g ------ #bc' #b h a4 ,dark clay1 with much carbonaceous matter1 scattered stones1 and freshwater shells #d' #j b4 ,tough clay #c' #j c4 ,dark clay full of bits of wood #c' #j d4 ,light coloured clay full of rootlets #b' #f e4 ,rusty sand #h f4 ,false bedded gravel and sand pierced by rootlets #h' #j g4 ,black silt and gravel #b' #j ------ h4 ,gault #bc' #b ,illustration3 ,fig4 #c4 ,section seen in ,bullock's ,pit in ,s4,e4 corner of ,midsummer ,common4 ,it will be noticed that there is very little peat here and all of it was below ,o4,d4 ,the upper four feet of the clayey peat 7f7 looked as if the vegetable matter had been transported1 perhaps from peat beds being destroyed by the river higher up1 and been carried down in flood with the clay1 while the lower four feet of peat 7h7 was only a cleaner sample of the same1 before the river had cut down into the clay4 ,the trees in both f and h were not trees that had grown on the spot and had been blown down1 but were broken1 water-worn1 and evidently transported4 a ----------------- b ----------------- c ----------------- d ----------------- e ----------------- f g ----------------- h ----------7#a7---- i ----------------- j ----------7#b7---- a4 ,surface soil #g b4 ,clayey alluvium #g c4 ,peaty alluvium #i d4 ,brown clayey alluvium #a' #f e4 ,peaty alluvium4 #i f4 ,brown clayey peat with trees scattered throughout g4 and lenticular beds of freshwater shells in it #d' h4 ,peat with trees to #b' diam4 #d' i4 ,mottled green and grey clay with lines of sand and gravel giving out water #b' j4 ,yellow clay with springs and much rusty water at bottom4 #d' ------ #ah' #b 7#a7 ,skull and a few other bones of horse4 7#b7 ,broken fragments of bone4 ,scale #h' to #a ,illustration3 ,fig4 #d4 ,section seen in pit dug for material for making up the roadway east of the new bridge over the ,ouse by the railway station4 ,ely1 #aiaj4 ,if now we travel about #cj miles a little west of north we shall arrive near the shore of the ,wash about half way across its southern coast line at ,sutton ,bridge4 ,here ,i had an opportunity of seeing the material of which the alluvium is composed4 ,with a view to securing a sound base for the foundation of the piers of the ,midland and ,great ,northern ,railway bridge an excavation was made through the whole of the ,fen ,beds down to the ,boulder ,clay which as ,i have already stated was reached at a depth of #gc feet4 ,the clerk of the works kindly gave me the following measurements 7,fig4 #e74 ,depth ,thickness ---------- ,high water 7#ab' #f above ,o4,d47 #ab' #f #ab' #f ---------- ,ordnance ,datum #d' #j ,silt and clay #af' #f ---------- ---------- ,low water 7#f' #j below ,o4,d47 #ai' #f ---------- ,bed of river 7#ag' #f below ,o4,d47 #cf' #j ---------- #i' #j ,sand with shells #de' #j ---------- #c' #f ,loam and sand #dh' #f ---------- #e' #f ,ballast with shells #ed' #j ---------- #c' #f ,loam with ,peat #eg' #f ---------- #c' #f ,fine red ballast mixed with clay #fa' #j ---------- #e' #j ,blue and grey clay mixed with sand #ff' #j ---------- #a' #j ,ballast #fg' #j ---------- #d' #f ,silty ,sand #ga' #f ---------- ,ballast with flint #a' #f and stone #gc' #j ---------- ,stiff grey clay ,illustration3 ,fig4 #e4 ,section seen at ,sutton ,bridge4 ,here again we see that the only peat is a bed between three and four feet in thickness of mixed loam and peat more than #dj feet below mean sea level4 ,from these sections it is clear that along the direct and more permanent outfall from ,cambridge to the north1 peat forms but a small part of the ,fen ,beds4 ,peat is a substance of so much value as fuel1 of such importance to the agriculturist1 of such commercial value in what we may call its by-products1 and of such scientific interest in the history of its formation and the remains which its antiseptic properties have preserved1 that it has1 as might be expected1 a large literature of its own4 ,i have before me a list of more than #aej references to peat or to the ,fens4 ,,peat2 ,,trees ,,and ,,other ,,plants2 ,,tarn ,,peat ,,and ,,hill ,,peat2 ,,bog-,,oak ,,and ,,bog-,,iron4 ,when we turn aside into the areas cut off by spurs of gravel and islands of ,jurassic rock1 we find wide and deep masses of peat which has grown and been preserved from denudation in these embayed and isolated areas4 ,burwell ,fen1 for instance1 protected on the north and west by the ,cretaceous ridge of ,wicken and the ,jurassic ridge of ,upware1 furnishes most of the peat used in the surrounding district4 ,if we travel about two miles to the north-west from the pit dug near the railway station 7see ,fig4 #d1 p4 #aa7 over the hill on which ,ely stands1 we shall come to ,west ,fen1 where there is a great mass of peat which has grown in a basin now almost quite surrounded by ,kimmeridge ,clay4 ,in this there is a great quantity of timber at a small depth from the surface4 ,the tree trunks almost all lie with their root-end to the south-west1 but some are broken off1 some are uprooted1 telling clearly a story of growth on the peat which had increased and swelled till the surface was lifted above the level of floods4 ,then some change--perhaps more rapid subsidence1 perhaps changes in the outfalls--let in flood water1 the roots rotted and a storm from the south-west1 which was the most exposed side and the direction of the prevalent winds1 laid them low4 ,the frequent occurrence of large funguses1 ,hypoxylon1 ,polyporus1 etc41 points to conditions at times unfavourable to the healthy growth of timber4 ,it is worth noting when trying to read the story of the ,fens as recorded by their fallen trees that in all forests we find now and then a few trees blown down together though the surrounding trees are left4 ,this may be the result of a fierce eddy in the cycloidal path of the storm1 but more commonly it seems to be due to the fact that every tree has its play1 like a fishing rod1 and recurring gusts1 not coinciding with its rhythm1 sometimes catch it at a disadvantage and break or blow it down4 ,the story told by the ,west ,fen trees is quite different from that told by the water-borne and water-worn trunks in the section by ,ely station4 ,the same variable conditions prevailed also in the more westerly tracts of the ,fen ,basin1 but the above examples are sufficient for our present purpose4 ,from the large numbers of trees found in some localities and from records referring to parts of the ,fens as forest it has sometimes been supposed that the ,fens were well wooded1 but forest did not generally and does not now always mean a wood1 as for example in the case of the deer forests of ,scotland4 ,when ,ingulph#e says that portions of the ,fenland were disafforested by ,henry ,i1 ,stephen1 ,henry ,,ii1 and ,richard1 who gave permission to build upon the marshes1 this probably meant that they no longer preserved them so strictly1 but allowed people to build on the gravel banks and islands in them4 #e ,history of ,croyland1 ,bohn's edition1 p4 #bhb4 ,dugdale1 recording a stricter enforcement of game-laws1 quotes proceedings against certain persons in ,whittlesea1 ,thorney and ,ramsey for having wasted all the fen of ,kynges-delfe of the alders1 hassacks and rushes so that the ,king's deer could not harbour there4 ,he does not mention forest trees4 ,in the growth and accidents of vegetation in a swamp there are some circumstances which are of importance to note with a view to the interpretation of the results observed in the ,fens4 ,for instance in fine weather there is a constant lifting and floating of the confervoid algae which grow on the muddy bed of the stream4 ,this is brought about by the development of gas under the sun's influence in the thick fibrous growth of the alga4 ,the little bubbles give it a silvery gleam and by and by produce sufficient buoyancy in the mass to tear it out and make it rise to the surface dropping fine mud as it goes and thus making the water turbid4 ,other plants1 such as ,utricularia1 ,duckweed1 etc41 have their period of flotation1 and in the ,breaking of the ,mere in ,shropshire we have a similar phenomenon4 ,in the ,floating ,island on ,derwentwater the same sort of thing is seen with coarser plants4 ,all these processes are going on in the meres and in the streams which meander through the ,fens and did so more freely before their reclamation4 ,but besides this1 when the top of the spongy peat is raised above the water level and dries by evaporation1 then heath1 ferns and other plants and at last trees grow on it1 until accident submerges it all again4 ,this at once shows why we often find an upper peat with a different group of plant remains resting upon a lower peat with plants that grow under water4 ,the most conspicuous examples of these various kinds of peat we see in the mountainous regions of the ,north and ,west1 where the highest hills are often capped with peat from eight to ten feet in thickness1 creeping over the brow and hanging on the steep mountain sides4 ,sometimes1 close by1 we see the gradual growth of peat from the margin of a tarn where only water-weeds can flourish4 ,the ,hill ,peat is made up of ,sphagnum and other mosses and of ferns and heather4 ,the ,tarn ,peat of conferva1 potamogeton1 reeds1 etc4 ,as ,hill ,peat now grows on the heights and steeps where no water can stand and ,tarn ,peat in lakes and ponds lying in the hollows of the mountains and moors1 so the changes in the outfalls and the swelling and sinking of the peat have given us in the ,fens1 here the results of a dry surface with its heather and ferns and trees1 and there products of water-weeds only1 and1 from the nature of the case1 the subaerial growth is apt to be above the subaqueous4 ,one explanation of the growth of peat under both of these two very different geographical conditions is probably the absence of earthworms4 ,the work of the earthworm is to drag down and destroy decaying vegetable matter and to cast the mineral soil on to the surface1 but earthworms cannot live in water or in waterlogged land1 and where there are no earthworms the decaying vegetation accumulates in layer after layer upon the surface1 modified only by newer growths4 ,some years ago a great flood kept the land along the ,bin ,brook under water for several days and the earthworms were all killed1 covering the paddock in front of ,st ,john's ,new ,buildings in such numbers that when they began to decompose it was quite disagreeable to walk that way4 ,it reminded me of the effects of storm on the cocklebeds at the mouth of the ,medway1 where the shells were washed out of the mud1 the animals died on the shore and the empty shells were in time washed round the coast of ,sheppey to the sheltered corner at ,shellness4 ,here they lie some ten feet deep and are dug to furnish the material for ,london pathways4 ,in those cases when the storm had passed the earthworms and the cockles came again1 but the ,hill ,peat is always full of water retained by the spongy ,sphagnum and similar plants1 and the ,fens are or were continually1 and in some places continuously1 submerged and no earthworms could live under such conditions4 ,the blackness of peat and of bog-oak may be largely but certainly not wholly due to carbonaceous matter4 ,iron must play an important part4 ,there is in the ,sedgwick ,museum part of the trunk of a ,sussex oak which had grown over some iron railings and extended some eight inches or more beyond the outside of the part which was originally driven in to hold the rails4 ,mr ,kett came upon the buried iron when sawing up the tree in his works and kindly gave it to me4 ,from the iron a deep black stain has travelled with the sap along the grain1 as if the iron of the rail and the tannin of the oak had combined to produce an ink4 ,the well-known occurrence of bog-iron in peat strengthens this suggestion4 ,an opportunity of observing this enveloping growth of wood round iron railings is offered in front of ,no4 #a1 ,benet ,place1 ,lensfield ,road4 ,the trees in the ,fens often lie at a small depth and when exposed to surface changes perish by splitting along the medullary rays4 ,it is not clear how long it takes to impart a peaty stain to bone1 but we do find a difference between those which are undoubtedly very old and others which we have reason to believe may be more recent4 ,compare the almost black bones of the beaver1 for instance1 with the light brown bones of the otter in the two mounted skeletons in the ,sedgwick ,museum4 ,,marl4 ,marl1 as commonly used1 is ,clay or ,carbonate of ,lime of a clayey texture or any mixture of these4 ,beds of shell marl tell the same tale as the peat4 ,shells do not accumulate to any extent in the bed of a river4 ,they are pounded up and decomposed or rolled along and buried where mud or gravel finds a resting place4 ,only sometimes1 where things of small specific gravity are gathered in holes and embayed corners1 a layer of freshwater shells may be seen4 ,but to produce a bed of pure shell marl the quantity of dead shells must be very large and the amount of sediment carried over the area very small1 while the margin of the pond or mere in which the formation of such a bed is possible must have an abundant growth of confervoid algae and other water plants to furnish sustenance for the molluscs4 ,shell marl therefore suggests ponds and meres4 ,of course it must be borne in mind that in a region of hard water1 such as is yielded in springs all along the outcrop of the chalk1 there is often a considerable precipitation of carbonate of lime1 especially where such plants as ,chara help to collect it1 as the ,callothrix and ,leptothrix help to throw down the ,geyserite4 ,these beds of white marls1 whether due to shells or to precipitation1 are thus of great importance for our present enquiry as they throw light on the history of the ,fens4 ,we should have few opportunities of examining the marl were it not for its value to the agriculturist4 ,as it consists of clay and lime1 it is not only a useful fertiliser but also helps to retain the dusty peat1 which when dry and pulverised is easily blown away4 ,moreover1 as the marl occurs at a small depth and often over large areas1 it can commonly be obtained by trenching on the ground where it is most wanted4 ,,the ,,wash4 ,we have now carried our examination of the ,fen ,beds up to the sea1 but to understand this interesting area we must cross the sea bank and see what is happening in the ,wash4 ,there is no peat being formed there1 nor is there any quantity of drifted vegetable matter such as might form peat4 ,there are marginal forest beds near ,hunstanton and ,holme1 for instance1 and it is not clear whether they point to submergence or to the former existence of sand dunes or shingle beaches sufficient to keep out the sea and allow the growth of trees below high water level behind the barrier1 such as may be seen at ,braunton ,burrows1 near ,westward ,ho1 or at the mouth of the ,somme4 ,what is the most conspicuous character of the ,wash is that the upland waters1 now controlled as to their outlet1 keep open the troughs and deeps while tidal action throws up a number of shifting banks of mud1 sand and gravel1 many of which are left dry at low water4 ,along the quieter marginal portions fine sediment is laid down1 and relaid when storms have disturbed the surface4 ,on these cockles and other estuarine molluscs thrive4 ,before the sea banks were constructed these tidal flats extended much further inland4 ,,littleport ,,district4 ,in the light of this evidence let us examine the ,fen ,beds east of ,littleport1 a district of great interest not only from its geographical position in relation to the ,fens but also from the remains recently discovered there4 ,looking north and west there is no high ground between us and the ,wash4 ,if we could sweep out the soft superficial deposits and abolish the sea banks the tide would still ebb and flow over the whole area4 ,if we look north and east we see the high ground stretching from ,downham ,market to ,stoke ,ferry and sweeping round to the south by ,methwold and ,feltwell and the islands of ,hilgay and ,southery1 thus enclosing a great bay into which the ,wissey on the north and the ,brandon ,river on the south deliver the waters collected on the eastern chalk uplands4 ,the island known as ,shippea ,hill marks the trend of an ancient barrier blocking the northward course of the river ,lark4 7,fig4 #f1 p4 #bi47 ,here1 then1 it seems probable that we might find evidence of a local change from the conditions we now see in the ,wash and those which have resulted in the formation of the ,fens4 ,,buttery ,,clay4 ,in deep trenching in the ,fen between ,littleport and ,shippea ,hill in order to obtain clay for laying on the peaty surface a very fine unctuous deposit was found at a depth of four or five feet4 ,the overlying ,fen ,beds were chiefly peat with lenticular beds of white marl and grey clay1 obviously laid down from time to time in small depressions in the surface of the peat4 ,this marl was often largely made up of1 or was at any rate full of1 freshwater shells but sometimes showed evidence of having been gathered on the stems of ,chara which on perishing have left small cylindrical hollows penetrating the partly consolidated marl4 ,under these beds of peat and marl there was the unctuous clay1 which is sometimes referred to as the ,buttery ,clay4 ,it is an estuarine deposit like that mentioned above as occurring in the ,wash off ,heacham1 for instance4 ,it contains shells of ,cardium edule1 ,tellina 7,tacoma7 balthica1 ,scrobicularia piperata1 and other estuarine shells1 some of which had the valves adherent or rather adjoining1 for the ligament had perished4 ,mrs ,luddington has in her collection the bones of the ,urus1 ,wild ,boar and ,beaver1 obtained from the peat above this ,buttery ,clay4 ,on the other or south-western side of ,shippea ,hill1 which is an island of ,kimmeridge ,clay1 we get further into the embayed and isolated portions of the ,fen and we find more peat in proportion to the other deposits although it is very thin4 ,there are still small lenticular beds of white marl similar to that nearer ,littleport and the peat rests upon ,buttery ,clay of unknown thickness4 ,in this part1 however1 no shells have yet been noticed4 ,near ,shippea ,hill the peat has recently been trenched with a view to obtaining clay with which to dress the surface of the peat and it was here1 at a depth of four feet from the surface and four inches above the ,buttery ,clay1 that the human bones described below 7pp4 #bg-ce7 were found4 ,,the ,,age ,,of ,,the ,,fen ,,beds4 ,now we may enquire what are the limits within which we may speculate as to the age of the ,fen ,beds4 ,these ,turbiferous deposits all belong to one stage1 though it may be one of long duration4 ,they are sharply separated from the ,areniferous deposits1 i4e4 the sands and gravels of the terraces and spurs which always pass under and1 in fairly large sections1 can always be clearly distinguished from the resorted layers at the base of the ,fen ,beds4 ,there is no definite chronological succession which will hold throughout the ,fens4 ,the variations observed are geographical--clay1 marl1 peat1 etc41 alternating in different order in different localities and subaerial1 fluviatile1 estuarine1 and marine1 having only a changing topographical significance4 ,the ,fen ,beds crept over an area where the underlying formation had been undergoing vicissitudes due to slow geographical changes--changes which1 being at sea level and near the conflict of tides and upland water1 produced irregular but often important results4 ,there is not in the ,fens any continuous record of what took place between the age in which the ,little ,downham ,rhinoceros was buried in the gravel and that in which the ,neolithic hunters poleaxed the ,urus in the peat near ,burwell4 ,,palaeontology ,,of ,,fens4 ,nor do we find any constant succession in the fauna and flora in the sections in the ,fens any more than we find a uniform distribution of plants and animals over the surface to-day4 ,the most numerous and largest specimens of the ,urus ,i have obtained from near ,isleham3 the best preserved ,beaver bones from ,burwell4 ,modern changes of conditions have limited the district in which the fen fern 7,thelypteris7 or the swallow-tailed butterfly may now be seen2 but nature in old times produced as great changes in local conditions as those now due to human agency4 ,when we compare the fauna of the ,areniferous ,series with that of the ,turbiferous1 although there is not an entire sweeping away of the older vertebrate and invertebrate forms of life and an introduction of newer1 there is a marked change in the whole facies4 ,there is plenty of evidence about ,cambridge of the gradual extermination of species still going on4 ,indeed1 ,i feel inclined to say that there is no such thing as a ,holocene age4 ,i remember land shells being common of which it is difficult now to find live specimens1 and my wife#f has shown how the mollusca are being differentiated in isolated ponds left here and there along the ancient river courses above the town4 #f ,on the ,mollusca of the ,pleistocene ,gravels in the neighbourhood of ,cambridge1 by ,mrs ,mc,kenny ,hughes4 ,geol4 ,mag4 ,decade #c1 ,vol4 ,v1 ,no4 #e1 ,may #ahhh1 p4 #aic4 ,but we have not in older beds of the ,turbiferous or newer beds of the ,areniferous ,series any suggestion of continuity between the two4 ,there must have been between them an unrepresented period of considerable duration in which very important changes were brought about4 ,perhaps it was then that ,england became an island and unsuitable for most of the life of the ,areniferous age4 ,not only have we in the ,turbiferous as compared with the ,areniferous ,series a change of facies but we have many representative forms1 a point to which that keen naturalist1 ,edward ,forbes1 always attached great importance4 ,we have for instance in the ,fen ,beds the ,brown ,bear 7,ursus arctos7 with his flat pig-like skull1 instead of the ,grizzly 7,ursus ferox7 of the ,gravels with his broad skull and front bomb4 ,if we turn to the horned cattle we shall find a confirmation of the view that there was not an entire break between the ,turbiferous and ,areniferous fauna for the ,urus 7,bos primigenius7 occurs in both4 ,this species became extinct in ,britain in the ,turbiferous period and before the coming of the ,romans1 for no trace of it seems to have been found with ,roman remains in this country2 and indeed when we remember the numerous tribes1 the dense population and high civilisation of the natives of ,britain in ,roman times it seems improbable that they can have tolerated such a formidable beast as this wild bull around their cultivated land4 ,some confusion has arisen as to the description and the names of the ,urus and the ,bison4 ,caesar1 who was not a big game hunter and probably never saw either1 has given under the name ,urus a description which evidently mixes up the characters of both4 ,both existed on the continent down to quite recent times and the ,bison is still found in ,poland1 but later writers also have evidently confounded them4 ,for instance1 the ,augsburg picture of the ,urus is correct1 but ,herberstein's1 which also is said to represent the ,urus1 is obviously that of a ,bison4 ,i have gone into this question more fully elsewhere#g4 #g ,the ,evolution of the ,british ,breeds of ,cattle1 ,journ4 ,r4 ,agric4 ,soc4 ,vol4 ,v1 ,ser4 #c1 pp4 #efa-efc1 #ahid4 ,on the more important ,breeds of ,cattle which have been recognised in the ,british ,isles in successive periods1 and their relation to other archaeological and historical discoveries1 ,archaeologia1 ,vol4 ,v1 ,ser4 #c1 pp4 #abe-aeh1 #ahif4 ,cf4 also ,morse1 ,e4 ,w41 ,the ,ancestry of domesticated ,cattle1 ,twenty-seventh ,annual ,report of the ,bureau of ,animal ,industry1 #aiaj1 ,department of ,agriculture1 ,u4,s4,a4 ,the ,urus 7,bos primigenius7 is common in the ,fen ,beds and is of special importance for our present enquiry1 as there is in the ,sedgwick ,museum a skull of this species found in ,burwell ,fen with a ,neolithic flint implement sticking in it4 ,the implement is thin1 nearly parallel sided1 rough dressed1 except on the front edge which is ground1 and it is made of the black south-country flint4 ,it is very different in every respect from the thick bulging implements with curved outlines1 which being made of the mottled grey north-country flint or of felstone or greenstone suggest importation from a different and probably more northerly source4 ,this gives us a useful synchronism of peat1 a ,neolithic implement of a special well-marked type1 and the ,urus4 ,the ,bison is the characteristic ox of the ,gravels and never occurs in the ,fen ,beds2 while the ,urus1 as ,i have pointed out above1 occurs in both the ,turbiferous and ,areniferous deposits4 ,bos longifrons is the characteristic ox of the ,fen ,beds and never occurs in the ,gravels4 ,it is the breed which the ,romans found here1 and we dig up its bones almost wherever we find ,roman remains4 ,i cannot adduce any satisfactory evidence that it was wild1 that is to say more wild than the ,welsh cattle or ponies or sheep which roam freely over wide tracts of almost uninhabited country4 ,this species1 like the ,urus1 has horns pointing forward1 but the cattle introduced by the ,romans had upturned lyre-shaped horns1 as in the modern ,italian1 the ,chillingham or our typical uncrossed ,ayrshire breed1 and soon we notice the effect of crossing the small native cattle 7,bos longifrons7 with the larger ,roman breed4 ,the ,horse appears to have lived continuously throughout ,pleistocene times down to the present day and to have been always used for food4 ,unfortunately the skull of a horse is thin and fragile and therefore it has been difficult to obtain a series sufficiently complete to found any considerable generalisations upon it4 ,the animal found in the peat and alluvium appears to have been a small sized1 long faced pony4 ,the appearances and reappearances of the different kinds of deer is a very interesting question1 but it will be more easily treated when ,i come to speak of the ,gravels of ,east ,anglia4 ,i will only point out now that neither of the deer with palmated antlers properly belongs to the ,turbiferous series4 ,the great ,irish ,elk 7,cervus megacerus7 has not been found in the ,fen ,beds4 ,indeed it is not clear that in ,ireland it occurs in the peat4 ,the most careful and trustworthy descriptions seem to show that its bones lie either in or on top of the clays on which the peat grew4 ,the other and smaller deer with palmated antlers1 namely1 the ,fallow deer 7,cervus dama71 were reintroduced1 probably by the ,romans1 and although some of them have got buried in the alluvium or newer peat in the course of the #aejj years or so that they have been hunted in royal warrens in ,east ,anglia1 they cannot be regarded as indigenous or indicative of climate or other local conditions4 ,remains of the ,red deer 7,cervus elaphus7 and of the ,roe deer 7,cervus capreolus7 are common in the ,fen ,beds2 both occur in the ,gravels also2 and both are still wild in the ,british ,isles4 ,unlike the ,red deer1 which lives on the open moorland1 the ,roe deer lives in woods and forests4 ,and this is an interesting fact in its bearing upon our inferences as to the character of the country before the reclamation of the ,fens and the destruction of the plateau forest4 ,the open downs and the spurs and islands of the fenlands offered the ,red deer a congenial feeding ground1 while the thickets on the edge of the upland forest and the bosky patches along the margins of the lowland swamps provided covert for the ,roe deer4 ,sheep and goat are found in the peat and the alluvium1 but it is not easy to tell the age of the bones4 ,they do generally appear to be of that lighter brown colour which is characteristic of remains from newer peat as compared with the black bones which seem to belong to the older and more decomposed peat4 ,the sheep is probably a late introduction and is never found in the ,terrace ,gravel 7see ,geol4 ,mag4 ,decade #b1 ,vol4 ,x1 ,no4 #aj1 p4 #ded74 ,the ,wild ,boar 7,sus scrofa7 is fairly common4 ,it is remarkable that we get very few remains of ,wolf1 although it is not much more than #bjj years since the last was killed4 ,there is in the ,sedgwick ,museum one fairly complete skeleton1 found a long time ago in ,burwell ,fen and ,i have recently obtained another from the same locality4 ,there do not seem to be any obvious and constant characters by which we can distinguish a wolf from a dog1 and ,britain was celebrated for its large and fierce dogs4 ,the bones of the ,eskimo dogs are very wolf-like1 but they are frequently crossed with wolf4 ,perhaps the most interesting animal whose remains are found in the ,fens is the ,beaver4 ,why do we not find here and there a beaver dam8 ,perhaps it is because we have not been on the look-out for it1 and the peat-cutters would not have seen anything remarkable in the occurrence of a quantity of timber anywhere in the ,fens4 ,we must suppose that the peat which often contains whole forests of trees and even canoes would have preserved the timber of the beaver dam4 ,it is an animal too which might have contributed largely towards the formation of the ,fens by holding up and diverting meandering streams4 ,perhaps it did not make dams down in the ,fens1 and the skeletons we find are those of stray individuals or of dead animals which have floated down from dams near ,trumpington or ,chesterford2 very suitable places for them4 ,we want more evidence about the fen beaver4 ,i have heard that there are beavers in the ,danube which do not make dams1 but among those introduced into this country in recent years the dam building instinct seems to have survived the change4 ,the beavers on the ,marquis of ,bute's property in ,scotland cut down trees and built dams as did the beavers in ,sir ,edmund ,loder's park in ,sussex1 and even in the ,zoological ,gardens they recently constructed a lodge4 ,we have not found the beaver in the ,gravels4 ,part of the skull of a ,walrus was brought to us a long time ago and said to have been found in the peat4 ,but it is a very suspicious case4 ,it does not look like a bone that had been long entombed in peat1 and we are not so far from the coast as to make it improbable that it was carried there by some sailor returning home from northern seas4 ,bones of ,cetaceans are thrown up on the shore near ,hunstanton1 and ,seals are still not uncommon in the ,wash1 so that we need not attach much importance to the occurrence in marine silt of ,whale1 ,grampus1 ,porpoise1 and such like4 ,,birds4 ,we have paid much attention to the birds of the ,fens1 partly because of the occurrence of some unexpected species1 and also because of the absence1 so far as our collection goes1 of species of which we should expect to find large numbers4 ,perhaps the most interesting are the remains of ,pelican 7,p4 crispus or onocrotalus7#h4 ,of this we have two bones1 not associated nor in the same state of preservation4 ,the determination we have on the authority of ,alphonse ,milne ,edwards and ,professor ,alfred ,newton4 ,one of the bones is that of a bird so young that it cannot have flown over but shows that it must have been hatched or carried here4 #h ,annales des ,sciences ,naturelles1 ,zool4 7#e71 ,vol4 ,,viii1 ,pl4 #ad1 pp4 #bhe-bic4 ,ibis1 #ahfh1 pp4 #cfc-cgj1 ,proc4 ,zool4 ,soc4 #ahfh1 p4 #b4 ,trans4 ,norfolk and ,norwich ,naturalists ,soc4 ,vol4 ,,vii1 ,pt4 #b1 #aija4 ,geol4 ,mag4 ,no4 #ddg1 ,n4,s4 ,dec4 #d1 ,vol4 ,,viii1 ,no4 #i1 p4 #dbb4 ,of the ,crane 7,grus cinerea7 we have a great number of bones but of the common ,heron not one4 ,i have placed a recent skeleton of heron in the case to help us to look out for and determine any that may turn up4 ,bones of the ,bittern 7,botaurus or ,ardea stellaris7 are quite common1 as are those of the ,mute or tame ,swan 7,cygnus olor7 as well as of the ,hooper or wild ,swan 7,cygnus musicus or ferus74 ,goose 7,anser7 and ,duck 7,anas7 are not so numerous as one might have expected4 ,the ,grey ,goose 7,anser ferus7 and the ,mallard 7,anas boscas7 are the most common1 but other species are found1 as for instance ,anas grecca4 ,we have also the ,red ,breasted ,merganser 7,mergus serrator71 and the ,smew 7,mergus albellus71 the ,razor ,bill 7,alea tarda71 the ,woodcock 7,scolopax rusticola71 the ,water ,hen 7,gallinula chloropus7 and a few bones of a ,limicoline bird1 most likely a lapwing4 ,we have found the skull1 but no more1 of the ,white-tailed or ,sea ,eagle 7,haliaetus albicilla74 ,the whole is a strangely small collection considering all the circumstances4 ,we find in the ,fens of course everything of later date1 down to the drowned animals of last winter's storm1 or the stranded pike left when the flood went down4 ,it is a curious fact and very like instinct at fault that in floods the pike wander into shallow water and linger in the hollows till too late to get back to the river1 so that large numbers of them are found dead when the water has soaked in or evaporated4 ,an old man told me that he well remembered when pike were more abundant they used to dig holes along the margin when the flood was rising and when it went down commonly found several fine pike in them4 ,this explains why we so often find the bones of pike in the peat1 but where did the pike get into a habit so little conducive to the survival of the species8 ,although we notice at the present day a constant change in the mollusca1 their general continuity throughout the long ages from pre-glacial times is a very remarkable fact4 ,the presence of ,corbicula fluminalis and ,unio littoralis in the ,gravels characterized by the cold-climate group of mammals such as ,rhinoceros tichorhinus and ,elephas primigenius1 the absence of those shells from the deposits in which ,rh4 merckii and ,e4 antiquus are the representative forms1 and their existence now only in more southern latitudes1 as ,france1 ,sicily or the ,nile1 but not in our ,turbiferous ,series1 lay before us a series of apparent inconsistencies not easy of explanation4 ,,man4 ,every step in the line of enquiry we have been following1 from whatever point of view we have regarded the evidence1 has forced upon us the conclusion that a long interval elapsed between the ,areniferous and ,turbiferous series as seen in the ,fens2 and yet1 having regard to the geographical history of the area with which we commenced1 we cannot but feel that the various deposits represent only episodes in a continuous slow development due to changes of level both here and further afield and the accidents incidental to denudation4 ,but the particular deposits which we are examining happen to have been laid down near sea level where small changes produce great effects4 ,we may feel assured that over the adjoining higher ground the changes would have been imperceptible when they were occurring and the results hardly noticeable4 ,if the ,fen ,beds include nearly the whole of the ,neolithic stage the idea that glacial conditions then prevailed over the adjoining higher ground is quite untenable4 ,so far everything has taught us that the ,fens occupy a well-defined position in the evolution of the geographical features of ,east ,anglia and also that the fauna is distinctive1 and1 having regard to the whole facies1 quite different from that of the sands and gravels which occur at various levels all round and pass under the ,turbiferous ,series of the ,fens4 ,we will now enquire what is the place of these deposits in the hierarchy based upon the remains of man and his handiwork4 ,no ,palaeolithic remains have ever been found in the ,fen deposits4 ,we must not infer from this that there is everywhere evidence of a similar break or long interval of time between the ,palaeolithic and ,neolithic ages4 ,there are elsewhere remains of man and his handiwork which we must refer to later ,palaeolithic than anything found in the ,areniferous ,series just near the ,fen ,beds1 and there are1 not far off1 remains of man's handiwork which appear to belong to the ,neolithic age1 but to an earlier part of it than anything yet found in association with the ,fen ,beds4 ,the newer ,palaeolithic remains referred to occur chiefly in caves and the older ,neolithic objects are for the most part transitional forms of implement found on the surface in various places around but outside the ,fens and in the great manufactures of implements at ,cissbury and ,grimes ,graves1 in which we can study the embryology of ,neolithic implements and observe the development of forms suggested by those of ,palaeolithic age or by nature4 ,the sequence and classification adopted in these groups1 both those of later ,palaeolithic and those of earlier ,neolithic age1 are confirmed by an examination of the contemporary fauna2 the ,areniferous facies prevailing in the caves and the ,turbiferous facies characterising the pits and refuse-heaps of ,cissbury and ,grimes ,graves4 ,it is interesting to note that these ancient flint workings1 in which we find the best examples of transitional forms1 have both of them some suggestion of remote age4 ,the pits from which the flint was procured at ,cissbury are covered by the ramparts of an ancient ,british camp and the ground near ,grimes ,graves has yielded ,palaeolithic implements in situ in small rain-wash hollows close by--as seen near ,botany ,bay4 ,palaeolithic man came into this area sometime after the uplift of ,east ,anglia out of the ,glacial ,sea and was here through the period of denudation and formation of river terraces which ensued and the age of depression which followed4 ,but ,neolithic man belongs to the later part of that period of depression when the ends of some of the river gravels were again depressed below sea level and the valleys had scarcely sufficient fall for the rivers to flow freely to the sea4 ,in the stagnant swamps and meres thus caused the ,fen deposits grew1 and in this time the ,shippea man met his death mired in the watery peat of the then undrained fens4 ,human bones have not been very often found in the ,fen1 and when they do occur it is not always easy to say whether they really belong to the age of the peat in which they are found or may not be the remains of someone mired in the bog or drowned in one of the later filled up ditches4 ,that they have long been buried in the peat is often obvious from the colour and condition of the bone4 ,by the kindness of our friends ,mr and ,mrs ,luddington my wife and ,i received early information of the discovery of human bones in trenching on some of their property in the ,fen close to ,shippea ,hill near ,littleport and we were able to examine the section and get some of the bones out of the peat ourselves 7,fig4 #f74 ,a deposit of about #d' #f of peat with small thin lenticular beds of shell marl here rested on lead colored alluvial clay4 ,in the base of the peat about four inches above the ,buttery ,clay a human skeleton was found bunched up and crowded into a small space1 less than two feet square1 as if the body had settled down vertically4 b ----- _/ ,greek3 ph --------------_/ -------------- c d _/ d c _/ -----------_/ a ----------- e _/ e ------------------------------------- a4 ,kimmeridge ,clay forming ,shippea ,hill1 on which monastic buildings in connection with ,ely ,cathedral formerly stood4 b4 ,patches of rusty flint gravel4 c4 ,peat with bones of beaver1 boar1 urus1 etc4 d4 ,shell ,marl1 occurring in lenticular beds of limited extent in the upper part of the peat1 sometimes in one bed as at d and sometimes in several distinct beds as at d4 e4 ,buttery ,clay2 full of cockleshells etc4 at e1 but at e containing only freshwater shells and pieces of wood4 ,position of skeleton4 ,greek3 ph ,dressed flint flake on surface4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #f4 ,diagram ,section across ,shippea ,hill4 ,some of the bones were broken and much decayed1 while others1 when carefully extracted1 dried and helped out with a little thin glue1 became very sound and showed by the surface markings that they had suffered only from the moisture and not from any wear in transport4 ,the most interesting point about them is the protuberant brow1 which1 when first seen on the detached frontal bone1 before the skull had been restored1 suggested comparison with that of the ,neanderthal man4 ,much greater importance was attached to that character when the ,neanderthal skull was found4 ,when ,i announced the discovery of the ,shippea man the point on which ,i laid most stress was that1 notwithstanding his protuberant brow1 he could not possibly be of the age of the deposits to which the ,neanderthal man was referred4 ,i stated my own conviction that the peat in which the ,shippea man was found cannot be older than ,neolithic times and may be much newer and1 believing that similar prominent brow ridges are not uncommon to-day1 ,i suggested that he might be even as late as the time of the monks of ,ely who had a ,retreat on ,shippea ,hill4 ,the best authorities who have seen the skull since it has been restored by ,mr ,c4 ,e4 ,gray1 our skilful ,first ,attendant in the ,sedgwick ,museum1 refer it to the ,bronze ,age which falls well within the limits which ,i assigned4 ,this skull is unique among the few that ,i have obtained from the ,fens4 ,dr ,duckworth has described#i most of these1 and ,i subjoin a description of the ,shippea man by ,professor ,alexander ,macalister4 #i ,duckworth and ,shore1 ,man1 ,no4 #he1 #aiaa1 pp4 #acd1 #aci4 ,,description ,,of ,,the ,,shippea ,,man ,,by ,,prof4 ,a4 ,,macalister4 ,the calvaria is large1 dark coloured and much broken4 ,the base1 facial bones and part of the left brow ridge and glabella are gone4 ,the sutures are coarsely toothed and visible superficially although ankylosis has set in in the inner face4 ,the bone is fairly thick 7#haj mm471 and on the inner face the pacchionian pits are large and deep on each side of the middle line especially in the bregmatic part of the frontal and the post-bregmatic part of the parietals4 ,the superior longitudinal groove is deep but narrow1 and1 as far as the broken condition allows definite tracing1 the cerebral convolution impressions are of the typical pattern4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #g4 ,the striking feature is the prominent brow ridge due to the large frontal sinus4 ,the glabella was probably prominent and the margins on each side are large and rough and extend outwards to the supraorbital notches4 ,the outer part of the supraorbital margin and the processus jugalis are thick1 coarse and prominent 7,fig4 #g74 ,in norma verticalis the skull is ovoid-pentagonoid euryme-topic with conspicuous rounded parietal eminences1 slight flattening at the obelion and a convex planum interparietale below it 7,fig4 #h74 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #h4 ,in norma lateralis the brow ridges are conspicuous2 above them is the sulcus transversus from which the frontal ascends with a fairly uniform curve to the bregma4 ,the frontal sagittal arc above the ophryon measures #aab mm4 and its chord #aaf4 ,behind the bregma the parietals along the front half of the sagittal suture have a fairly flat outline to the medio-parietal region1 behind which the flattened obelion is continued downwards with a uniform slope to the middle of the planum interparietale whence it probably descended by a much steeper curve to the inion1 which is lost4 ,the parietal sagittal arc1 including the region where there was probably a supra-lambdoid ossicle1 was about #adj mm4 and its chord #aba but the curve is not uniform4 ,in norma occipitalis the sagittal suture appears at the summit of a ridge whose parietal sides slope outwards forming with each other an angle of #ach1 as far as the parietal eminences4 ,from these the sides drop vertically down to the large mastoid processes4 ,the intermastoid width at the tips of the processes is #aae1 but at the supramastoid crest is #adh 7,fig4 #i74 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #i4 ,in norma frontalis the conspicuous feature is the brow ridge4 ,this gives a kind of superficial suggestion of a ,neanderthaloid shape1 but the broad and well arched frontal dispels the illusory likeness4 ,the jugal processes jut out giving a biorbital breadth of #aae mm4 while the least frontal width is #ig and the bistephanic expands to #abe4 ,there is a slight median ridge on the frontal ascending from the ophryon1 at first narrow but expanding at the bregma to #ej mm4 ,the surface of this elevated area is a little smoother than that of the bone on each side of it4 ,the other long bones are mostly broken at their extremities4 ,the femora are strong and platymeric4 ,the postero-lateral rounded edge1 which bears on its hinder face the insertion of the gluteus maximus1 taken in connexion with the projection of the thin medial margin of the shaft below the tuberculum colli inferior causes the upper end of the shaft to appear flattened4 ,the index of platymeria is #ee4 ,the femoral length cannot have been less than #dga mm4 ,the man was probably of middle stature1 not a giant as was the ,gristhorpe man4 ,the tibi are also broken at their ends1 they are eurycnemic 7index #hj7 with sharp sinuous shin and flat back1 the length may have been between #cce and #cdj mm4 ,the humeri are also bones with strong muscular crests1 and the uln are smooth and long4 ,the fibula was channelled4 ,there is nothing in the bone-features which is inconsistent with the reference of the skull to the ,brachycephalic ,bronze ,age race4 ,illustration3 ,fig4 #aj4 ,in the following ,table are recorded the measurements of the different regions4 ,the two crania which ,i have selected to compare with it are 7#a7 a ,round-barrow skull from near ,stonehenge 7,no4 #agi in our ,collection7 and 7#b7 the ,gristhorpe skull1 to both of which it bears a very strong family likeness4 ,shippea ,stonehenge ,hill 7,no4 #agi7 ,gristhorpe ,maximal length #aid #ahe #aib ,maximal breadth #aec #aec #aef ,auricular height #ace #acb #acc ,biorbital width #aae #aab #aag ,bistephanic width #abh #acb #acc ,least frontal width #ig #ajc #ajf ,biasterial #abj #abg #abe ,auriculo-glabellar radius #aaf #aac #aad ,auriculo-ophryal radius #aac #aaa #aje ,auriculo-metopic radius #acd #abg #abd ,auriculo-bregmatic radius #acg #acb #acd ,auriculo-lambdoid radius #ajd #ajb #aae ,length and breadth index #ghhg #hbg #habe ,the resemblance to the two ,round-barrow skulls of the ,bronze ,age is too great to be accidental1 so we may regard this as a representative of that race1 possibly at an earlier stage than the typical form of which the two selected specimens are examples 7,fig4 #aj74 ,the mandible also resembles that of the ,gristhorpe skull in general shape of angle and prominence of chin4 ,the measurements are as appended3 ,shippea ,stonehenge ,hill 7,no4 #agi7 ,gristhorpe ,condylo mental length #aca -- #acj ,gonio mental length #ajj -- #ii ,bigoniac #aae -- #aaf ,bicondylar #aci -- #ada ,chin height #cb -- #cc ,cambridge3 ,,printed ,,by ,,john ,,clay1 ,m4,a4 ,,at ,,the ,,university ,,press