The skull from Muskham, in the valley of the Trent, a side view of which is given in Plate XI., like the animal bones with which it was associated, is stained of a dark-brown colour. The whole of those parts of the cranial bones which bound the cranial cavity are well preserved; but the facial bones, with the exception of a small portion of the nasals, are broken away, so as to expose the whole of the under-surface of the base of the skull.

The considerable development of the frontal sinuses and of the different ridges and processes of the skull, shows it to be that of an adult, and the same characters lead me to believe that it belonged to a male. Otherwise it is small enough for a female, as its extreme length does not exceed 7·2 in., its extreme breadth 5·4 in., and its horizontal circumference 20½ inches.

The skull has a very peculiar form. If a line drawn from the glabella to the superior curved line of the occiput be made horizontal, the highest point of the longitudinal median contour of the skull will be seen to be situated about the middle of the length of the sagittal suture, and from this point the contour shelves rapidly downwards, to the brow on the one hand, and to the centre of the space between the apex of the lambdoidal suture and the occipital protuberance on the other. This last is the most prominent portion of the back part of the skull, the median contour below it bending forwards to the occipital protuberance, which is a very strong, projecting, triangular process.

The authenticated discovery of human remains in strata of high historical antiquity in the Heathery Burn Cave, near Stanhope, and at Muskham in the Valley of the Trent, and the approaching discussion which “looms in the distance” of Palæontology consequent upon the proximate publication of Sir Charles Lyell's ‘Antiquity of Man,’ induce me to offer a few observations on the osteological nature of the evidences at present afforded to us of man contemporary with the mammoths, with a view, if possible, to determine the grade of the individuals whose remains have been preserved in suprapliocene strata.

The deposits on the banks of the Somme (Abbeville, St. Acheul, St. Roch), at Grenelle near Paris, at Hoxne in Suffolk, at Brixham and Kent's Hole in the south-west of England, under Gray's-Innlane in Middlesex, at Maccagnone in Sicily, the Kjökkenmöddings in Denmark, and at Wookey Hole in the Mendips, indicate to us the existence of man in a low state of civilization, as proved by his weapons, but of whom the osteological evidences have not yet been discovered. In these deposits the bones of extinct mammalia are found, as well as a more or less percentage of animals of existing species.

At Engis in Belgium, Massat in France, Aurignac in Gascony, Muskham in the Valley of the Trent, the Lake habitations in Switzerland, proofs of man have been found in strata contemporaneous with the most recently extinct animals.

It is not improbable that, in the eager search for flint implements, some of us may underrate the importance of objects which might serve to throw light upon the interesting subject of the antiquity of the human race. Anxiety not to lose any evidence bearing upon this point will, doubtless, be accepted as a sufficient excuse for re-opening the question as to the perforated balls found in the Drift, displaying proofs of the workmanship of man. We have had conflicting opinions upon these objects, but I am not aware that anything decisive has been published. It is desirable, under such circumstances, to obtain as many facts as possible, and get the question settled. My first acquaintance with these objects occurred about fifteen years ago; for as I was uncovering some Anglo-Saxon remains in the Kempston Gravel-pit, near Bedford, I found several round stones perforated through ; and so strongly was I impressed at the time that they were the personal ornaments of the ancient chieftain just exhumed, that I actually presented them to the Archaeological Society as Saxon beads. Subsequent examinations of the Drift gravels, however, convinced me that the balls were of an earlier period than the Anglo-Saxon, whether works of art or natural productions. They are described by some naturalists to be specimens of the Chalk fossil named as the Coscinopora globularis; but the great question for consideration is, how did they become perforated? The theory put forth by some objectors is that they were bored by an insect or worm when they were in their soft, primitive condition; but it is difficult to understand how the most voracious insect could seize upon a perfectly round object and drill through it, most accurately, a thoroughly straight tunnel of uniform bore.