12 OCTOBER 1867, Page 23

Papers offered for Discussion at the Meeting of the British

Association at Dundee, in Reply to the Speculations recently promulgated in Regard to the Antiquity and Nature of Man. By the Rev. James Brodie. (Hamilton and Adams.)--It is enough to read the papers accepted by the British Association without deciding on the claims of others to he

heard. We have, however, relaxed this rule in favour of Mr. Brodie,. and have made ourselves to some extent acquainted with his arguments. He attacks the theories of Sir Charles Lyell, Messrs. Darwin, Huxley, and Grove, and 31. Boucher de Porthea, with regard to the growth of peat, the elevation of the Scottish coasts, the origin of oceanic currents,. the action of floating ice, and the nature and position of man. He- seems to argue with some plausibility, that if the growth of peat takes place at the rate assigned to it by Sir Charles Lyell and M. Boucher de Perthes, the Romans must have invaded Scotland eight thousand years ago, instead of sixteen hundred. But other statements of his are obviously incorrect. We refer particularly to his discussion about the sirocco of the Post-Tertiary epoch.