" THE DISCOVERY OF MAN "
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—I am very sorry if Mr. Casson thinks that I have written a quibbling and unintelligent review of his excellent book. At the same time, I cannot allow his letter to pass without an answer.
In his Preface Mr. Casson says that he has omitted the names of " minor men . . . whose individual work has not necessarily advanced the subject." It is not a question of " epoch-making contributions," observe, but of " advancing the subject." Each of the authorities I mentioned in my review has incontestably " advanced the subject " to a remark- able degree. Mr. Casson says that all of them are " concerned with the study of Palaeolithic Man," implying that they are so concerned exclusively This is entirely wrong. Dechelette was concerned with all the prehistoric periods, Montelius was not concerned with Palaeolithic Man at all, Sir Arthur Keith is concerned equally with the bones of all prehistoric men. As to Troy being in Greece, don't let us quibble! It is not in Greece. Nor can I allow Mr. Casson to include in the scenery of the Troad the island of Samothrace and the hills of Erenkeui. The dist.tnce between Troy and Samothrace is about forty-five miles: the peaks of the island appear faintly over the intervening land and sea, and it certainly cannot be regarded as a " background." There is a hill at Erenkeui (up which I have driven the craziest of army Fords), but it is not a part of the Troad proper, and it is not com- parable to " the wildest scenery in Greece."
Scheuchzer's homo diluvii testis is surely of interest as the indication of an early stage in anthropological investigation; and I think Mr. Casson need have little doubt as to the period of the Swanscombe skull—let him peruse the reports in the yournal of the Royal Anthropological Institute. With regard to the use of the term " neolithic," I still maintain that Mr. Casson is entirely misleading. I should like to take up the other points in his letter ; but I have already made an unfair demand upon your space.—Your obedient servant,
C. E. VULLIAMY.
4 Chalcot Crescent, N.W. i.
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