The first hint we had of the existence of these remarkable dwellings was obtained in 1829, when an excavation was being made on the shore of a Swiss lake. Some wooden piles, apparently very old, and other antiquities were found by the workmen. Not much attention, however, was paid to this discovery till 1854, when a Mr. Aeppli drew attention to some remains of human handiwork found near his house, in part of the bed of a lake which had been left dry during a season of great drought. The workmen employed in recovering some land from the lake found the heads of a great many wooden piles protruding through the mud, and also a number of stags' horns, and implements of various descriptions. Stimulated by this discovery, search was made in various lakes, and the result was truly astonishing. In every direction remains of the habitations of prehistoric man were discovered, and relics were found in such abundance that the history of this unknown past could be traced through long ages, and the habits of the people ascertained with a very considerable amount of probability. The details are so numerous that it would be impossible in the space at our disposal to go into them all. Of course, during the long time that has elapsed since these structures were erected, their remains have been reduced to mere ruins, and it is only by comparing one with another that we are able to picture to ourselves what they were originally like and what sort of life was led by the men who inhabited them. The oldest of these dwellings belong to the stone age, when man had not acquired any knowledge of the use of metal; when all his instruments were merely sharpened stones, fixed in wooden handles, or pieces of bone, horn, or other natural material. They are therefore somewhat roughly finished, but at the same time exhibit considerable ingenuity and skill. The method of construction seems to have been somewhat as follows: A suitable situation, not far from the shore, where the water was not very deep, having been fixed upon, these prehistoric builders drove into the muddy bottom of the lake a number of piles or long stakes, arranged generally pretty close together, and in some sort of regular order. These piles were formed generally from stems of trees, with the bark on, but occasionally from split wood. The ends were sharpened to a point by the aid of fire or by cutting with stone axes. On a sufficient number being driven in, and their upper ends brought to a level above the surface of the water, platform beams were laid across, fastened by wooden pegs, or in some cases fixed into notches cut in the heads of the vertical piles. The platform was generally very roughly made, just a series of unbarked stems placed side by side and covered with layers of earth or clay, with numerous openings through which refuse of all kinds fell into the water beneath. In many cases connection with the shore was made by means of a narrow bridge or gangway, constructed in the same manner.