Man's Place in Nature 191 



The Difficulty of the Problem of the Ascent of Man. 

 It must be admitted that the problem remains full 

 of difficulties. We do not know how Man arose, 

 or whence he came, or when he began, or where 

 his first home was; in short we are in a deplorable 

 state of ignorance on the whole subject. But con- 

 sider for a little each of these points, taking them 

 in reverse order. 



The Garden of Eden is not yet known to geog- 

 raphers. We have only speculations as to the 

 cradle of the human race. We may venture on 

 negative statements, such as that it could not have 

 been in the New World, but the fewer positive 

 statements we make, the better. 



As to the antiquity of the human race, it is cer- 

 tain that men lived in Europe at a time when mam- 

 moth and rhinoceros, hysena and lion, frequented 

 these parts. From the situations in which palaeo- 

 lithic implements have been found, it is inferred 

 that these must have dropped from their makers' 

 hands at least 150,000 years ago. And these im- 

 plements were not the work of novices; in their 

 well-finished form they compare favourably with 

 some of the results of twentieth-century handi- 

 craft. But ever so much older than those palseo- 

 liths are the eoliths. They probably take us back 

 to 300,000 years ago. 



Another line of argument is this. It is certain 

 that Man could not have arisen from any of the 



