No. 6.] DAWKINS — THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. 



361 



basis for the classification of the Tertiary period. We find the 

 ph^cental mammals becoming more and more specialised as we 

 approach the frontier of history. The living orders appear in 

 the Eocene, the livini:; o>enera in the Meiocene, a few livinsr 

 species in the Pleiocene, and the rest in the Pleistocene. The 

 characteristics of this evolution of living forms may be summed up 

 in the followinsr table : — 



DEFINITION OF TERTIARY PERIOD BY PLACENTAL 



LAND MAMMALS. 



VL Historic; in which 

 the events are re- 

 corded in history. 



V. Prehistoric ; in 

 which domestic 

 animals and cul- 

 tivated fruits ap- 

 pear. 



Events included 

 historv. 



in 



IV. Pleistocene ; in 

 which living spe- 

 cies of placental 

 mammals are more 

 ahundant than the 

 extinct. 



TIL Pleiocene ; in 

 which living spe- 

 cies of placental 

 mammals appear. 



II. Meiocene ; in 

 which the alli- 

 ance between liv- 

 ing and placental 

 mammals is more 

 close than before. 



I. Eocene; in which 

 the placental ma- 

 mmals now on 

 earth were repre- 

 sented by allied 

 forms belonging 

 to existing orders 

 and families. 



Man abundant ; do- 

 mestic animals, 

 cultivated fruits, 

 spinning, weaving, 

 pottery - making, 

 mining, commerce; 

 the neolithic, bron- 

 ze, and iron stages 

 of culture. 



Man appears ; Anthro- 

 pidx ; the paleoli- 

 thic hunter; living 

 species abundant. 



Living species ap- 

 pear ; apes, Simiadcp, 

 in Southern Eu- 

 rope. 



Living genera ap- 

 pear; apes, Simiadce, 

 in Europe & North 

 America. 



Living orders and fa- 

 milies appear ; le- 

 murs (Lemuridse) in 

 Europe and North 

 America. 



Founded on discover- 

 ies, documents, re- 

 fuse heaps, caves, 

 tombs. 



Camps, habitations, re- 

 fuse heaps, surface 

 accumulations, caves 

 alluvia, peat - bogs, 

 submarine forests, 

 raised beaches. 



Refuse heaps, contents 

 of caves, river depo- 

 sits, submarine for- 

 ests, boulder clay, 

 naoraines, marine 

 sands, and shingle. 



Fresh- water and mar- 

 ine strata ; volcanic 

 debris (Auvergne). 



Fresh-water and mar- 

 ine strata ; volcanic 

 debris (Auvergne); 

 lignites. 



Fresh- water and mar- 

 ine strata ; lignites. 



The orders, families, genera, and species in the above table, 

 when traced forward in time, fall into shape in a geological tree, 

 with its trunk hidden in the Secondary period, and its branch- 

 VoL. X. X No. 6. 



