IGO ANNITEKSAllY ADDRESS 



upper beds prove that a rigorous climate prevailerl at the period of 

 their formation ; while the lignite indicates by its fossil plants a 

 comparatively warm climate. These lignites are called inter- 

 glacial lignites. Several cylindrical rods of firewood more or less 

 sharply pointed at the ends lay embedded in the coal. These 

 pointed ends seemed to have been sharpened by human hands. 

 M. Broca says that Quaternary man is now-a-days better known 

 than many historical nations. If we accept the doctrine of 

 evolution, we must demand very great antiquity for man. It is 

 difficult to calculate the great superiority of man when we 

 consider the immense advantage he has in having the faculty 

 of speech and a knowledge of the use of fire. To bridge over 

 this great gap between the man and the ape would require almost 

 incalculable time. But you may say that the theory of evolution 

 is not proved, and that this want of the connecting link is a proof 

 against it. You may say, Where is the intermediate man ? Show 

 me an animal half -ape and half-man. I may remark that it is not 

 reasonable to expect uninterrupted geological evidence. For the 

 history of the earth, as written in its rocks, is a most imperfect one. 

 It may be compared to a book in which every alternate leaf has 

 been torn out and destroyed. At best we have only the sedi- 

 mentary rocks to examine. Of the land rocks from which these 

 were probably derived we know nothing. I think that most 

 likely in every solar year of twenty-five millions of our years, 

 the relative position of the land and the water on the earth is 

 changed. If you look at a map of the world, you cannot help 

 remarking how much greater is the extent of land in the northern 

 than in the southern hemisphere. Judging from the analogy of 

 nature and from other facts, I think it probable that last year or 

 the year before last (I speak of solar years), this distribution of 

 land was reversed, and perhaps most land was before that time in 

 the southern, and most water in the northern hemisphere. Most 

 geologists believe in a submerged continent in the Indian Ocean, 

 of which the island of Madagascar forms the remains. They call 

 it Lemuria. I believe that our earth experiences a Lemuria eveiy 

 solar year, which probably contains the geological evidence of the 

 missing link. We are told by geographers that the earth is raised 

 on an average a thousand feet above the sea, and they calculate that 

 it would take about six millions of years to denude and wash away 

 all the land. Therefore, I think we may safely say that in twice 

 that time, say half a solar year of twelve and a half millions of 

 years, all the land would be washed away, and in another half 

 solar year new land would reappear. In those parts of Great 



