Animals Before Man 



ice-sheets tliat have given their name to the 

 Glacial period. More than this, since the bones 

 are those of S23ecies still living, we know that 

 this cold period could not have occurred so very 

 long ago. 



Sometimes we may even go a little further 

 than this, and tell what the weather was at some 

 particular time ; there are prints of rain-drops, 

 and these may even show the direction of the 

 wind, casts of gaj)ing cracks in the sun-dried 

 mud, telling of long drought, and marks left by 

 the rippling waves as the tide went out, speak- 

 ing of gentle breezes and fair weather. It is 

 always well to have corroborative evidence in 

 doubtful cases, for if Nature does not exactly 

 play tricks on us, her messages, like those of 

 the Delj^hic oracle, are occasionally obscure, 

 and capable of being translated in more ways 

 than one. 



Cuvier inferred from the bones of the ele- 

 phant and rhinoceros that at the time they 

 lived Europe rejoiced in a warm climate ; but 

 later discoveries showed that these animals were 

 clothed in fur and fitted to endure the cold. 



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