﻿Paleontology 
  — 
  welleii 
  311 
  

  

  the 
  human 
  species 
  will 
  undergo 
  little 
  or 
  no 
  essential 
  morphological 
  

   change 
  in 
  the 
  centuries 
  and 
  millenniums 
  to 
  come, 
  while 
  he 
  is 
  a 
  resident 
  

   on 
  the 
  earth. 
  He 
  may 
  suffer 
  the 
  loss 
  of 
  certain 
  minor 
  parts 
  through 
  

   disuse, 
  but 
  in 
  all 
  probability 
  the 
  man 
  of 
  the 
  year 
  1000000 
  or 
  of 
  

   10000000 
  A. 
  D. 
  will 
  be 
  essentially 
  what 
  he 
  is 
  to-day 
  as 
  regards 
  his 
  

   physical 
  form 
  and 
  organization. 
  Man 
  has 
  become 
  the 
  master 
  of 
  his 
  

   environment, 
  and 
  because 
  of 
  this 
  he 
  is 
  able 
  to 
  adapt 
  himself 
  individu- 
  

   ally 
  to 
  almost 
  every 
  condition 
  on 
  the 
  face 
  of 
  the 
  land 
  and 
  of 
  the 
  

   sea, 
  and 
  with 
  his 
  mechanical 
  devices 
  he 
  even 
  penetrates 
  the 
  air 
  itself 
  

   and 
  the 
  depths 
  of 
  the 
  ocean. 
  

  

  Notwithstanding 
  man's 
  control 
  over 
  his 
  environment, 
  his 
  social 
  

   organization 
  is 
  far 
  from 
  complete; 
  it 
  is, 
  in 
  fact, 
  so 
  entirely 
  out 
  of 
  

   adjustment 
  that 
  warfare 
  and 
  strife 
  between 
  all 
  sorts 
  of 
  groups 
  is 
  

   continual. 
  It 
  must 
  be 
  recognized 
  that, 
  geologically 
  speaking, 
  man 
  

   is 
  in 
  his 
  infancy. 
  He 
  has 
  been 
  a 
  resident 
  of 
  the 
  earth 
  for 
  perhaps 
  

   one-half 
  million 
  of 
  years 
  — 
  a 
  short 
  time 
  geologically 
  — 
  and 
  for 
  475,000 
  

   or 
  more 
  years 
  of 
  this 
  time 
  he 
  led 
  an 
  existence 
  but 
  little 
  different 
  from 
  

   that 
  of 
  his 
  other 
  animal 
  associates. 
  The 
  gradual 
  attainment 
  of 
  

   environmental 
  control 
  doubtless 
  was 
  the 
  real 
  reason 
  for 
  his 
  recent 
  

   rapid 
  advancement, 
  and 
  it 
  has 
  been 
  only 
  a 
  few 
  thousand 
  years 
  since 
  

   he 
  began 
  to 
  live 
  together 
  in 
  large 
  communities, 
  where 
  the 
  necessity 
  

   for 
  elaborate 
  social 
  organization 
  has 
  become 
  imperative. 
  The 
  hu- 
  

   man 
  generation 
  is 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  25 
  or 
  30 
  years; 
  about 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  

   generations 
  in 
  one 
  century, 
  30 
  or 
  40 
  in 
  a 
  thousand 
  years. 
  Our 
  an- 
  

   cestors 
  had 
  scarcely 
  emerged 
  from 
  the 
  condition 
  of 
  savagery 
  2,000 
  

   years 
  ago, 
  less 
  than 
  100 
  generations. 
  When 
  we 
  look 
  into 
  the 
  future 
  

   our 
  expected 
  existence 
  is 
  measured, 
  not 
  by 
  scores 
  or 
  hundreds 
  of 
  

   generations, 
  but 
  by 
  many 
  thousands, 
  and 
  during 
  all 
  of 
  this 
  period 
  the 
  

   laws 
  of 
  evolution 
  will 
  continue 
  to 
  act 
  and 
  our 
  social 
  organization 
  will 
  

   become 
  more 
  and 
  more 
  perfected. 
  

  

  The 
  paleontological 
  record 
  is 
  a 
  vast 
  sociological 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  a 
  

   morphological 
  record. 
  The 
  organisms 
  of 
  the 
  past 
  have 
  lived 
  in 
  

   faunal 
  assemblages 
  comparable 
  in 
  a 
  way 
  with 
  the 
  groups 
  of 
  complex 
  

   human 
  societies 
  of 
  which 
  we 
  are 
  a 
  part. 
  This 
  life 
  record 
  is 
  the 
  

   exemplification 
  of 
  a 
  great 
  sociological 
  experiment, 
  the 
  consideration 
  

   of 
  which 
  should 
  be 
  full 
  of 
  suggestion 
  to 
  the 
  student 
  of 
  present 
  human 
  

   social 
  relations. 
  The 
  parallels 
  between 
  the 
  history 
  of 
  the 
  extinct 
  

   fossil 
  faunas 
  of 
  the 
  paleontologist 
  and 
  the 
  human 
  social 
  groups 
  are 
  

   many. 
  Numerous 
  provincial 
  faunas 
  are 
  recognized, 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  

   completely 
  isolated 
  from 
  other 
  contemporaneous 
  faunal 
  groups, 
  by 
  

   reason 
  of 
  a 
  lack 
  of 
  means 
  of 
  intercommunication. 
  Certain 
  human 
  

   societies 
  likewise 
  are, 
  or 
  have 
  been, 
  conspicuously 
  provincial 
  in 
  char- 
  

   acter, 
  and 
  this 
  provincialism 
  is 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  cause, 
  namely, 
  a 
  lack 
  

   of 
  the 
  means 
  of 
  communication. 
  A 
  mountain 
  range 
  or 
  a 
  great 
  river, 
  

  

  