A MILLION YEAES OF CHILDHOOD 7 



region. As the climate grew colder, the mammals 

 are supposed to have passed southward, in three great 

 streams, upon America, Europe, and Asia. 



At the time of this southward movement the 

 monkeys were already developed, and some of them 

 passed directly into America from the Polar region. 

 The main body of the monkeys descended to Asia, 

 and with them was the most advanced of all the 

 mammal families — the large group which was to give 

 birth to the apes and men. It is, as I said, disputed 

 whether the ape line and human line had not 

 separated from each other before that time, but most 

 authorities believe that the separation most probably 

 occurred at the time supposed in this theory. Then, 

 it is said, the apes wandered on to fehe South of Asia 

 and to Africa, and in the enervating conditions of 

 the tropics they found no impulse or stimulation to 

 advance further. The human, or semi-human, branch 

 of the family is believed to have remained in Central 

 Asia, under more stimulating conditions. The climate 

 grew steadily colder, as our whole geological record 

 testifies. The great mass of the Himalaya Mountains 

 was rising. Moist, warm regions of Asia were 

 drained by the uplift, lowered in temperature, and 

 stripped of their rich forests. The primitive human 

 or semi-human animals were forced to quit the trees 

 and take to a more adventurous and exacting life on 

 the ground. A new departure was made in the 

 direction of developing intelligence. 



On the whole, this theory represents what most of 

 the authorities think in regard to early man ; except 

 that perhaps the greater number put the cradle of 

 the race in the region of the Indian Ocean. Mr. 

 H. G. Wells has, in his Outline of History, followed 



