460 EARLY MAN 



the icy ocean in which it had been submerged, and most of the 

 mountain tops had lost their covering of perennial snow and 

 ice. The climate was ameliorated, and the sun again shone 

 warmly on the desolate earth. Gradually the new land became 

 overspread with a rich vegetation, and was occupied by many 

 large animals. There were species of elephant, rhinoceros, 

 hippopotamus, horse, bison, ox and deer, multiplying till the 

 plains and river valleys were filled with their herds, in spite of 

 the fact that they were followed by formidable carnivorous 

 beasts fitted to prey on them. At this time, somewhere in the 

 warm temperate zone, in an oasis or island of fertility, appeared 

 a new thing on the earth, a man and woman walking erect in 

 the forest glades, bathing in the waters, gathering and tasting 

 every edible fruit, watching with curious and inquiring eyes 

 the various animals around them, and giving them names 

 which might eventually serve not merely to designate their 

 kinds, but to express actions and emotions as well. When, 

 where, and how did this new departure, fraught with so many 

 possibilities, occur introducing as it did the dexterous fingers 

 and inventive mind of Man upon the scene? The last of 

 these questions science is still unable to answer, and though 

 we may frame many hypotheses, they all remain destitute of 

 certain proof in so far as natural science is concerned. We 

 can here only fall back on the old traditional and historical 

 monuments of our race, and believe that man, the child of 

 God, and with God-like intellect, will, and consciousness, was 

 placed by his Maker in an Edenic region, and commissioned to 

 multiply and replenish the earth. The when and where of his 

 introduction, and his early history when introduced, are more 

 open to scientific investigation. , 



That man was originally frugivorous, his whole structure 

 testifies. That he originated in some favourable climate and 

 fertile land is equally certain, and that his surroundings must 

 have been of such a nature as to give him immunity from the 



