END OF THE PALANTHROP1C AGE 91 



animal life, and secondarily to permanent changes 

 both in geography and climate, under which new 

 conditions the neanthropic age was inaugurated. 

 How this took place we have to inquire in the 

 sequel. In the meantime we may merely remark 

 that since the two principal races of primitive men 

 known to us in Europe seem to have perished, we 

 must infer that individuals of a third race beyond the 

 limits of Europe were destined to survive, and again 

 to replenish the earth in the new era, and that 

 possibly these may be represented by the solitary 

 Truchere skull. In the case of many of the more 

 bulky and unwieldy animals inhabiting the plains the 

 case was different. They perished, or if any sur- 

 vived the submergence they were unable to multiply 

 under the new conditions. 



Desperate attempts have been made in the 

 interests of extreme uniformitarianism to discredit 

 the abrupt change from palaeocosmic to neocosmic 

 men. It has been supposed that the latter replaced 

 the former as conquerors -a most unlikely theory, 

 when their relative powers are considered. It has 

 been conjectured that as the cold decreased the old 

 races of men followed the reindeer to the north 

 and became Arctic peoples. But why did they 

 not rather attack the new animals, which in that 

 case must have come in from the 'south? It has 

 even been supposed that the Esquimaux may be 

 their descendants ; but they are quite different in 

 physical characters, and have no nearer resemblance 



