Antiquity of Man in America compared with Europe 131 



generalized view of those principal events which are agreed 

 on by both archeologists and geologists in Europe. It has 

 been stated by Briart, and is probably true, that the real 

 Quaternary era was made up chiefly of what have been called 

 "inter-glacial epochs," and that the glacial epochs proper were 

 only "brief episodes," interrupting a long period of compara- 

 tively mild climate. 



Comparison with America. 



We turn now to America, and what do we find? It is not 

 questioned that in America there has been a similar succession 

 of glacial epochs, separated by interglacial mild epochs. Nor 

 is it questioned that the preceding Pliocene, as well as the 

 Pleistocene interglacial American epochs, had faunas of ani- 

 mal life, and floras of plants, which were identical, or very sim- 

 ilar, as to genera, with those of Europe at the same dates, and it 

 is not supposed that these epochs in America were other than 

 contemporary with the analogous epochs in Europe. Further, 

 it is admitted by paleontologists of America that the succes- 

 sive grand changes in the European animals and plants from 

 the Pliocene to the present time have their duplication in 

 American geology. It is only in regard to the presence of 

 man among these animals that American scientists are not in 

 accord. 



Let us begin with the Pliocene, which terminated up- 

 wardly, according to Cope, with Equus beds, and was followed 

 in eastern North America by the Megalonyx beds. Cope at 

 first declared the two were about co-temporary, but on account 

 of some differences in the fauna he concluded that the Megal- 

 onyx beds were probably somewhat later than the Equus 

 beds. The special fauna of the Megalonyx beds he enumer- 

 ated. 



Along with the present familiar species, such as the squir- 

 rel, wolf, woodchuck, skunk, horse, tapir, and porcupine, 

 are found the bones of several extinct animals, the Megathe- 

 rium, Megalonyx, Castoroides, Mastodon, and several others. 

 Cope declared, without qualification, that these are of the later 

 Pliocene, but latterly geologists are inclined to include them 

 in the early Pleistocene. They have their parallels in Europe, 

 and, according to Ameghino and others, also in South America. 



