126 PKEADAHITE MAN. 



whilst other animals than those now known were denizens of 

 the earth. If this point be conceded, then the natural ques- 

 tion arises, whether in periods nearer our own, but still be- 

 fore the records of history, some traces of the existence of 

 man might not have been reasonably expected. Assuredly; 

 and they have been found, notably in the peat-lands of Den- 

 mark and the submerged dwellings of certain Swiss and other 

 lakes. 



In the peat-formation of Denmark a quantity of human 

 implements has been found, indicative of a chronological suc- 

 cession of periods, which have been called by Danish natur- 

 alists the ages of stone, of bronze, and of iron, according to 

 the materials of which the implements are made. In refer- 

 ence to this division, it must be stated that the vegetation of 

 Denmark has undergone three marked phases of mutation. 

 There was a time, as made evident by remains, when the 

 Scotch fir (pinus sylvestris) was indigenous to that country. 

 None have grown naturally in Denmark within historical pe- 

 riods, and when planted there do not thrive. After the Scotch 

 fir died out, a sort of scrub-oak prevailed, which in its turn 

 has almost disappeared ; and the common beech is now the 

 prevailing|tree-growth of Denmark. The Danish age of stone 

 coincided with the prevalence of Scotch fir, and to some ex- 

 tent with the second or oaken period. A considerable por- 

 tion, however, of the oak period corresponded with the age of 

 bronze, as proved by the discovery of swords and shields of 

 bronze in oak-peats. The age of iron almost exactly corre- 

 sponds with the prevalence of the beech-tree, and belongs 

 mostly to historical times. The use of bronze implements 

 implies enormous advance in the arts. Not only is bronze a 

 compound metal, but tin, one element of the compound, never 

 occurs native, and is wholly absent both from Switzerland 

 and Scandinavia. If, as some have imagined, an age of cop- 

 per must have followed that of stone and preceded that of 

 bronze, the duration of it in Europe must have been very 



