6 EARLY MAN IN BRITAIN. [CHAP. i. 



by the written record. The appearance and disappear- 

 ance of successive groups of wild animals, the vary- 

 ing climate and geography, the successive invasions 

 of tribes, the gradual development of civilisation, fall 

 within my scope. The materials necessary for this task 

 are perplexing in their abundance, and lie scattered 

 over a wide field; the progress of discovery is very 

 swift, and there are great blanks in the story yet to be 

 filled in. Nevertheless, after a preparation of many 

 years by researches in this country and on the continent, 

 it seems to me to be better to attempt to perform the 

 task, however imperfectly, rather than to wait for that 

 perfection which perhaps might never come. 



The three Phases of Life on the Earth. 



The history of life in Europe falls naturally into three 

 great divisions, separated from each other by breaks of 

 great magnitude. In the first or Primary, fishes and 

 amphibians, and in the upper part a few reptiles, were 

 the master beings which have left their traces buried in 

 the rocks. The vegetation, now principally represented 

 by the coal seams, consisted of pines, araucarice, tree 

 ferns, and gigantic trees (Sigillaria and Lepidodendron 

 and Catamites), allied to the club mosses and mares- 

 tails. In the second or Secondary, reptiles had the 

 mastery, walking on the land as giant carnivores and 

 herbivores (Iguanodons and Megalosauri), flying in 

 the air as pterodactyles, or huge reptilian bats, swim- 

 ming in the sea as great reptilian whales, seals, and wal- 

 ruses (Ichthyosauri, Pleiosauri, and Plesiosauri). The 

 birds are represented by the Archceopteryx of Solenhofen, 

 with a long tail like that of a reptile, and in the Creta- 



