THE EVOLUTION OF MAN 



saunans, typified by Ichthyosaurus, infested land 

 and sea. After that we reach the third great 

 period, the Tertiary period, when Europe had 

 the climate and the fauna of present day Africa, 

 such as giraffes, elephants and monkeys. And 

 when this epoch came to an end, the Quaternary 

 period began, with which our entire historical 

 tradition is identified and in which we are stll 

 living to-day. We do not meet any familiar 

 objects until we reach this last period. The sur- 

 face of the earth then assumes the form to which 

 we are now accustomed. All things come closer 

 to us. The things that lie beyond are strange to 

 us, like an unknown creation, like a dream of 

 some other planet. 



And yet man lived even in that Tertiary period. 



No song, no heroic story, gives any informa- 

 tion about him. But where the voice of tradi- 

 tion, the chronicles of conscious humanity are 

 silent, there we find other witnesses that speak 

 to us the stones. The tradition of mankind ex- 

 pires within the Quaternary period. There is 

 an extreme moment when even the most ancient 

 inscriptions of the Chinese, the Babylonians, and 

 the Egyptians become mute. Written characters 

 disappear and with them the earliest direct voice 

 from the cradle of humanity about itself. But 



