436 KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



grown away from the idea that Columbus discovered a new world or continent. 

 He but re-discovered an old one. 



A writer in the North American Review finely expressed it: "The hands of 

 the geological clock pointed to the same hour on both sides of the Atlantic." 

 And that "the story of early man in America is but a part of the same and 

 greater story of his first appearance on the earth." 



Retrograde periods in the progress of races being conceded historical facts, 

 we now ask the cause of the retrograde condition of the red man at the dawn of 

 our history, and submit to the following answer, to-wit : They had lost all inter- 

 course with their " parent land — their "first world" — "the drowned island" — 

 " the lost Atlantis "— by the deluge as recorded in sacred and profane history. 

 When the island sank into the sea the path of commerce was closed for "a lapse 

 of 6,000 years." That this island did exist and was the cradle of civiHzation at 

 a remote period, and was swallowed up in a great convulsion of nature, may yet, 

 to many, seem legendary instead of authentic history, but, says an able writer : 

 " There is an unbehef, which grows out of ignorance as well as a skepticism 

 which is born of intelligence." Herodotus, it is said, was called " the father of 

 liars " for his accounts of the wonders of the ancient civilization of the Nile and 

 of ChaldsBa. For a thousand years the stories of the buried cities, Pompeii and 

 Herculaneum, were regarded as myths, but are now accepted facts in history, 

 and cannot we, in turn, accept the testimony of eminent scholars whose lives 

 are devoted to research, and to whom we are indebted for the historical knowl- 

 edge we already possess? Even as Herodotus incurred the derision of his time, 

 and in later times was held in high esteem by Schlegel, Buckle and their peers, 

 so Plato's story of Atlantis, long considered fabulous, is now being interpreted as 

 authentic history. And, says Ignatius Donnelly, " if confirmed by farther in- 

 vestigation, it will prove to be one of the most valuable records which have come 

 down to us from antiquity." 



In this new era for legends, does it seem otherwise than conclusive that in 

 in an age before there were written records, marvelous events and heroic deeds 

 should be handed down from sire to son, and, as years rolled on, be regarded as 

 myths and "folk-tales" ? An illustration of this view occurs in the dialogue be- 

 tween Critiasand Socrates', in Plato's History of Atlantis. Says Critias : "Then 

 listen, Socrates, to a strange tale, which is, however, certainly true, as Solon, 

 who was the wisest of the seven sages, declared. He was a relative and great 

 friend of my great grandfather, Dropidas, and Dropidas told Critias, my grand- 

 father, who remembered and told us, that there were of old great and marvelous 

 actions which have passed into oblivion through time and the destruction of the 

 human race." In another place Critias says; "I will tell an old world story, 

 which I heard from an old man, who was ninety years of age." Thus, it seems 

 that the origin of legends might be traced back to a narrative of actual events. 



The verification of Plato's legend is based on both ancient and modern evi- 

 dence. From the striking identity in the traditions of the ancient nations on 

 both sides of the Atlantic — each having a flood legend concerning a "lost island 



