28 HOMO V. DARWIN. - 



Nor should it be forgotten that those regions which are the 

 most likely to aiford remains connecting man with some 

 extinct ape-like creature have not, as yet, been searched by 

 geologists." (Vol. i. p. 201.) 



Lord G. To what regions do yon refer as most likely to 

 contain such remains ? 



Darwin. " It is probable," my Lord, " that Africa was 

 formerly inhabited by extinct apes, closely allied to the 

 gorilla and chimpanzee ; and as these two species are now 

 man's nearest allies, it is somewhat more probable that our 

 early progenitors lived on the African continent than else- 

 where. But it is useless to speculate on this subject,^ for 

 an ape nearly as large as a man . . . existed in Europe ^ 

 during the Upper Miocene period ; and since so remote a 

 period the earth has certainly undergone many great revolu- 

 tions, and there has been ample time for migration on the 

 largest scale." (Vol. i. p. 199.) 



Lord G. Man's progenitors, then, like this ape, may have 

 been Europeans. 



Darivin. What I have said, my Lord, implies thst. 



Lord G. In which case, Europe ought to contain fossil 

 remains of our supposed progenitors ; yet you can point to 

 none that have been found in Europe. 



Darivin. The discovery of fossil remains, my Lord, as Sir 

 Charles Lyell says, has always " been an extremely slow and 

 fortuitous process." 



Lord G. Am I then to understand that, as yet, no fossil 

 remains of any kind have been found anywhere, which can 

 be produced in proof of your hypothesis — no fossil remains, 

 either of the immediate, or the remote, progenitors of man ? 



Darwin. In answer to this question, I must refer your 

 Lordship to my quotation from Sir Charles Lyell. 



Momo. Pray, ask him, my Lord, if geologists have found 



