28 SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. 



Nature, by; which geology now enables us to read the history of 

 the earth's crust, and trace the changes which have taken 

 place for unknown millions of years, from the evolution of our 

 planet from its primal gaseous state, to its present solidity. 



We find recorded the advent of plant life, followed by that of 

 animals, and the changes in form of the millions of these or- 

 ganisms, which have followed each other in a continuous and 

 unbroken procession to the present day. 



As the earth evolved from the gaseous form through varied 

 conditions to the wonderful combination of mineral, plant and 

 animal life of the present, leaving its history imprinted in the 

 rock formations now constituting its crust, and still adding to 

 its rock-written history from day to day, so mankind has 

 evolved from some primal life principle or protoplasm, by a 

 process which we do not understand, and can only attempt to 

 explain by questionable theories and conjectures. 



With all our boasted knowledge of the tv/entieth century, we 

 can no more understand the origin of life than we can compre- 

 hend the immensity of space, or an unlimited eternity. 



It was but yesterday that man was scarcely the superior of 

 the brute, living in caves, with scarcely a desire beyond the 

 means of satisfying his animal appetite, in which condition 

 portions of the human race are found today. 



Other portions, with the advantages of better environment, 

 made more rapid progress and developed intellectual facilities 

 whereby they were enabled to rise above the other orders of ani- 

 mals, and in due time dominated the earth, and formed crude 

 systems of government. 



At first brute strength was relied upon, and those endowed 

 with extraordinary courage ruled and enslaved their weaker 

 brethren, and a system of continuous warfare was carried on 

 among communities, and between rival families. 



As the mind of man developed intellect, consequent acquire- 

 ment of useful knowledge by the more intelligent members of 

 communities enabled them to displace those who depended en- 

 tirely upon their brute strength for their influence over their 

 fellows. 



The evolution of the mind generated a desire to possess a 

 method by which their ideas could be communicated to each 

 other. 



This desire evolved a system of natural gestures, and eventu- 

 ally a sign language. 



It is probable that vocal sounds were used to accentuate the 

 gestures and manual signs. As the necessity of a medium for 

 the exchange of ideas between individuals increased in accord- 

 ance with the growth of the mind, the crude vocal signs were 



