1905-1906.] 419 



keen competition, and would bring into more active operation 

 the principle of natural selection, so' that the evolution of stTll 

 higher genera and species would be a natural result. Exactly 

 at what point man appeared in Tertiary or Quaternary times 

 cc'uld not be affirmed, but his existence in Tertiary times was 

 practically a necessary supposition. Now the oldest undisputed 

 evidence of man's existence in Europe belongs to the inter- 

 glacial periods — probably the first — but there is a growing body 

 of evidence indicating his existence in Pliocene times. Man of 

 the glacial period (Quaternary) is known to us for the most 

 part only by the implements he left behind him. and the animal 

 remains with which these are almost constantly associated. 

 From these we learn that with his hammer stones he was able 

 tO' fashion by chipping crude knives, spear and arrow heads, 

 celts and scrapers. These he made mostly from flint or the 

 hardest stone available. With weapons of this class, probably 

 in parties, he hunted and slew the mammoth, cave bear, woolly 

 rhinoceros, reindeer, elephant, lion, and hippopotamus, together 

 with many others. The animals named, however, all flourished 

 with man of the paleolithic period in England, France, and 

 Central Europe generally. They furnished him, in the first in- 

 stance with food, and from their skins, by means of bone needles, 

 and hide thongs, he fashioned rude coverings. He knew noth- 

 ing of herding cattle nor of agriculture, and his most comfort- 

 able dwelling was a cave. In dealing with stone implements, 

 how^ever, it was found that the great majority of them had to be 

 assigned tO' a very different class from those already alluded to. 

 Contrasted with these it may be said of this second group that 

 the skill displayed in their manufacture was of a much higher 

 order ; their variety and character showed that they were 

 adapted tO' a much more advanced stage of culture, whilst the 

 situations in which they were found and the remains with which 

 they were associated showed that they belonged to a much later 

 period. Accordingly the term "Neolithic" had been applied tO' 

 them. The speaker, after treating of the culture of what is 

 commonly understood as the Neolithic period, dealt briefly with 

 the introduction of bronze and iron. (Applause.) 



