﻿IxXXViii PEOCEEDINGS OP THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY. [May 1 9 10. 



Mousterian times we find him in possession of the art of kindling 

 fire; he knew how to fashion weapons and to wield them, and he 

 had arrived at the belief that life is not ended with the grave. 



Through the succeeding stages of the Palaeolithic Epoch we 

 witness a rapid improvement of implements and weapons, as well 

 as the invention of new ones, and, most remarkable of all, the birth 

 of art and its early efflorescence. 



The close of the Palaeolithic Epoch is marked by a considerable 

 gap in our knowledge ; but, as we enter the next succeeding or 

 Neolithic Epoch, we discover evidence of another great forward step : 

 the wild roaming life of the hunter has been exchanged for a pastoral 

 existence in settled communities, Man has learnt to domesticate the 

 animals of the chase and in so doing he has become domesticated 

 himself. 



No great interval separates the Neolithic Epoch from the early 

 civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt, which are distinguished by 

 an extraordinary advance in every direction, in art, science, and 

 religion, and especially by the successful analysis of the spoken 

 word into its elementary sounds and the application of this great 

 achievement to the art of writing. Hence, at this stage, we 

 approach the realm of history. 



Thus we may conclude that, ever since its first appearance, the 

 human race has given birth to great discoverers and great dis- 

 coveries ; even the Palaeolithic Epoch may have nurtured its Watt, 

 its Newton, or its Raphael. But it has remained for our own age 

 to undertake consciously the systematic search for truth, and .almost 

 daily we are rewarded by an increasing insight into the nature of 

 the outer world and a corresponding mastery over it. 



This advance seems destined to continue, but it will probably be 

 accompanied by unexpected developments ; religion and philosophy 

 .have not spoken their last word, and the mysteries of the inner 

 world disturb the age with premonitions of a new birth. 



. ' Prognostics told 



Man's near approach : so in man's self arise 

 August anticipations, symbols, types 

 Of a dim splendour ever on before 

 In that eternal circle life pursues.' 



