﻿190 EVOLUTION IN THE PAST 



grizzly cave-bears (U. spelceus) were wandering far south of 

 ancient haunts. 



pre-glacial There is some scanty evidence of the presence of man 

 man in Europe at this time (Homo Heidelbergensis). The remains 

 are too imperfect to afford much information as to his con- 

 dition of development. The evidence points to an ape-like 

 physiognomy — an under -jaw massive and chinless, and 

 characterised by other pithecoid features. The roots of 

 the teeth were remarkably stout and strong, but the crowns 

 were of human character. The powerful jaw must have 

 had great crushing power, and the man, one may well suppose, 

 was much better at biting than at talking. His speech 

 indeed, such as it was, probably required considerable gesture 

 and grimace in order to render it intelligible. It seems to 

 have been the custom of the race to bury flint flakes with the 

 dead. Possibly, therefore, belief was held in an after-life in 

 which implements would still be required. Physically these 

 people may not have differed much from the contemporary 

 anthropoid apes — fellow- descendants from a common stock ; 

 but in the matter of culture the difference, one may infer, 

 was already well pronounced. 



glaciation As the Period advanced, land-upheavals continued, and 

 refrigeration of the climate became more marked. Vast 

 elevated areas, especially in Scandinavia, became the gather- 

 ing grounds of immense quantities of snow ; and huge glaciers 

 issuing from the snow-fields streamed through the valleys, 

 and over the plains. They even invaded the Atlantic • 

 but here they were soon undermined and broken up into 

 bergs: Great migrations of the fauna must have ensued 

 in all the affected lands, and much of it doubtless perished. 

 Forlorn enough must have been the look of the landscapes. 

 Trees withered away, or grew scarcely bigger than bushes ; 

 and on once genial and fertile scenes of lower latitudes, 

 polar willows (Salix polaris), dwarf birches (Betula nana), 

 boreal mosses {Hypnum turgescens) and other arctic migrants 

 alone possessed the ground. 

 ASIA Similar conditions prevailed in parts of Asia. Great 

 glaciers were travelling from the Ural Mountains in an 

 easterly direction ; and Siberia was threatened with ex- 



