48 THE GHOLOGIST. 
gical Museums at Copenhagen,* and to those of Mr. Nielssen, profes- 
sor at the flourishing University of Lund, in Sweden.f Tliese illus- 
trious veterans of the school of northern antiquarians have ascer- 
tained that Europe, at present so civilized, was at first inhabited by 
tribes to whom the use of metal was totally unknown, and whose in- 
dustry and domestic habits must have borne a considerable analogy 
to what we now see practised among certain savages. Bone, horn, 
and chiefly flint, were then used, instead of metal, for manufacturing 
cutting-instruments and arms. This was the Stone-age, which 
might also be called the first great phase of civilization. 
The earliest settlers in Europe apparently brought with them 
the art of producing fire. By striking iron-pyrites (sulphuret of 
iron) against quartz, fire can be easily obtained. But this method 
can only have been occasionally used, and seems to have been con- 
fined to some native tribes in Terra del Fuego.J The usual mode has 
been evidently that of rubbing two sticks together ; but, on further 
reflection, it is easy to perceive that this was a most diflicult dis- 
covery, and must at all events have been preceded by a knowledge of 
the use of fire as derived from the effects of lightning or from vol- 
canic action. 
The Stone-age was, therefore, probably preceded by a period per- 
haps of some length, during which man was imacquainted with the 
art of producing fire. This, according to Mr. Flourens, indicates 
that the cradle of mankind was situated in a warm climate. § 
The art of producing fire has been perhaps the greatest achieve- 
ment of human intelligence. The use of fire lies at the root of 
almost every species of industry ; it enables the savage to fell trees, 
* " Ledetraad til Nordisk Oldkyndighed." Copenhagen, 1836. Published in 
English by Lord EUesmere under the title of " A Guide to Northern Antiquities," 
London, 1848. 
f Nielsson. " Scandinaviska Nordeus TJrinvonare." Lund, 1838-1843. 
j Weddell, " A Voyage towards the South Pole in 1822-1824." London, 1827. 
P. 167. 
§ Flouren's " De la Longevitc Humaine." Paris, 1855. P. 127. Man, from the 
construction of liis teeth, his stomach, and his intestines, is primitively frugivorous, 
like the monkey. But the frugivorous diet is the most unfavourable, because it 
constrains its followers perpetually to abide in those countries which produce 
fruit at all seasons, consequently in warm climates. But, once the art of cook- 
ing introduced, and applied both to animal and vegetable productions, man could 
extend and vary the nature of his diet. Man has consequently two diets : the 
first is primitive, natural, and instinctive, and by it he is frugivorous ; the second 
is artificial, being due entirely to his intelligence, and by this he is omnivorous. 
