The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1869-11-02
THE PHILOSOPHY OF HUmAH
ORIGIN.


OVAAAA ANSdAoAt0kI VII ku0 ~
suit OF modern researches In primitive
history" and this was the one which
caused more interest than any Of the
others. Vogt applies the DarwinIan
system Of development 10 single spe-
Giles, namely, man, whose origin be
traces to stock from which both the
man and the ape have descended, the
latter having been arrested In bis de.
velopment, and the former proceeding,
through intellectual labor, TO his press
emit elevated place In the scale Of crea-
ton. In the recent congress for pre-
historic archaeology In Copenhagen,
Vogt met with decided antagonists In
Virchow and in Quatrefages, the latter
of whom appeared to gain the greatest
applause In tho argument. In Inns.
bruck the tone Of the assembly was
more In Vogt's favor. The following
synopsis Of the address furnished BY
the correspondent, will be found OK.
tremely interesting:
"Views are prevalent which ore SUD.
ported by tradition. In part indeed by
family legends OF single races, that the
age OF the human race upon earth Is
very limited, and we have been 10
certain degree trained up In these
views. II can be proved Today, with
the same certainty that the earth Ia
proved 10 revolve around the sun, that
the age Of the human race, mot only
upon the whole earth, but even In Eu-
rope, is far greater than that which 10
usually taught. This result has been
gained chiefly by geological and paIR.
esearch-reseRrch In re-
gard to the disposition OF layers In the
latest formations Of the earth's surface,
as we'll as by the researches over the re.
mains Of animals buried along with
those OF men. We can now say with
perfect conviction that In Europe, and
In the western portion, In the
western part OF France and England
as well as In the countries of the Mell.
terranean, the human race existed at
n period when animal species now to-
tally extlnct-animal species, indeed,
which we are accustomed to see only In
southern regions-lived In those coun-
tries. We can say with certainty that
man existed at q period when
the elephant, the mammoth, the
rhinoceros, the hippopotamus and
other similar animals existed In Eu-
rope. This 10 proved by the finding Of
human romans, as well as instruments
which had been made by man, together
with the remains Of extinct animal
species, In the same strata. II has been
proved As we'll in land once covered
with water, as In caves; could name
u number or places, but need not here.
By accurate omparlson-and here l
must name especially Steenstrup as the
finest observer possessed by Europe
and science In general-the traces OF
man have been proved In such strata
and caves, even without the inatru-
ments and bones OF men being found
there, for It can be accurately de-
termined how the bones Of animals
were treated by beasts OF prey, and how
by primitive man. According to Steen.
sirup's examination 1t can now be said
at the first sight OF q bonei even though
this exist only In fragments, Here a
beast Of prey has been at work, here a
man; here the proof Ia furnished that
the bones have been brought hither by
a beast OF prey; here that man has
broken the bones In order to extract
the marrow, and carried them 10 his
dwelling. ..' y IN
"Now CONTINUED VoYt), though the
age Of man even In Europe is go great,
II is just NJ firmly proved that this age
extends beyond the latest chanPes
which the surface VI Europe has IN.
dergone. We can now say with posi-.
tlveness that man existed In Europe
when the earth's surface had q far dir
ferent CONFORMATION from that OF the
present time. We can with certainty
say that since the period OF the first ap-
pearance Of man In Europe the climatic
relations have undergone a total
change; that man In Europe must have
existed In period when the whole re.
gion Of the Mediterranean was separ~
ated from the remaining portion OF the
African continent by an enormous In.
land sea, which lie now transformed
Into the desert OF Sahara; that at that
period the belt OF the Mediterranean
was connected by isthmuses over 81.
braltar; on the other side. over Sicily
and the Bosphorus; that the Baltic sea
was sea Of Ice covering the whole
plains OF North Germany and the plains
OF Russia, so that Finland, with Swe-
den and Norway, would have been an
island had 1t not been at that period
already connected with Denmark; that
at that period England was connected
with France; In short, that a complete
change OF the surface Of Europe has
taken place since man first existed In
Europe. and that man was witness OF
this radical transformation.
THE proofs for this gradual change
Of climatedur1ng the presence Of man,
are laid open to US In the remarkable
researches over the so-called Reindeer
Period, made by LarIet In France, BY
Fraas In Germany, and by Dupont In
Belgium. There exists no longer a
doubt that, after the large southern
forms Of animals In Europe had be-
come extinct, there was o period In
which the northern forms, the reindeer,
the glutton, the lemlng, the polar fox,
the musk fox, existed even In Central
Europe, and were hunted and eaten BY
the men Of that period. There Ia no
donbt the vegetation like the fauna, the
animal world and the world Of plants,
existed amid bitter cold, and that In
Middle Europe there was q climate re-
sembllng that Of the present northern
regions; and that since the presence OF
man In Europe this northern climate
has gradually merged into that which
we now possess.
Now. when these results can be given
to-day with perfect certainty, and with
such certainty as only the scientific
method can give; when we are able 10
proclaim this to-day with this Ger.
tainty, what does there then remain Of
old traditions about the youthful age Of
man upon the earth, and about the sIx
or ten thousand years which are only,
comparatively, "a drop Of that time
which has flown since the appearance
Of man upon European soilP Remem-
Der that since that time entire stretches
OF country have gradually risen out OF
the sea that the surface OF the North
Sea and the Baltic must have previous.
~ been at least four hundred feet
above the present height; aud that
since that period, too. through extreme.
~ slow and gradual changes, q total
trans Information OF Europe has been ac.
oompllshed. For these results we are
indebted to the geological method Of
examining those remains of man, and
the animals dwelling with him, which
ara h0Fia1 In n AlRa fnIT1 IN h ah ha I1nn..