Wilmington daily gazette., 1874-06-18
Great Britain Two hunored Thou-
sand Years Ago.

The GREAT Ice ACE, and its Relations 10
. the Antiquity Of Man. BY James Geike, r.
). T., j.. q. 3. OF ii. M. Geological Sur
ssE rs. s. Scotland New York. D. Appleton
The author attempts systematic account
OF the Glacial Epoch, with special reference
20 Its changes OF climate. While d eyoting
large portion of his treatise to the clmaticai
changes that took place In Great Britain dur
lng the Giaciai Epoch, lie has taken full sur
vey Oh every glaciated region which has been
carefully studied by geologists.
We take the following reference to tbis
WORK from The New York Ereasnq Post.
Credited to the .Dectator.
An intensely severe climate prevailed In
ouI hemisphere some two hundred thousand
years ago: North Britain and Scandinavia
were then united by a vast system of glaciers,
Whiie the ice extended down to low iatitudes
IA England as well as on the Continent
through the Intervention of the various noun
tam ranges. To this artic period of sterili,y
iule genial Time succeeded; plants such as
pine tIees, grew In the south OF England, and
animals, such as the woOly rhiaocerOs and
thesgreat bear appeared Gradually, however,
ine climate grew warmer, the distinction be-
tween summer and winter became less mark
ed and in conseq uence, the nothern mamma
lia withdrew to more artic homes At last n
kind of perpetual summer reigned. while the
iauna OF The country were marked by the in
trodnciion OF the hippotamus, the elephant,
the lion, the tiger, and the hyena.
again series OF changes occur, and in
the reverse order to that Just given until an
aItlc climate has brought all life to an end
We cannot say how often such cold and warm
periods were repeated, or can we be sure Ia
whlcn OF such warm periods The men that fash
| lohed rude implements OF stone first made
their appearance. 1t Is likely that man ar
rived here as early as the mammoth and the
| rhinoceros, and his first coming may even have
preceded the glacial epoch itself. But it is Ger
tain that he entered Britain dulng the last inter
glacial period, When there were no glaciers IN our
meuntans aud arctic mammalia ia our valleys
| ne itneased the nofthward migration OF these
anlnlals and the advent OF the southern mammala
| Ihen came period OF submergence, when the
| British lslands we're Well nigh drowned ia the
sea. Alter that the last cold period began and in
| what remained of England 1t is not likely that
| palssolithic man still fingered. But the British
| islands again rosa from the waves; the treeless
| and was soon invaded by the reindeer, the arctic
| iox, anu tle lemming, and then the neolithic
| man entered upon the scene. So vast lapse OF
| time separates The men whose implements were
iaoorioasly fashioned and polished. Gradually
the climate still further improved, plants became
more numerous and luxuriaut, the animals Of
arctic regions were replaced by the OK and tbs
snsep, while man himself slowly progressed, unit
no discarded stone for bronze, ana ultimately die
covered tue mode of making iron. Thus we reach
tue dawn OF that human history the records oi
| Which are more varied, and at the same time
more easy to decipher than the obscure relics o.
the non-historic ages"