The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-01-21
"The BeRinninr of Mar. ),

At a recent meeting of the American
Society for the Advancement of Science,
says the Chicago Herald, DR.. D. G. Brin-
ton, president, read a paper on The
Beginning of Man and the Age of the
Race" In the course of his remarks he
said: Tools distinguish man from other
animals, and so where tools are found in
geological strata and debris it is known
that man must have been. The earliest
tools were faxed stones and cracked
bones. All faxed stones and
cracked bones, however, the writer
points out, may not be tools. Some of the
faxed stones, for example, may have
been produced by action of fire. Man is
the only animal which uses fire, of course,
but then fire may exist without the agency
OF man. Lightning, volcanic action,
spontaneous combustion and burning
wells and springs may produce conflagra-
lions and therefore produce faxed flint
stones. A large portion of the supposed
tools, accordingly, have to be left out of
the discussion for want of absolute proof
as to their origin. The earliest deposits
in which stone tools and weapons clearly
shaped by man are known to have been
found are the gravel beds in the valleys of
the Thames in England, the Somme in
France, the Manzares in Spain, and in
other portions of Western Europe These
tools and hunting weapons are found
aAOAE o1OS Va bAODNNdl 1duuds 1lht bilE lion,
elephant, hippopotamus and large apes
1t is known, therefore, that man lived
in Europe during a period when that
country had tropical climate. But
since that time Europe has been through
the ice age. Vast arrays of evidence
show that since the time when the val
ley of the Thames had climate like that
Of the valley of the Nile glaciers covered
all Western Europe Geological deposits
on top of the remains of tropical animals
and mans tools contain the remains of
arctic animals, like the musks OK, rein
deer and white fox, Man, therefore
hunted the tropical lion and elephant in
England, Spain and France before he
hunted the arctic reindeer and white
fox. The first question, therefore, to be
determined is how long was the ice age2
The same ice age which visited Europe
prevailed in the united States. InveSti-
cations into the age and duration of the
glacial movement have therefore been car
ried on Independently on both
continents. The cutting of
post-giaclal river channels, like
Niagara, and the filling Of glacial lake
beds and the piling of post-glacial debris,
have served as geological thermometers
for the guidance of investigators on both
continents. From these evidences it has
been universally agreed that from 10000
1900 years have elapsed since the de-
parture Of the glacial mass from the now
thickly settled portions of Europe and
the northern states Of this country. The
period of formation Of the glacial mass
and duration of the ice age is placed by
the investigators at from 10000 to $4,000
years. Allowing additional time for the
primeval man in the tropical period to de-
velop and spread over the area under
consideration, the total of so 900 wears is
arrived at as the approximate time which
has elapsed since the earliest authentic
traces of man on the earth.