Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1900-12-03

in an age as far removed from the
mammoth as that of the latter is from
the present time. Scientists, as well
Wen as progressive theologians. now
believe in the evolution of man from
a slightly lower form of animal. but
anthropologists are not inclined to
think that the human race is derived
directly from any existing species of
ape. The generally accepted notion is
that the modern ape represents Il
collateral branch merely, and the di-
yergence of man from the parent
| stock is assigned to the middle stage of
the Tertiary, the Miocene, or to the
Eocene. Now. Dana estimates the i'm
terval which has elapsed since the be-
ginning of the Tertiary at about one
/ twentieth of all geologic time, while
others believe that the earth has been
in a condition to sustain life for from
20 DOC, 900 to 100, 00c, 900 years. The OPEN
ing of the EOcene, then. is thus car
ried back between /, 600, 900 and 5000, 600
years. This calculation is by no means
final and definite. but it discredits the
100000 year basis almost as much as it
, does Archbishop Usher's quaint chro-
nology
Having thus disposed of the question
as to the time when man made his debut
on this planet The Nineteenth Cen
tttry' writer cites Sir Archibald Geik:e
and other biologists regarding the eli
mate of Central Europe and Asia mil
lion or more years ago. Even in the Arc
tic regions during the Miocene the mild
ness Of the Temperate zone prevailed
There were dense forests where nothing
but ice is now found. Water lilies grew
within eight degrees of the Pole, In En-
rope meantime there fiourishcd The Hon.
elephant. hippopotamus, rhinoceros and
other animals which at present seem pc
cuiiar to the tropics. One OF their con-
temporaries in France was large fruit
eating, tree climbing ape. called dryopith-
ecus. Iartet and GcrvaiS regarded this
creature as more nearly allied 10 man
than are either the gorilla or chimpan-
zee. In the Miocene period the climate
of Europe was. fully twenty degrees
warmer than il is now and i'm the
Eocene it would probably have been sin
more So the globe having had less op-
portunity for radiating Off into space tho
store Of original heat that is commonly
imputed 10 it,
Where. tncn. under these circumstances
would mans evolution be most likely to
occur? Iaeekcl puts the cradle Of the
Gently gone 10 Java. where Dubois. found
his missing link. Pithecanthropus cree
tus. in the hope Of obtaining further ev-
idencc in support Of that view. Wallace
looks further north for the origin of
man. while Darwin thought il possible
that he made his appearance first In AZ
RIGA. IN view Of the residence of I.artetS
anthropOid in France In the Mioccne pc
riod. and of the discovery OF a great
number Of prehistoric stone implements
in England. France. Belgium ana Ger
many, Mr.. Waddington was at first dis
posed To pronounce Northwestern Europe
the much sought cradle OF the race: but
here Is a difficulty that bothered him.
Stone implements and chips have been
found in America which appear Ia ante
date the Glacial period. and the uucs-
ton arises. How did their makers eyer
get To this continent Behring Strait
offers n better rolte apparently than lee
land and Greenland. Accordingly, The
Nineteenth Century" contributor feels
obliged to shift the early home of man
considerably to the eastward of the site
first selected.
Thus by degrees he is forced to the con-
cluSiOn that the cradle of the race lay in
Northern Asia. between the TRIAL NOUN
tains on the one hand and Behring Strait
ami Okhotsk Sea on the other. Siberia
Is now the coolest country in the world
bat the discovery OF immense quantities;
of fossil ivory there shows that once it's
climate was almost tropical As yet geo
loeica! research has not been carried far
enough to shed much light upon the other
animals of byGone ages in tina. quarter of
the globe, but ii is not unlikely that when
the investigation is properly pushed ii
VIII AFFORD important revelations concern
ing the origin Of man. TheS, would sup
plement in striking way the results of
the fascinating inquiry now being CON
Quoted in Eastern Siberia by the JeSun
expedition.