Detailed List of Contents
CHAP. 1.
Introductory
Preliminary Remarks on the Subjects treated of in this Work.
Definition of the terms Recent and Pleistocene.
Tabular View of the entire Series of Fossiliferous Strata.
CHAP. 2.
RECENT PERIOD—DANISH PEAT AND SHELL MOUNDS—
SWISS LAKE-DWELLINGS.
Works of Art in Danish Peat-Mosses.
Remains of three Periods of Vegetation in the Peat.
Ages of Stone, Bronze, and Iron.
Shell-Mounds or ancient Refuse-Heaps of the Danish Islands.
Change in geographical Distribution of Marine Mollusca
since their Origin.
Embedded Remains of Mammalia of Recent Species.
Human Skulls of the same Period.
Swiss Lake-Dwellings built on Piles.
Stone and Bronze Implements found in them.
Fossil Cereals and other Plants.
Remains of Mammalia, wild and domesticated.
No extinct Species.
Chronological Computations of the Date of the Bronze and Stone
Periods in Switzerland.
Lake-Dwellings, or artificial Islands called “Crannoges,”
in Ireland.
CHAP. 3.
FOSSIL HUMAN REMAINS AND WORKS OF ART OF
THE RECENT PERIOD—continued.
Delta and Alluvial Plain of the Nile.
Burnt Bricks in Egypt before the Roman Era.
Borings in 1851-54.
Ancient Mounds of the Valley of the Ohio.
Their Antiquity.
Sepulchral Mound at Santos in Brazil.
Delta of the Mississippi.
Ancient Human Remains in Coral Reefs of Florida.
Changes in Physical Geography in the Human Period.
Buried Canoes in Marine Strata near Glasgow.
Upheaval since the Roman Occupation of the Shores of the
Firth of Forth.
Fossil Whales near Stirling.
Upraised Marine Strata of Sweden on Shores of the Baltic
and the Ocean.
Attempts to compute their Age.
CHAP. 4.
PLEISTOCENE PERIOD—BONES OF MAN AND EXTINCT MAMMALIA
IN BELGIAN CAVERNS.
Earliest Discoveries in Caves of Languedoc of Human Remains
with Bones of extinct Mammalia.
Researches in 1833 of Dr. Schmerling in the Liege Caverns.
Scattered Portions of Human Skeletons associated with Bones
of Elephant and Rhinoceros.
Distribution and probable Mode of Introduction of the Bones.
Implements of Flint and Bone.
Schmerling’s Conclusions as to the Antiquity of Man ignored.
Present State of the Belgian Caves.
Human Bones recently found in Cave of Engihoul.
Engulfed Rivers.
Stalagmitic Crust.
Antiquity of the Human Remains in Belgium how proved.
CHAP. 5.
PLEISTOCENE PERIOD—FOSSIL HUMAN SKULLS OF THE
NEANDERTHAL AND ENGIS CAVES.
Human Skeleton found in Cave near Dusseldorf.
Its geological Position and probable Age.
Its abnormal and ape-like Characters.
Fossil Human Skull of the Engis Cave near Liege.
Professor Huxley’s Description of these Skulls.
Comparison of each, with extreme Varieties of the native
Australian Race.
Range of Capacity in the Human and Simian Brains.
Skull from Borreby in Denmark.
Conclusions of Professor Huxley.
Bearing of the peculiar Characters of the Neanderthal Skull
on the Hypothesis of Transmutation.
CHAP. 6.
PLEISTOCENE ALLUVIUM AND CAVE DEPOSITS WITH FLINT IMPLEMENTS.
General Position of Drift with extinct Mammalia in Valleys. Discoveries of M. Boucher de Perthes at Abbeville. Flint Implements found also at St. Acheul, near Amiens. Curiosity awakened by the systematic Exploration of the Brixham Cave. Flint Knives in same, with Bones of extinct Mammalia. Superposition of Deposits in the Cave. Visits of English and French Geologists to Abbeville and Amiens.
CHAP. 7.
PEAT AND PLEISTOCENE ALLUVIUM OF THE VALLEY OF THE SOMME.
Geological Structure of the Valley of the Somme and of the
surrounding Country.
Position of Alluvium of different Ages.
Peat near Abbeville.
Its animal and vegetable Contents.
Works of Art in Peat.
Probable Antiquity of the Peat, and Changes of Level
since its Growth began.
Flint Implements of antique Type in older Alluvium.
Their various Forms and great Numbers.
CHAP. 8.
PLEISTOCENE ALLUVIUM WITH FLINT IMPLEMENTS OF THE VALLEY
OF THE SOMME—concluded.
Fluvio-marine Strata, with Flint Implements, near Abbeville.
Marine Shells in same.
Cyrena fluminalis.
Mammalia.
Entire Skeleton of Rhinoceros.
Flint Implements, why found low down in Fluviatile Deposits.
Rivers shifting their Channels.
Relative Ages of higher and lower-level Gravels.
Section of Alluvium of St. Acheul.
Two Species of Elephant and Hippopotamus coexisting with Man
in France.
Volume of Drift, proving Antiquity of Flint Implements.
Absence of Human Bones in tool-bearing Alluvium, how explained.
Value of certain Kinds of negative Evidence tested thereby.
Human Bones not found in drained Lake of Haarlem.
CHAP. 9.
WORKS OF ART IN PLEISTOCENE ALLUVIUM OF FRANCE AND ENGLAND.
Flint Implements in ancient Alluvium of the Basin of the Seine.
Bones of Man and of extinct Mammalia in the Cave of Arcy.
Extinct Mammalia in the Valley of the Oise.
Flint Implement in Gravel of same Valley.
Works of Art in Pleistocene Drift in Valley of the Thames.
Musk Ox.
Meeting of northern and southern Fauna.
Migrations of Quadrupeds.
Mammals of Mongolia.
Chronological Relation of the older Alluvium of the Thames
to the Glacial Drift.
Flint Implements of Pleistocene Period in Surrey, Middlesex,
Kent, Bedfordshire, and Suffolk.
CHAP. 10.
CAVERN DEPOSITS, AND PLACES OF SEPULTURE OF THE PLEISTOCENE PERIOD.
Flint Implements in Cave containing Hyaena and other extinct
Mammalia in Somersetshire.
Caves of the Gower Peninsula in South Wales.
Rhinoceros hemitoechus.
Ossiferous Caves near Palermo.
Sicily once part of Africa.
Rise of Bed of the Mediterranean to the Height of three hundred
Feet in the Human Period in Sardinia.
Burial-place of Pleistocene Date of Aurignac in the South of France.
Rhinoceros tichorhinus eaten by Man.
M. Lartet on extinct Mammalia and Works of Art found in the
Aurignac Cave.
Relative Antiquity of the same considered.
CHAP. 11.
AGE OF HUMAN FOSSILS OF LE PUY IN CENTRAL FRANCE
AND OF NATCHEZ ON THE MISSISSIPPI DISCUSSED.
Question as to the Authenticity of the Fossil Man of Denise, near Le Puy-en-Velay, considered. Antiquity of the Human Race implied by that Fossil. Successive Periods of Volcanic Action in Central France. With what Changes in the Mammalian Fauna they correspond. The Elephas meridionalis anterior in Time to the Implement-bearing Gravel of St. Acheul. Authenticity of the Human Fossil of Natchez on the Mississippi discussed. The Natchez Deposit, containing Bones of Mastodon and Megalonyx, probably not older than the Flint Implements of St. Acheul.
CHAP. 12.
ANTIQUITY OF MAN RELATIVELY TO THE GLACIAL PERIOD
AND TO THE EXISTING FAUNA AND FLORA.
Chronological Relation of the Glacial Period, and the earliest
known Signs of Man’s Appearance in Europe.
Series of Tertiary Deposits in Norfolk and Suffolk immediately
antecedent to the Glacial Period.
Gradual Refrigeration of Climate proved by the Marine Shells
of successive Groups.
Marine Newer Pliocene Shells of Northern Character near Woodbridge.
Section of the Norfolk Cliffs.
Norwich Crag.
Forest Bed and Fluvio-marine Strata.
Fossil Plants and Mammalia of the same.
Overlying Boulder Clay and Contorted Drift.
Newer freshwater Formation of Mundesley compared to that of Hoxne.
Great Oscillations of Level implied by the Series of Strata
in the Norfolk Cliffs.
Earliest known Date of Man long subsequent to the existing
Fauna and Flora.
CHAP. 13.
CHRONOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF THE GLACIAL PERIOD
AND THE EARLIEST SIGNS OF MAN’S APPEARANCE IN EUROPE.
Chronological Relations of the Close of the Glacial Period
and the earliest geological Signs of the Appearance of Man.
Effects of Glaciers and Icebergs in polishing and scoring Rocks.
Scandinavia once encrusted with Ice like Greenland.
Outward Movement of Continental Ice in Greenland.
Mild Climate of Greenland in the Miocene Period.
Erratics of Recent Period in Sweden.
Glacial State of Sweden in the Pleistocene Period.
Scotland formerly encrusted with Ice.
Its subsequent Submergence and Re-elevation.
Latest Changes produced by Glaciers in Scotland.
Remains of the Mammoth and Reindeer in Scotch Boulder Clay.
Parallel Roads of Glen Roy formed in Glacier Lakes.
Comparatively modern Date of these Shelves.
CHAP. 14.
CHRONOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF THE GLACIAL PERIOD
AND THE EARLIEST SIGNS OF MAN’S APPEARANCE IN EUROPE—continued.
Signs of extinct Glaciers in Wales.
Great Submergence of Wales during the Glacial Period proved by Marine Shells.
Still greater Depression inferred from Stratified Drift.
Scarcity of Organic Remains in Glacial Formations.
Signs of extinct Glaciers in England.
Ice Action in Ireland.
Maps illustrating successive Revolutions in Physical Geography
during the Pleistocene Period.
Southernmost Extent of Erratics in England.
Successive Periods of Junction and Separation of England, Ireland,
and the Continent.
Time required for these Changes.
Probable Causes of the Upheaval and Subsidence of the Earth’s Crust.
Antiquity of Man considered in relation to the Age of the existing
Fauna and Flora.
CHAP. 15.
EXTINCT GLACIERS OF THE ALPS AND THEIR CHRONOLOGICAL RELATION
TO THE HUMAN PERIOD.
Extinct Glaciers of Switzerland.
Alpine Erratic Blocks on the Jura.
Not transported by floating Ice.
Extinct Glaciers of the Italian Side of the Alps.
Theory of the Origin of Lake-Basins by the erosive Action
of Glaciers considered.
Successive phases in the Development of Glacial Action in the Alps.
Probable Relation of these to the earliest known Date of Man.
Correspondence of the same with successive Changes in the
Glacial Condition of the Scandinavian and British Mountains.
Cold Period in Sicily and Syria.
CHAP. 16.
HUMAN REMAINS IN THE LOESS, AND THEIR PROBABLE AGE.
Nature, Origin, and Age of the Loess of the Rhine and Danube.
Impalpable Mud produced by the Grinding Action of Glaciers.
Dispersion of this Mud at the Period of the Retreat of the
great Alpine Glaciers.
Continuity of the Loess from Switzerland to the Low Countries.
Characteristic Organic Remains not Lacustrine.
Alpine Gravel in the Valley of the Rhine covered by Loess.
Geographical Distribution of the Loess and its Height above the Sea.
Fossil Mammalia.
Loess of the Danube.
Oscillations in the Level of the Alps and lower Country required
to explain the Formation and Denudation of the Loess.
More rapid Movement of the Inland Country.
The same Depression and Upheaval might account for the
Advance and Retreat of the Alpine Glaciers.
Himalayan Mud of the Plains of the Ganges compared to
European Loess.
Human Remains in Loess near Maestricht, and their probable
Antiquity.
CHAP. 17.
POST-GLACIAL DISLOCATIONS AND FOLDINGS OF CRETACEOUS AND
DRIFT STRATA IN THE ISLAND OF MOEN, IN DENMARK.
Geological Structure of the Island of Moen.
Great Disturbances of the Chalk posterior in Date to the
Glacial Drift, with Recent Shells.
M. Puggaard’s Sections of the Cliffs of Moen.
Flexures and Faults common to the Chalk and Glacial Drift.
Different Direction of the Lines of successive Movement,
Fracture, and Flexure.
Undisturbed Condition of the Rocks in the adjoining Danish Islands.
Unequal Movements of Upheaval in Finmark.
Earthquake of New Zealand in 1855.
Predominance in all Ages of uniform Continental Movements
over those by which the Rocks are locally convulsed.
CHAP. 18.
THE GLACIAL PERIOD IN NORTH AMERICA.
Post-glacial Strata containing Remains of Mastodon giganteus
in North America.
Scarcity of Marine Shells in Glacial Drift of Canada and the
United States.
Greater southern Extension of Ice-action in North America than
in Europe.
Trains of Erratic Blocks of vast Size in Berkshire, Massachusetts.
Description of their Linear Arrangement and Points of Departure.
Their Transportation referred to Floating and Coast Ice.
General Remarks on the Causes of former Changes of Climate
at successive geological Epochs.
Supposed Effects of the Diversion of the Gulf Stream in a
Northerly instead of North-Easterly Direction.
Development of extreme Cold on the opposite Sides of the Atlantic
in the Glacial period not strictly simultaneous.
Effect of Marine Currents on Climate.
Pleistocene Submergence of the Sahara.
CHAP. 19.
RECAPITULATION OF GEOLOGICAL PROOFS OF MAN’S ANTIQUITY.
Recapitulation of Results arrived at in the earlier Chapters.
Ages of Stone and Bronze.
Danish Peat and Kitchen-Middens.
Swiss Lake-Dwellings.
Local Changes in Vegetation and in the wild and domesticated
Animals and in Physical Geography coeval with the Age of
Bronze and the later Stone Period.
Estimates of the positive Date of some Deposits of the later
Stone Period.
Ancient Division of the Age of Stone of St. Acheul and Aurignac.
Migrations of Man in that Period from the Continent to England
in Post-Glacial Times.
Slow Rate of Progress in barbarous Ages.
Doctrine of the superior Intelligence and Endowments of the
original Stock of Mankind considered.
Opinions of the Greeks and Romans, and their Coincidence with
those of the Modern Progressionist.
CHAP. 20.
THEORIES OF PROGRESSION AND TRANSMUTATION.
Antiquity and Persistence in Character of the existing Races
of Mankind.
Theory of their Unity of Origin considered.
Bearing of the Diversity of Races on the Doctrine of Transmutation.
Difficulty of defining the Terms “Species” and “Race.”
Lamarck’s Introduction of the Element of Time into the Definition
of a Species.
His Theory of Variation and Progression.
Objections to his Theory, how far answered.
Arguments of modern Writers in favour of Progression in the
Animal and Vegetable World.
The old Landmarks supposed to indicate the first Appearance of Man,
and of different Classes of Animals, found to be erroneous.
Yet the Theory of an advancing Series of Organic Beings not
inconsistent with Facts.
Earliest known Fossil Mammalia of low Grade.
No Vertebrata as yet discovered in the oldest Fossiliferous Rocks.
Objections to the Theory of Progression considered.
Causes of the Popularity of the Doctrine of Progression as
compared to that of Transmutation.
CHAP. 21.
ON THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES BY VARIATION AND NATURAL SELECTION.
Mr. Darwin’s Theory of the Origin of Species by Natural Selection.
Memoir by Mr. Wallace.
Manner in which favoured Races prevail in the Struggle for
Existence.
Formation of new Races by breeding.
Hypotheses of definite and indefinite Modifiability equally
arbitrary.
Competition and Extinction of Races.
Progression not a necessary Accompaniment of Variation.
Distinct Classes of Phenomena which Natural Selection explains.
Unity of Type, Rudimentary Organs, Geographical Distribution,
Relation of the extinct to the living Fauna and Flora,
and mutual Relations of successive Groups of Fossil Forms.
Light thrown on Embryological Development by Natural Selection.
Why large Genera have more variable Species than small ones.
Dr. Hooker on the Evidence afforded by the Vegetable Kingdom
in favour of Creation by Variation.
Steenstrup on alternation of Generations.
How far the Doctrine of Independent Creation is opposed to the
Laws now governing the Migration of Species.
CHAP. 22.
OBJECTIONS TO THE HYPOTHESIS OF TRANSMUTATION CONSIDERED.
Statement of Objections to the Hypothesis of Transmutation
founded on the Absence of Intermediate Forms.
Genera of which the Species are closely allied.
Occasional Discovery of the missing Links in a Fossil State.
Davidson’s Monograph on the Brachiopoda.
Why the Gradational Forms, when found, are not accepted as
Evidence of Transmutation.
Gaps caused by Extinction of Races and Species.
Vast Tertiary Periods during which this Extinction has been going
on in the Fauna and Flora now existing.
Genealogical Bond between Miocene and Recent Plants and Insects.
Fossils of Oeningen.
Species of Insects in Britain and North America represented by
distinct Varieties.
Falconer’s Monograph on living and fossil Elephants.
Fossil Species and Genera of the Horse Tribe in North and
South America.
Relation of the Pliocene Mammalia of North America, Asia,
and Europe.
Species of Mammalia, though less persistent than the Mollusca,
change slowly.
Arguments for and against Transmutation derived from the
Absence of Mammalia in Islands.
Imperfection of the Geological Record.
Intercalation of newly discovered Formation of intermediate Age
in the chronological Series.
Reference of the St. Cassian Beds to the Triassic Periods.
Discovery of new organic Types.
Feathered Archaeopteryx of the Oolite.
CHAP. 23.
ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGES AND SPECIES COMPARED.
Aryan Hypothesis and Controversy.
The Races of Mankind change more slowly than their Languages.
Theory of the gradual Origin of Languages.
Difficulty of defining what is meant by a Language as distinct
from a Dialect.
Great Number of extinct and living Tongues.
No European Language a Thousand Years old.
Gaps between Languages, how caused.
Imperfection of the Record.
Changes always in Progress.
Struggle for Existence between rival Terms and Dialects.
Causes of Selection.
Each Language formed slowly in a single Geographical Area.
May die out gradually or suddenly.
Once lost can never be revived.
Mode of Origin of Languages and Species a Mystery.
Speculations as to the Number of original Languages or
Species unprofitable.
CHAP. 24.
BEARING OF THE DOCTRINE OF TRANSMUTATION ON THE ORIGIN OF MAN, AND HIS PLACE IN THE CREATION.
Whether Man can be regarded as an Exception to the Rule if the
Doctrine of Transmutation be embraced for the rest of the
Animal Kingdom.
Zoological Relations of Man to other Mammalia.
Systems of Classification.
Term Quadrumanous, why deceptive.
Whether the Structure of the Human Brain entitles Man to form
a distinct Sub-class of the Mammalia.
Intelligence of the lower Animals compared to the Intellect and
Reason of Man.
Grounds on which Man has been referred to a distinct Kingdom
of Nature.
Immaterial Principle common to Man and Animals.
Non-discovery of intermediate Links among Fossil Anthropomorphous
Species.
Hallam on the compound Nature of Man, and his Place in the Creation.
Great Inequality of mental Endowment in different Human Races and
Individuals developed by Variation and ordinary Generation.
How far a corresponding Divergence in physical Structure may
result from the Working of the same Causes.
Concluding remarks.
PLATES AND FIGURES.
FIGURES 11, 12 AND 13. DENDRITES ON SURFACES OF FLINT HATCHETS IN THE DRIFT OF ST. ACHEUL.
FIGURE 14. FLINT KNIFE OR FLAKE FROM BELOW THE SAND CONTAINING Cyrena fluminalis.
FIGURE 27. DIAGRAM TO ILLUSTRATE THE GENERAL SUCCESSION OF THE STRATA IN THE NORFOLK CLIFFS.
FIGURE 53. SECTION THROUGH CANAAN AND RICHMOND VALLEYS AT A TIME WHEN THEY WERE MARINE CHANNELS.