The only question into which we may enter with any fullness is
that of the relation of human development to this grave
perturbation of the condition of the globe. The problem is
sometimes wrongly conceived. The chief point to be determined is
not whether man did or did not precede the Ice-Age. As it is the
general belief that he was evolved in the Tertiary, it is clear
that he existed in some part of the earth before the Ice-Age.
Whether he had already penetrated as far north as Britain and
Belgium is an interesting point, but not one of great importance.
We may, therefore, refrain from discussing at any length those
disputed crude stone implements (Eoliths) which, in the opinion
of many, prove his presence in northern regions before the close
of the Tertiary. We may also now disregard the remains of the
Java Ape-Man. There are authorities, such as Deniker, who hold
that even the latest research shows these remains to be Pliocene,
but it is disputed. The Java race may be a surviving remnant of
an earlier phase of human evolution.
The most interesting subject for inquiry is the fortune of our
human and prehuman forerunners during the Pliocene and
Pleistocene periods.
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