three great periods in animal life on the globe--Paleozoic Age--Animal and vegetable life of this period--Ideal scenes in this period--The Mesozoic Age--Animal and vegetable life of this period--Advance noted--Abundance of reptilian life--First appearance of birds--Nature's methods of work--the Cenozoic Age Geological outline--Sketch of the Eocene Age--Of the Miocene Age--What is sufficient proof of the presence of man--Discussion on the Thenay flints--The Pliocene Age--Animal and vegetable life of this age--Was man present during this age?--Discussion of this subject--Summing up of the evidence--Conclusion. Chapter III. MEN OF THE RIVER DRIFT. Beginning of the Glacial Age--Interglacial Age--Man living in Europe 6 during this age--Map of Europe--Proof of former elevation of land--The animals living in Europe during this age--Conclusions drawn from these different animals--The vegetation of this period--Different climatic conditions of Europe during the Glacial Age--Proofs of the Glacial Age--Extent of Glacial Ice--Evidence of warm Interglacial Age--The primitive state of man--Early English civilization--Views of Horace--Primitive man destitute of metals--Order in which different materials were used by man for weapons--Evidence from the River Somme--History of Boucher De Perthes's investigations. Discussion of the subject--Antiquity of these remains--Improvement during the Paleolithic Age--Description of the flint implements--Other countries where these implements are found--What race of men were these tribes--The Canstadt race--Mr. Dawkins's views--When did they first appear in Europe? The authorities on this question--Conclusion. Chapter IV. CAVE-MEN. Other sources of information--History of cave explorations--The formation of caves--Exploration in Kent's Cavern--Evidence of two different races--The higher culture of the later race--Evidence of prolonged time--Exploration of Robin Hood Cave--Explorations in Valley of the River Meuse--M. Dupont's conclusions--Explorations in the Valley of the Dordogne--The station at Schussenreid--Cavemen not found south of the Alps--Habitations of the Cavemen--Cavemen were hunters--methods of cooking--Destitute of the potter's art--Their weapons--Clothing--Their skill in drawing--Evidence of a government--Of a religious belief--Race of the Cavemen--Distinct from the Men of the Drift--Probable connection with the Eskimos. 7 Chapter V. ANTIQUITY OF THE PALEOLITHIC AGE. Interest in the Antiquity of man--Connected with the Glacial Age--The subject difficult--Proofs of a Glacial Age--State of Greenland to-day--The Terminal Moraine--Appearance of the North Atlantic--Interglacial Age--Causes of the Glacial Age--Croll's Theory--Geographical causes--The two theories not antagonistic--The date of the Glacial Age--Probable length of the Paleolithic Age--Time Since the close of the Glacial Age--Summary of results. Chapter VI. THE NEOLITHIC AGE IN EUROPE. Close of the first cycle--Neolithic culture connected with the present--No links between the two ages--Long lapse of time between the two ages--Swiss lake villages--This form of villages widely scattered--Irish cranogs--Fortified villages--Implements and weapons of Neolithic times--Possessed of pottery--Neolithic agriculture--Possessed of domestic animals--Danish shell-heaps--Importance of flint--The art of navigation--Neolithic clothing--Their mode of burial--The question of race--Possible remnants--Connection with the Turanian race--Arrival of the Celts. Chapter VII. THE BRONZE AGE IN EUROPE. Races of Men, like Individuals--Gradual change of Neolithic Age to 8 that of Bronze--The Aryan family--First Aryans Neolithic--Origin of Bronze--How Great discoveries are made--Gold the first metal--Copper abundant--No Copper Age--The discovery of Tin--Explanation of an Alloy--Bronze, wherever found, the same composition--What is meant by the Bronze Age--Knowledge in other directions--Gradual Growth of Culture--Three Centers of Bronze production--Habitations during the Bronze Age--The Bronze Ax--Implements of Bronze--Personal ornaments--Ornaments not always made of Bronze--Advance in Arts of living--Advance in Agriculture--Warlike Weapons--How they worked Bronze--Advance in Government--Trade in the Bronze Age--Religion of the Bronze Age--Symbolical figures--Temples of the Bronze Age--Stonehenge. Chapter VIII. THE IRON AGE IN EUROPE. Bronze not the best metal--Difficulties attending the discovery of Iron--Probable steps in this discovery--Where this discovery was first made--Known in Ancient Egypt--How this knowledge would spread--Iron would not drive out Bronze--The primitive Iron-worker--The advance in government--Pottery and ornaments of the Iron Age--Weapons of early Iron Age--The battlefield of Tilfenau--Trade of early Iron Age--Invention of Money--Invention of Alphabetic Writing--Invasion of the Germanic Tribes--The cause of the Dark Ages--Connection of these three ages--Necessity of believing in an Extended Past--Attempts to determine the same--Tiniere Delta--Lake Bienne--British Fen-lands--Maximum and Minimum Data--Mr. Geikie's conclusions--The Isolation of the paleolithic Age. Chapter IX. EARLY MAN IN AMERICA. 9 Conflicting accounts of the American Aborigines--Recent discoveries--Climate of California in Tertiary Times--Geological changes near its close--Description of Table Mountain--Results of the discoveries there--The Calaveras skull--Other relics--Discussion of the question--Early Californians Neolithic--Explanation of this--Date of the Pliocene Age--Other discoveries bearing on the Antiquity of man--Dr. Koch's discovery--Discoveries in the Loess of Nebraska--In Greene County, Ill.--In Georgia--Difficulties in detecting a Paleolithic Age in this country--Dr. Abbott's discoveries--Paleolithic Implements of the Delaware--Age of the deposits--The race of Paleolithic man--Ancestors of the Eskimos--Comparison of Paleolithic Age in this country with that in Europe--Eskimos one of the oldest races in the World. Chapter X. THE MOUND BUILDERS. Meaning of "Mound Builders"--Location of Mound Building tribes--All Mounds not the work of men--Altar Mounds--Objects found on the Altars--Altar Mounds possibly burial Mounds--Burial Mounds--Mounds not the only Cemeteries of these tribes--Terraced Mounds--Cahokia Mound--Historical notice of a group of Mounds--The Etowal group--Signal Mounds--Effigy Mounds--How they represented different animals--Explanation of the Effigy Mounds--Effigy Mounds in other localities--Inclosures of the Scioto Valley--At Newark, Ohio--At Marietta, Ohio--Graded Ways--Fortified Inclosures--Ft. Ancient, Ohio--Inclosures of Northern Ohio--Works of unknown import--Ancient Canals in Missouri--Implements and Weapons of Stone--Their knowledge of Copper--Ancient mining--Ornamental pipes--Their knowledge of pottery--Of 10 Agriculture--Government and Religion--Hard to distinguish them from the Indians. Chapter XI. THE PUEBLO COUNTRY. Description of the Pueblo Country--Historical outline--Description of Zuni--Definition of a Pueblo--Old Zuni--Inscription Rock--Pueblo of Jemez--Historical notice of Pecos--Description of the Moqui tribes--The Estufa--Description of the San Juan country--Aztec Springs--In the Canyon of the McElmo--The Ruins on the Rio Mancos--On Hovenweep Creek--Description of a Cliff-house--Cliff Town--Cave Houses--Ruins on the San Juan--Cave Town--The Significance of Cliff-houses--Moqui traditions--Ruins in Northern New Mexico--Ruins in the Chaco Canyon--Pueblo Bonito--Ruins in Southwestern Arizona--The Rio Verde Valley--Casa Grande--Ruins on the Gila--Culture of the Pueblo Tribes--Their Pottery--Superiority of the Ancient pottery--Conclusion. Chapter XII. THE PREHISTORIC AMERICANS. Different views on this Subject--Modern System of Government--Ancient System of Government--Tribal Government universal in North America--The Indians not Wandering Nomads--Indian houses Communal in character--Indian Methods of Defense--Mandan Villages--Indians sometimes erected Mounds--Probable Government of the Mound Builders--Traditions of the Mound Builders among the Iroquois--Among the Delawares--Probable fate of the Mound Builders--The Natchez Indians possibly a remnant of the Mound Builders--Their early Traditions--Lines of resemblance 11 between the Pueblo Tribes and the Mound Builders--The origin of the Indians--America Inhabited by the Indians from a very early time--Classification of the Indian Tribes--Antiquity of the Indian Tribes. Chapter XIII. THE NAHUA TRIBES. Early Spanish discoveries in Mexico--The Nahua tribes defined--Climate of Mexico--The Valley of Anahuac--Ruins at Tezcuco--The Hill of Tezcocingo--Ruins at Teotihuacan--Ancient Tulla--Ruins in the Province of Querataro--Casa Grandes in Chihuahua--Ancient remains in Sinaloa--Fortified Hill of Quemada--The Pyramid of Cholula--Fortified Hill at Xochicalco--Its probable use--Ruins at Monte Alban--Ancient remains at Mitla--Mr. Bandelier's investigations--Traditions in regard to Mitla--Ruins along the Panuco River--Ruins in Vera Cruz--Pyramid of Papantla--Tusapan--Character of Nahua Ruins. Chapter XIV. THE MAYA TRIBES. The geographical location of the Maya tribes--Description of Copan--Statue at Copan--Altar at Copan--Ruins at Quiriga--Patinamit--Utatlan--Description of Palenque--The Palace at Palenque--The Temple of the Three Inscriptions--Temple of the Beau-relief--Temple of the Cross--Temple of the Sun--Maler's Temple of the Cross--Significance of the Palenque crosses--Statue at Palenque--Other ruins in Tobasco and Chiapas--Ruins in Yucatan--Uxmal--The Governor's House--The Nunnery--Room in 12 Nunnery--The Sculptured Facades--Temple at Uxmal--Kabah--Zayi--Labna--Labphak--Chichen-Itza--The Nunnery--The Castillo--The Gymnasium--M. Le Plongon's researches--The tradition of the Three Brothers--Chaac-Mal--Antiquity of Chichen-Itza. Chapter XV. THE CULTURE OF THE CIVILIZED TRIBES. Different views on