Chapter XXIII: Conclusion

Before bringing our work to a close we may be permitted to retrace the path we have trod, and to embrace in one rapid glance the immense space we have traversed.

We have now arrived at a point of time very far removed from that of the dweller in caves, the man who was contemporary with the great bear and the mammoth! Scarcely, perhaps, have we preserved a reminiscence of those mighty quadrupeds whose broad shadows seem to flit indistinctly across the dim light of the quaternary epoch. Face to face with these gigantic creatures, which have definitively disappeared from the surface of our globe, there were, as we have seen, beings of a human aspect who, dwelling in caves and hollows of the earth, clothed themselves in the skins of beasts and cleft flakes of stone in order to form their weapons and implements. We can hardly have failed to feel a certain interest in and sympathy with them, when tracing out the dim vestiges of their progress; for, in spite of their rude appearance, in spite of their coarse customs and their rough mode of life, they were our brethren, our ancestors, and the far-distant precursors of modern civilisation.

We have given due commendation to their efforts and to their progress. After a protracted use of weapons and implements simply chipped out of the rough flint, we have seen them adopt weapons and instruments of polished stone, that is, objects which had undergone that material preparation which is the germ of the industrial skill of primitive nations.

Aided by these polished-stone instruments, added to those of bone and reindeer's or stag's horn, they did not fear to enter into a conflict--which every day became more and more successful--with all the external forces which menaced them. As we have seen, they brought under the yoke of servitude various kinds of animals; they made the dog and the horse the companion and the auxiliary of their labour. The sheep, the ox, and other ruminants were converted into domesticated cattle, capable of insuring a constant supply of food.

After the lapse of ages metals made their appearance!--metals, the most precious acquisition of all, the pledge of the advent of a new era, replete with power and activity, to primitive man. Instruments made of stone, bone, reindeer or stag's horn, were replaced by those composed of metal. In all the communities of man civilisation and metals seem to be constant companions. Though bronze may have served for the forging of swords and spears, it also provides the material for implements of peaceful labour. Owing to the efforts of continuous toil, owing also to the development of intelligence which is its natural consequence, the empire of man over the world of nature is still increasing, and man's moral improvement follows the same law of progression. But who shall enumerate the ages which have elapsed whilst these achievements have been realised?

But thy task is not yet terminated! Onward, and still onward, brave pioneer of progress! The path is a long one and the goal is not yet attained! Once thou wert contented with bronze, now thou hast iron--iron, that terrible power, whose function is to mangle and to kill--the cause of so much blood and so many bitter tears; but also the beneficent metal which fertilises and gives life, affording nutriment to the body as well as to the mind. The Romans applied the name of _ferrum_ to the blade of their swords; but in after times _ferrum_ was also the term for the peaceful ploughshare. The metal which had brought with it terror, devastation, and death, erelong introduced among nations peace, wealth and happiness.

And now, O man, thy work is nearly done! The mighty conflicts against nature are consummated, and thy universal empire is for ever sure! Animals are subject to thy will and even to thy fancies. At thy command, the obedient earth opens its bosom and unfolds the riches it contains. Thou hast turned the course of rivers, cleared the mountain sides of the forests which covered them, and cultivated the plains and valleys; by thy culture the earth has become a verdant and fruitful garden. Thou hast changed the whole aspect of the globe, and mayst well call thyself the lord of creation!

Doubtless the expanding circle of thy peaceful conquests will not stop here, and who can tell how far thy sway may extend? Onward then! still onward! proud and unfettered in thy vigilant and active course towards new and unknown destinies!

But look to it, lest thy pride lead thee to forget thy origin. However great may be thy moral grandeur, and however complete thy empire over a docile nature, confess and acknowledge every hour the Almighty Power of the great Creator. Submit thyself before thy Lord and Master, the God of goodness and of love, the Author of thy existence, who has reserved for thee still higher destinies in another life. Learn to show thyself worthy of the supreme blessing--the happy immortality which awaits thee in a world above, if thou hast merited it by a worship conceived in spirit and in truth, and by the fulfilment of thy duty both towards God and towards thy neighbour!

ALPHABETICAL INDEX

TO

AUTHORS' NAMES CITED IN THIS VOLUME.

Alberti, 228

Arcelin, 120

Austen (Godwin), 9

Baudot, 178

Bertrand, 187, 197

Bocchi, 82

Bonstetten, 187

Borel, 319

Boucher de Perthes, 8, 9, 16, 17, 18, 45, 82, 161, 162, 163, 164,
165, 166

Boué (Aimé), 6

Bourgeois (Abbé), 3, 16, 17, 73, 149

Boutin, 74

Broca, 114, 181

Brun (V.), 88, 98, 106, 115, 119

Buckland, 6

Busk, 36, 81, 182

Camper, 5

Cazalis de Fondouce, 128

Chantre, 120

Chevalier (Abbé), 147

Christel (de), 7, 74

Christy, 73, 86, 90, 95, 106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 118

Clément, 225

Cochet (Abbé), 177

Costa de Beauregard, 91, 319

Cuvier, 6, 7

Dampier, 132, 219

Darwin, 132

Davis (Dr. Barnard), 36, 81, 337

Delaunay, 73

Desnoyers, 9, 20, 57

Desor, 175, 217 _note_, 220, 221, 227, 242, 244, 251, 252, 257, 260,
271, 289, 310, 321, 324, 329

Dolomieu, 156, 157

Dumont d'Urville, 219, 225

Dupont (Édouard), 82, 94, 95, 104, 112, 113, 114, 116, 120

Edwards (Milne), 12, 120, 127

Esper, 6

Evans, 11, 12, 51, 131, 149

Falconer, 10, 11, 76

Faudel, 82

Ferry (de), 73, 91, 120

Filhol, 15, 75, 127, 169, 181

Flower, 11

Fontan, 11, 74, 119

Forchhammer, 131

Forel, 176

Foresi (Raffaello), 181

Forgeais, 178, 202

Foulon-Menard, 169

Fournet, 158

Fraas, 104

Franchet, 73

Frere, 6, 12

Fuhlrott, 80

Garrigou, 15, 16, 75, 110, 119, 127, 169, 181

Gastaldi and Moro, 227

Gaudry (Albert), 11

Gervais (Paul), 74, 128

Gilliéron, 267, 292, 293

Gmelin, 299

Gosse, 11, 12

Gratiolet and Alix, 31, 33, 34

Guérin, 72

Hannour and Himelette, 179

Hauzeur, 104

Hébert, 11

Heer, 265

Hernandez, 160

His, 290

Hochstetter, 229

Husson, 72

Huxley, 26, 80

Issel, 91

Jeitteler, 239

Joly, 8

Joly-Leterme, 120

Keller, 135, 175, 216, 220, 225, 227, 280, 282

Kemp, 6

Knapp, 336

Kosterlitz, 228

Lambert (l'Abbé), 3

Lartet, 1, 2, 13, 14, 15, 18, 20, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66, 67, 71, 101, 102,
106, 108, 109, 110, 111, 118, 120, 180

Lawrence, 31

Leguay, 150, 153, 195, 200

Léveillé, 147

Lewis (Cornewall), 208

Lioy (Paolo), 228

Löhle, 223

Lubbock (Sir John), 97, 131, 189, 190, 195, 200, 219, 230, 275, 342

Lund, 9, 77

Lyell (Sir Charles), 11, 20, 36, 132, 224

Marcel de Serres, 3, 7

Martin, 12

Morlot, 94, 217 _note_, 249, 291, 300, 301

Mortillet, de, 89, 131 _note_, 172, 227, 245, 283, 308 _note_

Mudge, 231

Mylne, 11

Naegeli, 239

Nilsson, 116, 189, 195, 208, 209

Noulet, 10

Osculati, 239

Otz, 226

Owen, 91, 119

Peccadeau de l'Isle, 90, 106, 107, 119

Peigné Delacour, 12

Penguelly, 10

Penguilly l'Haridon, 149

Pereira de Costa, 132

Pigorini, 232, 235, 236, 238

Place, 160

Pommerol, 171

Prestwich, 11, 46, 131

Pruner-Bey, 18, 32, 33, 35, 37, 81, 113, 114, 181

Quatrefages, de, 18, 30, 31, 38

Quiquerez, 301, 302, 303, 308

Rabut, 229

Rames, 15

Ramsauer, 312, 314

Rauchet, 227

Reboux, 12

Reffye, 321

Rigollot, 10, 54

Robert (Eugène), 12, 149

Rochebrune, 157

Rougemont (de), 320

Rütimeyer, 265, 268

Saussure, de, 160

Sauvage and Hamy, 131

Schaaffhausen, 37, 81

Scheuchzer, 5

Schild, 226

Schmerling, 7, 77

Schmidt, 284, 287 _note_

Schwab, 248, 250

Silber, 228

Squier, 337

Steenstrup, 130, 131, 133

Steinhauer, 66

Stopani (l'Abbé), 227

Strobel, 132, 232, 235, 236, 238, 239

Thioly, 226

Tournal, 7

Troyon, 175, 217 _note_, 225, 253

Uhlmann, 134

Vallier, 229

Van Beneden, 112, 113

Vibraye (Marquis de), 11, 73, 94, 98

Vicq-d'Azyr, 31

Vogt, 26, 80, 181, 280, 281, 282

Welker, 32

Wilde (Sir W. R.), 230

Wood, 76

Worsaae, 131, 175, 276

Wyatt, 12

LONDON: PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS.

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| Transcriber's Note: |
| |
| * Obvious punctuation and spelling errors repaired. |
| Word combinations that appeared with and without hyphens |
| were changed to the predominant hyphenated form. |
| Original spelling and its variations were not standardized. |
| |
| * Corrections in the spelling of names were made when those |
| could be verified. Otherwise the variations were left as they |
| were. |
| |
| * Footnotes were moved to the ends of the chapters in which |
| they belonged and numbered in one continuous sequence. |
| The pagination in index entries which referred to these |
| footnotes was not changed to match their new locations |
| and is therefore incorrect. |
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