years ago. The general impression left is very
grand. In remote antiquity the Primate stem diverged from the other
orders of mammals; it sent forth its tentative branches, and the result
was a tangle of monkeys; ages passed and the monkeys were left behind,
while the main stem, still probing its way, gave off the Anthropoid
apes, both small and large. But they too were left behind, and the main
line gave off other experiments--indications of which we know in Java,
at Heidelberg, in the Neanderthal, and at Piltdown. None of these lasted
or was made perfect. They represent _tentative_ men who had their day
and ceased to be, our predecessors rather than our ancestors. Still, the
main stem goes on evolving, and who will be bold enough to say what
fruit it has yet to bear!

[Illustration: _After a model by J. H. McGregor._

PROFILE VIEW OF THE HEAD OF PITHECANTHROPUS, THE JAVA APE-MAN--AN EARLY
OFFSHOOT FROM THE MAIN LINE OF MAN'S ASCENT

The animal remains found along with the skull-cap, thigh-bone, and two
teeth of Pithecanthropus seem to indicate the lowest Pleistocene period,
perhaps 500,000 years ago.]

[Illustration: _From the reconstruction by J. H. McGregor._

PILTDOWN SKULL. THE DARK PARTS ONLY ARE PRESERVED, NAMELY PORTIONS OF
THE CRANIAL WALLS AND THE NASAL BONES

Some authorities include a canine tooth and part of the lower jaw which
were found close by. The remains were found in 1912 in Thames gravels in
Sussex, and are usually regarded as vastly more ancient than those of
Neanderthal Man. It has been suggested that Piltdown Man lived 100,000
to 150,000 years ago, in the Third Interglacial period.]

[Illustration: _Reproduced by permission from Osborn's "Men of the Old
Stone Age."_

SAND-PIT AT MAUER, NEAR HEIDELBERG: DISCOVERY SITE OF THE JAW OF
HEIDELBERG MAN

_a-b._ "Newer loess," either of Third Interglacial or of Postglacial
times.
_b-c._ "Older loess" (sandy loess), of the close of Second Interglacial
times.
_c-f._ The "sands of Mauer."
_d-e._ An intermediate layer of clay.

The white cross (X) indicates the spot at the base of the "sands of
Mauer" at which the jaw of Heidelberg was discovered.]

Primitive Men

Ancient skeletons of men of the modern type have been found in many
places, e.g. Combe Capelle in Dordogne, Galley Hill in Kent, Cro-Magnon
in Perigord, Mentone on the Riviera; and they are often referred to as
"Cave-men" or "men of the Early Stone Age." T