CONTENTS

CHAP.Page
I.[The Earliest Picture in the World]1
II.[Portraits of Mammoths by Men Who Saw Them]26
III.[The Art of Prehistoric Men]35
IV.[Vesuvius in Eruption]55
V.[Blue Water]74
VI.[The Biggest Beast]84
VII.[What is meant by "a Species"?]92
VIII.[More about Species]100
IX.[Species in the Making]108
X.[Some Specific Characters]118
XI.[Hybrids]131
XII.[The Cross-breeding of Races]139
XIII.[Wheel Animalcules]157
XIV.[More about Wheel Animalcules]165
XV.[Suspended Animation]173
XVI.[More about Suspended Animation]182
XVII.[The Swastika]191
XVIII.[The Origin of the Swastika]200
XIX.[The Tomoye and the Swastika]209
XX.[Coal]217
XXI.[Boring for Oil]223
XXII.[The Story of Lime-Juice and Scurvy]229
[Index]239

EXPLANATION OF THE FRONTISPIECE

THIS plate shows the restoration of the extinct lizard, Dimetrodon gigas (Cope), lately made by Mr. Charles W. Gilmore of the United States National Museum, by whose kind permission it is here reproduced from the Proceedings of the U.S. National Museum, vol. 56, 1919. It is based upon the study of a very fine skeleton and some hundred bones of allied species, collected by Mr. Sternberg from "the Permian formation" exposed in the vicinity of Seymour, Texas, U.S.A. It is selected for illustration here because its most striking feature—the high dorsal fin-like crest along the middle of the back formed by the elongation of the neural spines of the vertebræ—is a puzzle to the conscientious Darwinian. Professor Case says of it: "The elongate spines were useless, so far as I can imagine, and I have been puzzling over them for several years. It is impossible to conceive of them as useful either for defence or concealment, or in any other way than as a great burden to the creatures (terrestrial non-aquatic animals) that bore them. They must have been a nuisance in getting through the vegetation, and a great drain upon the creature's vitality, both to develop them and keep them in repair." The reader is referred to pp. 127, 128, where a brief discussion of such exuberant growths will be found. The excessive growth of the median fins in the fish Pteraclis allied to the Dolphin which displays changing floods of surface colour as it dies—and in the Australian Blenny called Patæcus—both figured on p. 130—should be compared with that of the strange crest of the grotesque Dimetrodon.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

[Dimetrodon]Frontispiece
FIGS.PAGE
1, 2.[Engraved Cylinder of Red-Deer's Antler, from the Azilian (Elapho-Tarandian) Horizon of the Cavern of Lortet]1
3.[A. Perforated Harpoon of the Azilian or Red-Deer Period. B. and C. Imperforate Harpoons or Lance Heads]3
4.[Rolled Impression or "Development" of the Engraving on the Lortet Antler]12
5.[Restoration (or Completion) of the Engraving on the Lortet Antler]13
6.[Fragment of a Roughly-painted Vase of the Dipylon Age (circa 800 b.c.) from Tiryns]23
7.[Engraving of a Mammoth drawn upon a Piece of Mammoth Ivory]26
8.[Outline Engravings of Mammoths on the Wall of the Cavern known as the "Font de Gaume," near Eyzies (Dordogne)]32
9.[Similar Engravings from the Neighbouring Cave of Combarelles]32
10.[A, Similar Engraving from the Cave of Combarelles. B, Mammoth enclosed by Plank-like Structure–supposed to be either a Cage or a Trap]33
11.[Horse (Wall Engraving), Cave of Marsoulas, Haute Garonne]43
12.[Horse (Wall Engraving) Outline in Black, Cave of Niaux (Ariège)]43
13.[Horses: A, Wall Engraving (Cave of Hornos de la Péna). B, Wall Engraving from Cavern of Combarelles. C, engraved on reindeer Antler (Mas d'Azil)]43
14.[Drawing (of the Actual Size of the Original) of a Flat Carving in Shoulder-bone of a Horse's Head, showing Twisted Rope-bridle and Trappings]45
15.[Drawing (of the Actual Size of the Original) of a fully rounded Carving in Reindeer's Antler of the Head of a Neighing Horse]45
16.[Reindeer (Engraving on Schist)]46
17.[Rhinoceros in Red Outline]46
18.[Bison from the Roof of the Cavern of Altamira]48
19.[Bison: Wall Engravings]48
20.[Bear: Engraved on Stalagmite, from the Cave of Teyjat near Eyzies]48
21.[Bear: Engraved on Stone, Massol (Ariège)]48
22.[Wolf: Engraved on Wall of the Cave of Combarelles]48
23.[Wall Engraving of a Cave Lion (Combarelles)]48
24.[Goose: Small Engraving on Reindeer Antler]49
25.[Female Figure carved in Oolitic Limestone from Willendorf, near Krems, Lower Austria (1908)]50
26.[Drawing (of the Actual Size of the Original) of an Ivory Carving (fully rounded) of a Female Head]51
27.[Seated Figure of a Woman holding a Bovine Horn in the Right Hand]51
28.[Male Figure represented in the Act of drawing a Bow or throwing a Spear]51
29.[A Piece of Mammoth Ivory carved with Spirals and Scrolls from the Cave of Arudy (Hautes Pyrénées)]54
30.[Vesuvius as it appeared before the Eruption of August 24, a.d. 79]57
31.[Five Successive Stages in the Change of Form of Vesuvius (from Phillips' "Vesuvius," 1869)]61
32.[The Upper-arm Bone or Humerus of the Great Reptile (Gigantosaurus) of Tendagoroo]88
[The Gigantic Reptile Diplodocus on Land]91
33.[The Rudimentary Gill-plume of a Crayfish from that Part of the Body-wall to which the First Pair of Jaw-legs (Maxillipedes) is articulated]122
[Strangely-shaped Fishes]130
34.[Diagram of Rotifer vulgaris–The Common Wheel Animalcule–One Hundred and Twenty Times as long as the Creature itself]158
35.[The Rotifer Pedalion mirum–seen from the Right Side, magnified 180 Diameters]161
36.[The Rotifer Pedalion mirum–seen from the Ventral Surface]161
37.[The Rotifer Noteus quadricornis–to show its curious Four-horned Carapace]163
[The Larval or Young Form of Crustacea known as "the Nauplius"]164
37 (bis).[Three Tube-building Wheel Animacules]169
[Young Stages of Growth or Veliger Larvæ of Marine Snails]181
38.[The Swastika in its simplest Rectangular Form]191
39.[Three Simple Varieties of the Swastika]192
40.[Footprint of the Buddha]192
41.[Vase from Cyprus (Mykenæan Age, circa 1200 b.c.); Painted with Lotus, Bird and Four Swastikas]194
42.[Terra-Cotta Spindle-Whorl marked with Swastikas]194
43.[Ornament from an Archaic (pre-Hellenic) Bœotian Vase, showing Several Swastikas, Greek Crosses and Two Serpents]195
43 (bis).[Swastikas in Bronze Repoussé]195
44.[Silver-plated Bronze Horse Gear from Scandinavia, showing two Swastikas, and below a Complex Elaboration of a Swastika]195
45.[Anglo-Saxon Urn from Shropham, Norfolk, Ornamented by Twenty Small Hand-made Swastikas stamped into the Clay]195
46.[Piece of a Ceremonial Bead-worked Garter, showing Star and Two Swastikas]197
47.[A Stone Slab from the Ancient City of Mayapan (Yucatan, Central America), on which (Right Side) a Curvilinear Swastika is carved]198
48.[Diagram to show the Derivation of the Swastika from a Greek Cross enclosed by a Circle]199
49.[The Greek Key Pattern in A Rectangular, and B Curvilinear or "Current" Form]202
50.[Diagrams of the "Triskelion"]203
51.[Four Stages in the Simplification of a Decorative Design–The Alligator]205
52.[Simplification (grammatizing) of Decorative Design]206
53.[Spindle-Whorl from Troy (Fourth City), with Three Swastikas]206
54.[The "Tomoye"–The Japanese Badge of Triumph]209
55.[Symbols of the History of the Universe used by the Ancient Chinese Philosopher Chu-Hsi]209
56.[Diagrams to show the possible Derivation of the Swastika from the Inscription of Two S-like Lines (or "Ogees") within a Circle so as to divide the Circle into Four Bent Cones]209
57.[Terra-cotta Cone with a Seven-armed Sun-like Figure]211
58.[Scalloped Shell Disk, from a Mound near Nashville, Tennessee, showing in the Centre a Tetraskelion with Four Curved Arms]211
59.[An Altar-stone of Prehistoric Age]213
60.[Diagrams of Arbeli]214