This historic period is not the same in all countries. It varies
from a few centuries in our own country to a few thousands of
years in Oriental lands. In no country is there a hard and fast
line separating the historic period from the prehistoric. In the
dim perspective of years the light gradually fades away, the
mist grows thicker and thicker before us, and we at last find
ourselves face to face with the unknown past.

This extensive period of time is not, however, utterly lost to
us. We have simply to gather our information in some other way.
Enthusiastic explorers, digging beneath the ashes of Vesuvius,
have brought to light the remains of an entombed city. Of this
city we indeed have historic records, but even if all such
records had long since disappeared, we would gather much
information as to the nationality of the inhabitants, their
customs, and manners, by a simple inspection of the relics
themselves. Everywhere over the earth, entombed beneath the feet
of the living, or crumbling on the surface, are the few relics
of a past far antedating the relics of Pompeii. They are the
proofs positive that some people inhabited the land in far
away times.

Our object is to gather together the conclusions of the
scientific world as to primitive man. We wish to see how far
back in the geological history of the globe we can find evidence
of man's existence, and we desire to learn his surroundings and
the manner of his life. There can be no more important field
than for us to thus learn of the past. To read the story of
primitive man, to walk with him the earth in ages long ago, with
him to wage war on the huge animals of a previous epoch, to