Did he wander through the evergreen forests, and hunt the deer,
antelope, and hogs--the hipparions, and mastodons, and
deinotheres--then so numerous?<42> We know of no inherent
improbability of his existence at that time. An ape belonging to
a highly organized genus was then living in Europe.
Every condition considered necessary for the primeval Garden of
Eden was then satisfied. Let us stop for a minute and examine
the nature of the evidence considered sufficient to prove the
presence of man during any of the past geological ages.

Should we be so fortunate as to find portions of the bones of
the human skeleton in a geological formation in such positions
that they could not possibly have been introduced there since
the deposition of the containing bed, it would of course prove
that man was at least as old as the formation itself. But it
happens that human remains in beds of a previous geological age
are very rare. Indeed, human remains in formations of the
Pleistocene Age,<43> during which we have ample testimony, as we
shall see, of the presence of man, are very rare. The cases in
which there can be no doubt can he reckoned on the fingers.
The explanation of this state of things is not at all difficult,
for it is only under very rare circumstances that portions of
the bones of animals even larger than man are preserved to us in
geological strata. Vast numbers die and vanish away without
leaving a trace behind them for every fragmentary bone we
recover. In the case of man we must remember that, in previous
eras, he was present in very small numbers; that, owing to his
intelligence, he would not be as liable to be drowned and swept
away, and so mingle his remains with beds of river detritus then
forming, as were animals. Mr. Lyell has made some remarks on the