Between the first group and the central one comes a gap, a space typical
of that unknown time in history when conjecture alone permits
speculation, and the story is taken up again with the first of the
central groups, wherein stands a figure of Vanity, glass in hand,
symbolizing the compelling motive of so much in human endeavor. To her
left, in enormous contrast, are primitive man and woman, treated with
great realism, these two carrying their burdens of life, in the form of
their progeny, into the unknown future, their expression that of rude
but questioning courage, the man splendid in his virility, superb in the
attitude of his awkward strength, ready to meet whatever be the call of
earth. His mate meanwhile suggests the overwhelming and eternal
instincts of motherhood.

An archaic Hermes, dividing these figures from the next group, allows
for a space of time to elapse, and we come to their children, now grown
to manhood and womanhood, in their rude strength finding themselves,
with the result of Natural Selection. This is a group of five
personages, the center figure a man of splendid youth and vigor,
suggesting the high state both of physical and intellectual perfection,
unconsciously attracting the female, two of whom regard him with favor,
while two males on either side, deserted for this finer type, give vent
to deep regret, despair, and anger. One attempts by brute force to hold
the woman; the other reluctantly gives up his choice, in the obvious
futility of his unequal intellectual endowment to comprehend.

From this to the Survival of the Fittest we have a militant group, in
which physical strength begins to play its part, and perhaps discloses
the first awakening of the war spirit, the woman in this case being the
exciting cause. The powerful chieftains struggle for supremacy of their