THE DAWN OF THE WORLD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19833, 31 December 1927, Page 7 (Supplement)

THE DAWN OF THE WORLD.

" OUR LITTLE SYSTEMS."

The further—microscopically further, of course—we get from the origin of man and the beginning of ancient civilisation, the greater appears to be popular interest in those dim and shadowy ages. A warm welcome, therefore, awaits books on these and kindred subjects written in a popular style and appealing to those who have mora curiosity than knowledge of the story which patient research and laborious excavations have laid open to view. To this type of book belong " Footprints of Early Man" and "Ancient Civilisation," both written by Donald Mackenzie and published by Blackie and Son, The night of time," wrote Sir Thomas Browne, the famous seventeenth century Norwich physician, "far surpassed tho day." The night is the long prehistoric period during which the ancient peoples in different parts of the world lived under primitive conditions. It was everywhere of much greater duration than the "day of time," that is, th* period of recorded history. An idea o! the comparative lengths of the prehistoric and the historic periods may be obtained by an illustration afforded by the clock. Beginning at 12, we move the minute-hand round the face to 12,55 to indicate the duration of the prehistoric period. The remaining five minutes to one o'clock represent the historic period from the tune of the earliest records in Egypt and Mesopotamia till the present day. The four most important stages in the evolution of civilised man were the discovery of fire, its production and its use; the discovery of how to work flint; tlio discovery of agriculture, a:ud the invention of' the boat. Though there is disagreement among experts as to where these discoveries were first made the general consensus of opinion is. in favour of the Nile Valley, especially with regard to agriculture. "That wonderful river rises, floods and retreats at the right season to promote the cultivation of cereals without the aid of man. ... In Mesopotamia and in India the rivers flood at the wrong time. When their waters retreat in the hot season vegetation is burned up. "Footprints of Early Man" is illustrated with plates depicting relics of prehistoric men and animals, -including an imaginative reconstruction of s. tar pool scene in the Pleistocene Ace. These tar pools oeciii in regions rich in oil. Ibe oil bubbles up to the surface of the earth awl when these pools were covered with a thin sheet of water wild animals were tempted to drink at them, with the result thai they were ent»'apned in the sticky tar and. so perished. Tn these districts verv ricli finds have thus been made of prehistoric animal skeletons, especially in California. "Ancient Civilisations" carries on the slorv of man's cononest of tin material world from Ecyot through Crete, Persia to Macedonia nnd Athens. "The book concludes with the birth "f Ch»"' cf . who ushered in a new ace in the world s tiicfnrv. and to Whom in our dav manv millions of human heing turn in their nernlexity as did Tennyson when he wrote:—•

Thine are the3e orbs of light .and shade, Thou madest Life in man apd brute; Thou madest Death: and 10. Thy,, foot Is on the skull which Thou hast made.

Thou wilt not leave us in the dust: Thou madest man, he knows not why: Ho thines he was not made to die: And Thou hast made him: Thou art just

Our little systems have, their day: They have their day and cease to oe: They nre but bvoken lights of Thee. And Thou. O Lord, art more Ician they.