Page:Geological Evidences of the Antiquity of Man.djvu/309

If we reflect on the long series of events of the post-pliocene and recent periods contemplated in this chapter, it will be remarked that the time assigned to the first appearance of man, so far as our geological inquiries have yet gone, is extremely modern in relation to the age of the existing fauna and flora, or even to the time when most of the living species of animals and plants attained their actual geographical distribution. At the same time it will also be seen, that if the advent of man in Europe occurred before the close of the second continental period, and antecedently to the separation of Ireland from England and of England from the continent, the event would be sufficiently remote to cause the historical period to appear quite insignificant in duration, when compared to the antiquity of the human race.