Excerpt from Preadamites or a Demonstration of the Existence of Men Before Adam; Together With a Study of Their Condition, Antiquity, Racial Affinities, and Progressive Dispersion Over the Earth I have attempted, in the present work, to discuss, without prejudice, the evidences bearing on the question of Preadamites. Having no interest, at the outset of my study of the subject, to reach either an affirmative or a negative conclusion, I am conscious of the exercise of a judicial candor in every branch of the argument. It is true that since the public announcement of the results of my earlier study, some provocations may have arisen moving me to defend the positions assumed; but I can state, unreservedly, that the positions were assumed without the incitement of a provocation. I hope, therefore, to have contributed something to the enlargement of that body of imperishable truth which the popular mind, in spite of the fetters of tradition, is learning to approve and accept. The central idea of the work is human preadamitism; all other views presented are subsidiary or collateral. The thesis implies that the characterization of Adam in the document which has given us the name, is such that the name cannot be applied to the first progenitor of the human kind, and that all the collateral statements either involve or permit the derivation of Adam from an older race. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.