86 



THE RISE OF MAN. 



bottom of all religious and ethical views, and it is justified 

 in both the realm of natural science and in the history of 

 mankind. 



In one sense, we can say man is throughout self-made. 

 He had to climb the ladder of evolution, and every one of 

 his bodily and mental qualities is acquired by himself. But 

 in another sense, we can say that man is nothing by him- 

 self ; nature has made him. She led him step by step to 

 find that which alone made him what he is a rational 



ARROW-HEADS AND HARPOONS OF REINDEER BONES FROM LAUGERIEBASSE. 



Originals in Mus^e du Jardin des Plantes, Paris. 

 Menschheit, II, 272.) 



( Weltall und 



being, a tool-making creature. Those who deviated from 

 the path prescribed by nature, were hopelessly doomed 

 to extinction. The path is prescribed in general outlines 

 only ; it admits of infinite variations in all its details, 

 but certain general conditions are rigid and do not allow 

 of any deviation. 



The history of inventions represents a ladder on 

 which we can always reach only to the next rung. The 



