CHAPTER II. 

 The Dawn of Civilization. 



T^HE earliest evidence of mental action is found in crude 

 flint chips wherein primitive man sought to make a 

 sharped edged or cutting instrument. Civilization had taken 

 its first step when the human brain conceived the idea of 

 making and using some tool to aid him. So far as positive 

 present records go, this was the beginning of reason. All 

 the progress, culture and achievements of the human race 

 are built around this first step, but before this step was 

 made, much preliminary work had been done. 



The laws of Nature demanded that all life be developed 

 and sustained by certain of the elements or combinations 

 thereof. The fundamental and necessary requisites of 

 human life are food, water, oxygen, clothing and shelter, 

 the last two of which are dependent largely on climatic con- 

 ditions. So far as human habitation is concerned, oxygen 

 is the only one of these necessary requisites that is universal 

 and is found in all parts of the world where human hfe is 

 found. The others may be transported to places where they 

 do not exist and there used. Nature has supplied all those 

 requirements in one form or another and it is through the 

 processes of adaptation and selection, modification and 

 change that their uses are applied to the necessities of 

 mankind. 



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