They need tools and weapons, as means for getting the primary essentials. 

 And nearly all seem to get satisfaction from gathering odds and ends of things 

 with which they decorate their bodies or their garments and their dwellings. 

 Even weapons and tools are often ornamented. 



Ornaments are often symbols of what people deeply treasure. A savage, 

 for example, keeps the tusks or horns of animals he has killed. These are 

 trophies, or proof of his prowess. Some of the North American Indians kept 

 the scalps of enemies they had slain. These things had no trade-in value for 

 food or clothing. They were symbols of worthiness, signs to all the world 

 that this individual amounts to something. They were thus sources of satis- 

 faction and self-assurance. Migrating tribes could not carry with them such 

 trophies. But another feather is no burden, or a notch cut in the handle of the 

 club, or a bead on a string, or another tassel of bright-colored wool. These 

 tokens have value over and above material necessities. They correspond to 

 certain goals that we moderns strive for — titles, medals, ribbons, badges. 



Other objectives for which people struggled had religious or magical vir- 

 tues. Eating the heart of a lion was not only nutritious; it gave one courage. 

 Certain plant and animal parts might cure or prevent sickness, but they had 

 religious or magical virtues in addition. People would go to great pains to get 

 a toad by moonlight or to cHmb the high mountains for the lucky edelweiss. 



It is true that human beings, like other organisms, can continue to live with- 

 out these ornaments, without these symbolical and magical objects. But as 

 human beings we cannot be happy and comfortable without them. For these 

 objects mean the difference between being nobody and being somebody. 

 They are the outward and visible signs of inner worth. They are necessary 

 for gaining the respect of others, and sometimes for gaining power over them. 

 They are needed to ensure courage and self-confidence and peace of mind. 

 And so they are necessary for health and comfort. 



Man reaches out beyond food and clothing and shelter. A better under- 

 standing of the forms and activities and characteristics of plants and animals 

 enables people to get more easily what they need. It helps them avoid with 

 greater certainty what may injure or annoy them. Keeping well and avoiding 

 illnesses also depend upon a better knowledge of living things. 



We started out by saying that everybody has to know some biology. In 

 all parts of the world people have their local ways of selecting and preparing 

 food, of raising crops, of catching fish or kilUng game, of preventing pests, of 

 keeping well. They live — well or ill — by what they actually do. In addition, 

 however, they have various and conflicting notions to explain how plants and 

 animals work, or reasons for their rules and practices. And these ideas and 

 reasons often conflict with what we today know — or beHeve. 



How does finding out more about living things increase our powers.'' Or 

 our material resources .f* Or make us any healthier or happier .f* 



604 



