NATURAL HISTORY OF MAN, 



521 



All industries suppose utensils ; and the matter of which these 

 utensils are made furnishes the means of determining to a certain ex- 

 tent the degree of civilization attained by people whom we know only 

 by traces they have left. 



In the beginning we see stone alone used to fabricate utensris and 

 weapons ; for these two things proceed together. Everywhere, man 

 is at first content to shape more or less perfectly matter furnished him 

 by the soil. Look at these samples of stones (Fig. 3) which have 

 served as hatchets, whether for domestic use or war. You see they 

 are fashioned very simply. These objects came from our soil; they 

 served our first ancestors and attest the truth I have just stated. 



In proportion as man progresses, he is not content simply to shape 

 the stone ; he polishes it. His first attempts in this way are coarse 

 enough. At first the edge of the hatchet alone is polished. Later 

 the entire hatchet, and sometimes in a remarkable manner (Fig. 4). 



Fig. 4. 



The hatchets as well as the knives are generally of silex, that is, 

 of that species of stone which formerly served as flint in striking fire. 

 Its hardness explains why it was chosen for these purposes. When it 



