An Introduction to a Biology 



from the elements ; and provided with the full set 

 of implements by means of which he obtains what 

 he requires from nature. In fact, the crab is seen 

 with everything by means of which he comes into 

 relation with inanimate and animate nature. But 

 a naked man shut off from his implements is de- 

 prived of all this ; he lacks clothing which shelters 

 him from the elements, and if he has no spear and 

 no spade he must shortly starve. So that, looked 

 at from a point of view from which one sees the 

 bond between the organism and its environment, 

 the implements of man do correspond with the 

 limbs of an animal. I am aware that my argument 

 may appear obscure ; but the incidence of the 

 words at my disposal is responsible for much of 

 the obscurity. There is no diflB.culty in the human 

 sphere ; there are plenty of words for that with 

 which man carries out his work — tool, weapon, 

 implement, instrument, apparatus, machine — each 

 with its own well known incidence of meaning. 

 But in the sphere of extra-human animals the choice 

 of words is much more difficult. For instance, limb 

 does not cover the snout of the hog, which corre- 

 sponds with a man's potato-fork. Perhaps the best 

 word is organ, which means that with which work 

 is done — i.e. that which effects the bond between 

 the organism and its environment. 



The matter may be looked at from the closer, 

 purely sensual aspect. The implement, whilst one 

 is using it, certainly feels as if it were part of one- 

 self. It is true that when one first uses it it does 

 feel like a foreign object in one's hand. But by 

 the time that one can use it well, one comes to feel 



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