MAN'S PRIMITIVE CONDITION 1659 



well as the creatures that are below him. It is true 

 that he has not instincts of the same kind as they 

 have. But this is no proof whatever that he has not, 

 and had not originally, instincts which stand in strict 

 correlation with the peculiarities of his higher phys- 

 ical organization. There are many facts which go 

 far to prove that man has, and must always have had. 

 instincts which afford all that is required as a start- 

 ing-ground for advance in the mechanical arts. Few 

 persons have reflected on how much is involved in 

 the most purely instinctive acts, such as the throwing 

 of a stone or the wielding of a stick as a weapon of 

 offence. Both these simple acts involve the great prin- 

 ciple of the use of artificial tools. Even in the most 

 rudimentary form the use of an implement fashioned 

 for a special purpose is absolutely peculiar to man, 

 and arises necessarily and instinctively out of the 

 structure of his body. The bodies of the lower ani- 

 mals are so constructed that such implements as they 

 are capable of directing are all supplied in the form 

 of bodily organs. All effects which they desire to 

 produce, or are capable of producing, are effected 

 directly by the use of those organs under the guidance 

 of implanted instincts. There are some very curious 

 cases among the lower animals of a near approach 

 to the principle involved in the use of tools that is 

 to say, the use of natural force through artificial 

 means. Thus the common gray or hooded crow is 

 constantly in the habit of lifting shell-fish to a cer- 

 tain height in the air and then letting them fall upon 

 the rocks of the shore in order to break the shells. 

 Some species of monkey will even use any stone 



