THE SUMMIT_OF THE YEARS 



thought. They weave and spin and drill and bore 

 without tools, they traverse zones without guide or 

 compass, they are cunning without instruction, and 

 prudent without precept. They know the ends of 

 the earth, the depths of the sea, the currents of the 

 air, and are at home in the wilderness. We ascribe 

 to them thought and reason, and discuss their 

 psychology, because we are anthropomorphic; we 

 have no other standards than those furnished by 

 our own nature and experience. 



Animal behavior, as I have said, is much more 

 like the behavior of natural forces than is that of 

 man: the animal goes along with Nature, borne along 

 by her currents, while the mind of man crosses and 

 confronts Nature, thwarts her, uses her, or turns 

 her back upon herself. During the vast aeons while 

 the earth was peopled by the lower orders alone, 

 Nature went her way. But when this new animal, 

 man, appeared, in due time Nature began to go his 

 way, to own him as master. Her steam and her 

 currents did his work, her lightning carried his 

 messages, her forces became his servants. 



I am not aware that any animal in the least de- 

 gree confronts Nature in this way cuts its paths 

 through her, and arbitrarily shapes her. Probably 

 the nearest approach to it is among the insects, 

 such as the balloon-spiders and the agricultural 

 ants. In some parts of the country one might think 

 that the cow was a landscape gardener from the 

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