THE STRUGGLE FOR LIFE. 197 



gle. As the earliest contribution of mankind to solve 

 its still fundamental difficulty — the problem of Nutri- 

 tion — they are of enduring interest to the human race. 

 So far from being, as one might suppose, mere imple- 

 ments of destruction, they are implements of self- 

 preservation ; they entered the world not from hate 

 of Man but for love of life. Why was the spear in- 

 vented, and the sling, and the bow? In the first 

 instance because Man needed the bird and the deer for 

 food. Why from implements of the chase did they 

 change into implements of war? Because other men 

 wanted the bird and the deer, and the first possessor, 

 as populations multiplied, must protect his food- 

 supply. The parent of all industries is Hunger : the 

 creator of civilization in its earlier forms is the Strug- 

 gle for Life. 



By hollowing a pit in the ground, planting his 

 spear, or a pointed stake, upright in the centre, and 

 covering the mouth with boughs, Man could trap 

 even the largest game. When the climate became 

 cold, he stripped off the skin and became the possessor 

 of clothes. With a stone for a hammer, he broke 

 open molluscs on the shore, or speared or trapped the 

 fish in the shoals. Digging for roots with his pointed 

 stick in time suggested agriculture. From imitating 

 the way wild fruits and grains were sown by Nature 

 he became a gardener and grew crops. To possess a 

 crop means to possess an estate, and to possess an 

 estate is to give up wandering and begin that more 

 settled life in which all the arts of industry must 

 increase. Catching the young of wild animals and 

 keeping them, first as playthings, then for supplies ot 

 meat or milk, or, in the case of the dog, for helping in 



