ASSOCIATION 113 



ence, speech reacted upon association. It definitely 

 marked off primitive man from all other species. It be- 

 came the distinguishing character of the Hominidse. 

 Men became increasingly aware of their degrees of men- 

 tal and practical resemblance. Through the new chan- 

 nels of communication opened up by the attainment of 

 articulate speech, men became conscious of modes of 

 like-response which formed the basis of resemblances 

 and differences. This subjective phenomenon consisting 

 of various degrees and modes of awareness on the part 

 of resembling individuals that they are alike, is what Pro- 

 fessor Giddings calls, "Consciousness of Kind." 14 

 There are distinct levels of consciousness of kind, all the 

 way from the incipient form of organic sympathy among 

 animals, through the various modes of perception of re- 

 semblance, reflective sympathy, affection, and the desire 

 for recognition, to that completeness of refined feeling 

 and ripeness of experience, the human consciousness of 

 kind. 



The possession of articulate speech was for primitive 

 man a boon beyond estimation. Verbal communication 

 gave unity to the early group life which was of immense 

 advantage in the struggle with other species. Speech 

 enabled the individual to draw upon the experience of 

 the race whenever his own resources seemed inadequate 

 for an ordeal. "A word is a vehicle, a boat floating down 

 from the past, laden with the thought of men we never 

 saw; and in coming to understand it we enter not only 

 into the minds of our contemporaries, but into the gen- 

 eral mind of humanity continuous through time." 15 

 Language, as the recorded stream of race experience, 



i* Giddings, Descriptive and Historical Sociology, pp. 184, 275. 

 IB Cooley, C; H. Social Organization, 1912, p. 69. 



