278 Plant Life and Evolution 



Wild fruits, like the nuts and berries of temperate 

 climes, are by no means despised even by the most 

 civilized peoples, and the savages of the more prolific 

 tropical zones depend very largely for their sub- 

 sistence upon the fruits and roots growing spon- 

 taneously in the forest. Man also, at a very low 

 stage in his development, learned to use the tenacious 

 fibers of many wild plants for clothing and for 

 other purposes. In its most primitive form this still 

 survives in the " tapa " or bark cloth of the South 

 Sea Islanders. Spinning and weaving \vere much 

 later achievements. A few wild fiber plants are still 

 of some commercial value, the most important of 

 these probably being the wild flax (Phormium 

 tenax} of New Zealand, which is manufactured in 

 considerable quantities, and forms an important arti- 

 cle of export. 



As primitive man migrated from the fertile trop- 

 ical forests, where he had his birth, to regions less 

 prolific in wild food plants, he was probably driven 

 to feeding on a much greater variety of food than 

 was his early habit, and we may assume that his 

 more marked carnivorous tastes were gradually de- 

 veloped. At the present day there are savage tribes 

 whose food supply must be quite as precarious as 

 that of their ancient forebears. The inhabitants of 

 the far North and the South, or such degraded sav- 

 ages as the native Australians, eat pretty nearly 

 anything which they can procure, and in times of 

 scarcity are often driven to feed upon most un- 



