496 



GENERAL BIOLOGY 



especially rice and barley, early became important food 

 stuffs, and with the stone mortar for grinding grains house- 

 hold arts may be said to have begun. 



The pastoral stage is ushered in with the beginning of the 

 domestication of animals and the cultivation of plants. 

 When man tamed the wild things, some of them rewarded 

 his care by furnishing him with a larger and more depend- 

 able food supply. Thus 

 foresight grew, and agri- 

 culture began. The pos- 

 session of fields and 

 folds made for settled 

 homes and for social 

 organization. An abun- 

 dant food supply could 

 support a larger popula- 

 tion. The history of 

 nations begins here. 

 The first agricultural 

 implements were crude 

 The first mill 



Fig. 277. 



(California Indians), b, a 



split wood handle, c, a wooden shuttle. 



a wooden plow. 



a bow 



Primitive implements, a, a, u^ww , 



stone ax, with CUOUgh 



d. 



was a stone mortar; the 

 first plow was a crooked stick, the first apparatus for weaving 

 of fibres or hair into cloth was a wooden shuttle. With bet- 

 ter food supply, less time was required for obtaining a liveli- 

 hood and the energies thus set free were available in some 

 measure to be devoted to the perfecting of the finish of 

 manufactured products and the development of the fine 

 arts. 



The artisan stage naturally followed upon the develop- 

 ment of increased food supplies; for exchange of products 

 began, and commerce demanded wheels and keels. Im- 

 proved tools of metal were needed, and artisans, of various 

 sorts, to use them. Money came to be used as a medium of 



