48 MARXISM AND DARWINISM. 



are not machines, when brought into different circum- 

 stances they may acquire different habits. It is not in 

 the quality of their brains, but in the formation of 

 their bodies that animal restrictions lie. The animal's 

 action is limited by its bodily form and surroundings, 

 and consequently it has little need for reflection. To 

 reason would therefore be useless for it and would 

 only lead to harm rather than to good. 



Man, on the other hand, must possess this ability 

 because he exercises discretion in the use of tools and 

 weapons, which he chooses according to particular re- 

 quirements. If he wants to kill the fleet hare, he takes 

 the bow and arrow; if he meets the bear, he uses the 

 axe, and if he wants to break open a certain fruit he 

 takes a hammer. When threatened by danger, man 

 must consider whether he shall run away or defend 

 himself by fighting with weapons. This ability to 

 think and to consider is indispensable to man in his 

 use of artificial tools. 



This strong connection between thoughts, lan- 

 guage, and tools, each of which is impossible without 

 the other, shows that they must have developed at the 

 same time. How this development took place, we can 

 only conjecture. Undoubtedly it was a change in the 

 circumstances of life that changed men from our ape- 

 like ancestors. Having migrated from the woods, the 

 original habitat of apes, to the plain, man had to un- 

 dergo an entire change of life. The difference between 

 hands and feet must have developed then. Sociability 

 and the ape-like hand, well adapted for grasping, had 

 a due share in the new development. The first rough 

 objects, such as stones or sticks, came to hand un- 

 sought, and were thrown away. This must have been 



