194 THE ASCENT OF MAN 



quisition of speech. It is not too much to say that 

 speech, if mental evolution is to come to anything 

 or is to be worth anything, is a necessary condi- 

 tion. By it alone, in any degree worth naming, 

 can the fruits of observation and experience of one 

 generation be husbanded to form a new starting- 

 point for a second, nor without it could there be 

 any concerted action or social life. The greatness 

 of the human Mind, after all, is due to the tongue, 

 the material instrument of reason, and to Language, 

 the outward expression of the inner life. 



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