200 THE ASCENT OF MAN 



in time arise, calling for additions, vocal, visible, 

 audible, to the sign-vocabulary. And as time went 

 on each set of animals would acquire a definite 

 signal-service of its own, elementary to the last 

 degree, yet covering the range of its ordinary ex- 

 periences and adequate to the expression of its 

 limited mental states. 



Now what interests us with regard to these signs 

 is that they are Language. The evolution we have 

 been tracing is nothing less than the first stage 

 in the evolution of Speech. Any means by which 

 information is conveyed from one mind to another 

 is Language. And Language existed on the earth 

 from the day that animals began to live together. 

 The mere fact that animals cling to one another, 

 live together, move about together, proves that they 

 communicate. Among the ants, perhaps the most 

 social of the lower animals, this power is so perfect 

 that they are not merely endowed with a few 

 general signs but seem able to convey information 

 upon matters of detail. Sweeping across country 

 in great armies they keep up communication 

 throughout the whole line, and succeed in con- 

 veying to one another information as to the easiest 

 routes, the presence of enemies or obstacles, the 

 proximity of food supplies, and even of the num- 

 bers required on emergencies to leave the main 



