CHAPTER XLI 

 MAN'S PLACE IN NATURE 



279. Man is the climax of the whole creation series. 

 He has conquered all other animals, not by physical 

 force, but by the power of his brain, which makes him 

 able to build places for protection and also machines both 

 for protection and for doing various kinds of work which 

 would be impossible for him to do with his hands. By 

 using clothing, houses, and fire man is able to adapt him- 

 self to all climates, varying from the intense heat at the 

 equator to the severe cold at the poles. 



Man has learned to eat a great variety of plant and 

 animal foods, which during primitive times he gathered 

 from plants growing wild and from wild animals. He 

 gradually learned how to cultivate plants and to domes- 

 ticate animals. The plants and animals have been so 

 changed and improved by selection and careful breeding, 

 that one man now can grow sufficient plants and animals 

 to feed many people. The process of improvement by 

 careful selection and breeding has only begun, and greater 

 results will be accomplished in the future by the application 

 of man's intelligence and good judgment to methods of 

 husbandry. Man is using all the available known forces 

 of nature to maintain his own existence. 



The greatest enemies which man must fight are not 

 the large animals or large plants; these he learned long 

 ago to subdue with his invented machines. The animals 



