XIV 



INSTRUMENTS 



Man is more poorly endowed, both as regards 

 speed and natural weapons of defense, than almost 

 any other member of the animal kingdom. Had it 

 not been for his superior intellect from the first, he 

 would undoubtedly have been exterminated long 

 ago. From the earliest time he has been forced to 

 exercise his ingenuity to make amends for the nat- 

 ural inferiority he labored under in striving for his 

 food, yet he has advanced step by step until he has 

 proved his superiority by subduing all the other 

 creatures of his kingdom, standing to-day without 

 a rival, his only capable adversary being his fellow 

 man. 



There was, of course, a very early prehistoric 

 time, at which he was forced to procure his food 

 without artificial aid, the Inupash will tell you; 

 then, as his inventive genius began exercising itself, 

 a stone with a thong attached was employed to dis- 

 patch the game he sought. The stick sharpened at 

 one end was probably introduced about the same 

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