322 GENERAL ZOOLOGY 



The first human societies were families. Such primitive 

 family groups still exist among certain tribes in the Philip- 

 pine Islands and elsewhere. Among the American Indians 

 each tribe consists of blood relations who trace their lineage 

 to common ancestors. At the time white men came to 

 America there were about 20,000 Iroquois living in the 

 forests of New York. They were divided into separate 

 "nations/ 5 each consisting of relatives, and to prevent 

 close intermarriage there were laws which required young 

 men to take wives from a different nation. Though these 

 nations were affiliated there was no chief who ruled them all. 

 The feudal chiefs of Bible times and during the Middle 

 Ages were rich in cattle and sheep. In addition to their 

 relatives, they required serfs and vassals to till the soil and 

 tend flocks. These were voluntary retainers who sought 

 the protection of some powerful chief, or captives taken in 

 battle. From affiliations between such overgrown feudal 

 families the nations of the earth arose. 



In the development of nations climate has been an 

 important factor. Where poor soil is coupled with arid 

 conditions, the people are nomads and never form great 

 societies. The struggle with nature for a bare living is too 

 severe. But where there is good soil and abundant rain- 

 fall, agriculture and flocks flourish. Such resources enable 

 men to acquire permanent homes, accumulate wealth, have 

 leisure time for cultural pursuits, and to build up nations. 

 On the other hand adverse climatic changes have made an 

 end of great nations the ruins of ancient Palmyra, which 

 now lie in a desert, were built in the midst of agricultural 

 plenty. 



Through social intercourse man has made progress. 

 There has been a gradual transition from the slaughter and 

 capture of animals or the collecting of natural resources in 

 the way of helpless shell fish, fruits, vegetables and seeds. 

 The chase has been assisted by the invention of traps, 

 arrows, spears, and firearms; experience has led to prepara- 

 tion for times of scarcity by storing reserves, and the inven- 



