178 THE GEOLOGICAL SUCCESSION 



ception of their own capabilities, and their power of under- 

 standing and controlling nature, we shall probably enter- 

 tain an opinion which approximates to the truth. 



Whilst an untutored savage, man must have lived on the 

 spontaneous -productions of the earth which he was unable 

 at this period of his history to cultivate. Slowly did he 

 arrive at a consciousness of his power over the other ani- 

 mals, which at first disputed his dominion, but ultimately 

 fled before him. This- stimulated pursuit. He became 

 a hunter; especially as he found the skins of the wild 

 inhabitant of the woods useful as an article of clothing, and 

 the flesh of some of them nutritious. He chose for his 

 dwelling the margin of rivers and lakes, or the sea shore, 

 whose banks were more or less covered with plants, and 

 whose waters abounded in fish. These he sought by force 

 or craft to obtain. 



Even now the red Indians, in those portions of this con- 

 tinent yet uncivilized, subsist in this manner; and such 

 appears to have been originally the condition of the ances- 

 tors of all civilized nations. 



To avoid the trouble of hunting perpetually, such ani- 

 mals as he found useful for the supply of his wants, he 

 endeavored to tame them. But the animals most readily 

 subjugated were ruminants or plant-eaters, for which pas- 

 ture ground must be provided. As a herdsman with 

 his flock, from one place to another, he now wandered, 

 dwelling in huts, until experience finally taught him to 

 select those spots which produced the plants most useful 

 for his animals, and sufficient in quantity to give them 

 continuous support. 



He now erected for himself settled habitations, and re- 

 sorted to stones and metals to give them greater durability 

 and strength. United he put forth mightier efforts, he 



