272 DOCTRINE OF EVOLUTION 



his fellows. Self-control increases necessarily, and 

 lines of conduct deemed right by a solitary savage 

 unit come more and more under the sway of social 

 inhibition, for although the primitive savages must 

 inhibit individualistic action to some degree, the bar- 

 barian must suppress much more of his purely personal 

 wishes for the purpose of social solidarity. Thus it 

 comes about that a barbarous community can number 

 thousands, while a tribe of savages with a higher degree 

 of individualism and less altruism cannot cohere if it 

 comprises more than hundreds or scores. 



Civilization is a product of evolution by precisely the 

 same natural mode of development, that is, through 

 further subordination of individual to communal inter- 

 ests and through progressive dividing up of the tasks 

 necessary for the life of the group. The final result 

 is so obvious and familiar that we take it for granted, 

 accepting it as self-sufficient without realizing how it 

 has come about and how modern is the present state 

 of affairs. Let us compare the life of an Indian savage 

 living on Manhattan Island four centuries ago with that 

 of a New Yorker to-day, as regards so simple a matter 

 as the procuring of fish food. The Indian emerged from 

 his tepee, built by himself, and walking to the shore, 

 stepped into a canoe which also he had made with his 

 own hands. Paddling to the fishing ground, he pa- 

 tiently cast his line until the desired fish were caught. 

 Does any one of us do all of these things for himself? 

 We live in houses constructed for us by others who 

 devote their lives to building; we are very apt to go 

 about the city in conveyances that demand special 

 and peculiar skill for their invention, manufacture, and 



