REDMEN , SOME OF THEIR THOUGHTS. 5 
opment of the human mental apparatus is the first view 
which primitive man took of nature to the modern scien- 
tific conception of nature. 
The basal process of thought, alike of primitive and of 
developed man, is from the known to the unknown. But 
it must be remembered — it is somewhat difficult suffi- 
ciently even to conceive this, much more difficult to bear 
it constantly in mind — that to the primitive man ' the 
known* is an infinitessimally small quantity, is, in fact, 
almost solely himself and his own feelings. From this, 
all that is known to him, he has to judge the whole world 
around him. 
Briefly then, the primitive condition of thought of 
early man concerning the objects, the phenomena, of the 
natural world surrounding him, such as sun, moon and 
stars, rains and winds, mountains, rocks and rivers, 
animals — whether these be human or not — trees and 
plants, is that there are beings of a nature exactly identi- 
cal, except in the mere accident, and that as we shall 
see, a separable accident, of bodily form, and in degree 
of mental cunning, with the one thing known to him — 
which is himself. 
Let me here state, once for all, that whenever in fu- 
ture I use the word 'being' I use it to express an indi- 
vidual characterized by the possession of that common 
dual nature, consisting of body and spirit, which is 
ascribed, in the primitive conception alike to every 
single natural phenomenon, — with one single exception 
presently to be noted. 
The all-important fact to realize and ever to bear in 
mind is that primitive man begins his study of the world 
surrounding him by comparing each object which he sees 
