earth.

 

In the first place it was necessary that man clothe himself lest he freeze to

death. He learned how to dig holes and cover them with branches and leaves and

in these traps he caught bears and hyenas, which he then killed with heavy

stones and whose skins he used as coats for himself and his family.

 

Next came the housing problem. This was simple. Many animals were in the habit

of sleeping in dark caves. Man now followed their example, drove the animals out

of their warm homes and claimed them for his own.

 

Even so, the climate was too severe for most people and the old and the young

died at a terrible rate. Then a genius bethought himself of the use of fire.

Once, while out hunting, he had been caught in a forest-fire. He remembered that

he had been almost roasted to death by the flames. Thus far fire had been an

enemy. Now it became a friend. A dead tree was dragged into the cave and lighted

by means of smouldering branches from a burning wood. This turned the cave into

a cozy little room.

 

And then one evening a dead chicken fell into the fire. It was not rescued until

it had been well roasted. Man discovered that meat tasted better when cooked and

he then and there discarded one of the old habits which he had shared with the

other animals and began to prepare his food.

 

In this way thousands of years passed. Only the people with the cleverest brains