plants and tame the animals so as to insure a constant supply. This was
the first step toward civilization, for when men had to settle down in a
community (_civitas_) they had to ameliorate their manners and make laws
protecting land and property. In this settled and orderly life the
plants and animals improved as well as man and returned a hundredfold
for the pains that their master had taken in their training. But still
man was dependent upon the chance bounties of nature. He could select,
but he could not invent. He could cultivate, but he could not create. If
he wanted sugar he had to send to the West Indies. If he wanted spices
he had to send to the East Indies. If he wanted indigo he had to send to
India. If he wanted a febrifuge he had to send to Peru. If he wanted a
fertilizer he had to send to Chile. If he wanted rubber he had to send
to the Congo. If he wanted rubies he had to send to Mandalay. If he
wanted otto of roses he had to send to Turkey. Man was not yet master of
his environment.

This period of cultivation, the second stage of civilization, began
before the dawn of history and lasted until recent times. We might
almost say up to the twentieth century, for it was not until the
fundamental laws of heredity were discovered that man could originate
new species of plants and animals according to a predetermined plan by
combining such characteristics as he desired to perpetuate. And it was
not until the fundamental laws of chemistry were discovered that man
could originate new compounds more suitable to his purpose than any to
be found in nature. Since the progress of mankind is continuous it is
impossible to draw a date line, unless a very jagged one, along the
frontier of human culture, but it is evident that we are just entering
upon the third era of evolution in which man will make what he needs
instead of trying to find it somewhere. The new epoch has hardly dawned,
yet already a man may stay at home in New York or London and make his
own rubber and rubies, his own indigo and otto of roses. More than this,
he can make gems and colors and perfumes that never existed since time
began. The man of science has signed a declaration of independence of
the lower world and we are now in the midst of the revolution.

Our eyes are dazzled by the dawn of the new era. We know what the hunter
and the horticulturist have already done for man, but we cannot imagine
what the chemist can do. If we look ahead through t