appeared on the scene! The early Greek and
Roman writers were much nearer right when they considered primitive man
to have been but a slight degree removed from the brute world. Horace
thus expresses himself: "When animals first crept forth from the newly
formed earth, a dumb and filthy herd, they fought for acorns and lurking
places--with their nails, and with fists--then with clubs--and at last
with arms, which, taught by experience, they had forged. They then
invented names for things, and words to express their thoughts; after
which they began to desist from war, to fortify cities, and enact laws."
The learning of modern times leads to much the same conclusion.

It is evident that primitive man must have been destitute of metals; for
it requires a great deal of knowledge and experience to extract metals
from their ores. In the eyes of savages, the various metallic ores are
simply so many varieties of stone--much less valuable for his purposes
than flint, or some other varieties. We know it to be historically true,
that a great many nations have been discovered utterly destitute of any
knowledge of metals.

When we reflect how much of our present enlightenment is due to the
use of metals, we can readily see that their discovery marks a most
important epoch in the history of man. There is, then, every reason to
suppose that stone was a most important article for primitive man. It
was the material with which he fought his battle for existence, and we
need not be surprised that its use extended through an enormously long
period of time. Not only was primitive man thus low down in the scale,
but of necessity his progress must have been very slow.

The time during which men were utterly destitute of a knowledge of
metals, far exceeds the interval that has elapsed since that important
discovery.<31> Scholars divide the stone age into two parts. In the
first, the stone implements, are very few, of simple shapes, and in the
main formed of but one variety of stone--generally flint~-and they
were never polished. In the second division, we meet with a great many
different implements, each adapted to a different purpose. Different
varieties of stone were employed, and they also made use of bone, shell,
and wood, which were often beautifully polished.

From what we have learned of the development of primitive society, it
will not surprise us to learn that the first division of the age of
stone comprises a vastly greater portio