According to a certain myth, Prometheus stole fire from heaven and
brought this blessing to earth. Throughout the mythologies of various
races, fire and, as a consequence, light have been associated with
divinity. They have been subjects of worship perhaps more generally than
anything else, and these early impressions have survived in the
ceremonial uses of light and fire even to the present time. The origin
of fire as represented in any of the myths of the superstitious beings
of early ages is as suitable as any other, inasmuch as definite
knowledge is unavailable. Active volcanoes, spontaneous combustion,
friction, accidental focusing of the sun's image, and other means may
have introduced primitive beings to fire. A study of savage tribes of
the present age combined with a survey of past history of mythology, of
material relics, and of the absence of lamps or other lighting utensils
leads to the conclusion that the earliest source of light was the wood
fire.

[Illustration: PRIMITIVE FIRE-BASKETS]

[Illustration: CRUDE SPLINTER-HOLDERS]

[Illustration: EARLY OPEN-FLAME OIL AND GREASE LAMPS]

Even to-day the savages of remote lands have not advanced further than
the wood-fire stage, and they may be found kneeling upon the ground
energetically but skilfully rubbing sticks together until the friction
kindles a fire. In using these fire-sticks they convert mechanical
energy into heat energy. This is a fundamental principle of physics,
employed by them as necessity demands, but they are totally ignorant of
it as a scientific law. The things which these savages learn are the