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.