The Red Cloud chief., 1889-07-26

in itself. as he always coolly concluded
his narration: II just teed it up wi a
little bit of bant" tiled it up with q
little piece Of string).-Pall Mall Ca
zette.
MAN THE IMPRovER.
His Relations to the Lower Animals Dis
eussed BY Prof. Freeman.
There are many animals which. in
one way of looking at the matter. sur
pass man in their power of doing vari-
Gus things; but it is not among mans
fellOw-mammAls that We find them.
Among mammals man stands alone as
u tailor, almost alone as q builder. But
birds are for the most part builders,
though it should be noticed that they
are not strictly builders of houses. The
birds nests. 50 cunningly put together.
IL not the abiding dwelling-place of the
bird;i it is a temporary nursery. designed
to keep the young brood in safety. But
If the ingenuity of birds is wonderful.
that of insects is more wonderful still.
Both birds and insects can do without
tools things that man can not do with
tools.
The advantage that man has seems
to lie wholly in his power Of improve
ment. Birds and insects are ingenious
builders; but, as far as We al see. they
strike out no new styles Of architecture;
they do not invent the arch and de-
velop it into the vault and the cupola.
Birds again. and insects still more,
seem to have higher political instincts
than mammals. The economy Of the
roOkery is wonderful and that Of the
beehive is yet more wonderful; but it
does not appear that rocks or bees ever
strictly invent or improve; = certain
adoption to changed circumstances 10
as far as any animal but man ever
Seems to get. Bees and ants. especially
those ants which 60 forth to make raj
and to capture slaves, have surely
something of a form Of government.
Something like rulers. assemblies, de-
bates. But all seems traditional; in an
assembly of bees or ants We can con-
ceive a decree to meet some immediate
need; we n hardly conceive = c0nsti-
tutional amendment.
Here. again. if birds arc more ar
tistic and more political than man.
mails, and insects again more artistic
and more political than birds. we have
more the smaller. the weaker, the
physically inferior creature Outdoing
the greater and stronger. This SUI
periOrity of the lower animals over the
higher is a kind of secondary example
Of n general law. alongside Of the
great example Of all. the supremacy
Of man. Man can do with tools, in.
sects, can in many cases do without
tools. things which the sagacious dog
and the ''half-reasOning' elephant "a
do with or without them.
Only man. who works with tools, can
improve his tools and thereby improve
his work. while birds and insects. who
work only with their own organs,
which they can not improve-which, at
least within historic memory. they
have not improved-can not improve
their work. The law OF the weak con-
founding the strong comes out in a
two-fold shape. The inferior animals
can do with their own organs things
the superior animals can not do.
But man. because his organs are physi-
cally so greatly inferior, is driven to
the use OF tools. and by the help of his
he is able to overcome all the
rest.
The details Of the processes by which
man is ever subduing the earth and
dominion over the beasts of
the field are SO familiar to all, they
form such q constant part of our every
day life that We look on them with the
wonder which they really deserve. |
But w have only to think about the
and we shall at once see how |
truly wonderful. low impossible to ex-
plain by any true physical law, is the
dominion which man exercises every |
hour both over nature and over other |
animals. We are also. in our Just ad.
niration Of those who improve. apt to
oe little unjust to those who originally
invent. In any process of Invention
he first step of all is the greatest OF all
The man who set the coracle afloat
vas a daring man, a greater inventor
han any mere improver of the art of
And q daring man he vas.
90. who first mounted on the back of
! horse. though he was an improver
'ather than an inventor. The horse
vas clearly set to draw, most likely to
AIRY burdens. before any man risked
on his back. But the COM
'ound being. as we may call it, the
group formed by the man
md his horse, is truly wonderful. The
strength lies on one side and
he force OF will on the other. But
lere. too. the weak has mastered the
nan holds down and guides
according to his will a creature that
at any moment shake him 0f, and
rample him under fOot.-ProE. Free
nan, in Contemporary Review.
Cold tea is the best thing with