Book contents
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- NAUTICAL
- WAR AND HUNTING
- ARCHITECTURE
- TOOLS
- OPTICS
- USEFUL ARTS
- CHAPTER I PRIMITIVE MAN AND HIS NEEDS.—EARTHENWARE.—BALL-AND-SOCKET JOINT.—TOGGLE OR KNEE JOINT
- CHAPTER II CRUSHING INSTRUMENTS.—THE NUT-CRACKERS, ROLLING-MILL, AND GRINDSTONE.—PRESSURE OF ATMOSPHERE.—SEED DIBBLES AND DRILLS
- CHAPTER III CLOTH-DRESSING.—BRUSHES AND COMBS.—BUTTONS, HOOKS AND EYES, AND CLASP
- CHAPTER IV THE STOPPER, OR CORK.—THE FILTER
- CHAPTER V THE PRINCIPLE OF THE SPRING.—THE ELASTIC SPRING.—ACCUMULATORS.—THE SPIRAL SPRING
- CHAPTER VI SPIRAL AND RINGED TISSUES.—VARIOUS SPRINGS IN NATURE AND ART
- CHAPTER VII FOOD AND COMFORT
- CHAPTER VIII DOMESTIC COMFORT
- CHAPTER IX ARTIFICIAL WARMTH.—RING AND STAPLE.—THE FAN
- CHAPTER X WATER, AND MEANS OF PROCURING IT
- CHAPTER XI AËROSTATICS.—WEIGHT OF AIR.—EXPANSION BY HEAT
- CHAPTER XII
- CHAPTER XIII TELESCOPIC TUBES.—DIRECT ACTION.—DISTRIBUTION OF WEIGHT.—TREE-CLIMBING.—THE WHEEL
- CHAPTER XIV
- CHAPTER XV
- CHAPTER XVI TILLAGE.—DRAINAGE.—SPIRAL PRINCIPLE.—CENTRI-FUGAL FORCE
- CHAPTER XVII OSCILLATION.—UNITED STRENGTH.—THE DOME
- ACOUSTICS
- INDEX
CHAPTER I - PRIMITIVE MAN AND HIS NEEDS.—EARTHENWARE.—BALL-AND-SOCKET JOINT.—TOGGLE OR KNEE JOINT
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- PREFACE
- Contents
- NAUTICAL
- WAR AND HUNTING
- ARCHITECTURE
- TOOLS
- OPTICS
- USEFUL ARTS
- CHAPTER I PRIMITIVE MAN AND HIS NEEDS.—EARTHENWARE.—BALL-AND-SOCKET JOINT.—TOGGLE OR KNEE JOINT
- CHAPTER II CRUSHING INSTRUMENTS.—THE NUT-CRACKERS, ROLLING-MILL, AND GRINDSTONE.—PRESSURE OF ATMOSPHERE.—SEED DIBBLES AND DRILLS
- CHAPTER III CLOTH-DRESSING.—BRUSHES AND COMBS.—BUTTONS, HOOKS AND EYES, AND CLASP
- CHAPTER IV THE STOPPER, OR CORK.—THE FILTER
- CHAPTER V THE PRINCIPLE OF THE SPRING.—THE ELASTIC SPRING.—ACCUMULATORS.—THE SPIRAL SPRING
- CHAPTER VI SPIRAL AND RINGED TISSUES.—VARIOUS SPRINGS IN NATURE AND ART
- CHAPTER VII FOOD AND COMFORT
- CHAPTER VIII DOMESTIC COMFORT
- CHAPTER IX ARTIFICIAL WARMTH.—RING AND STAPLE.—THE FAN
- CHAPTER X WATER, AND MEANS OF PROCURING IT
- CHAPTER XI AËROSTATICS.—WEIGHT OF AIR.—EXPANSION BY HEAT
- CHAPTER XII
- CHAPTER XIII TELESCOPIC TUBES.—DIRECT ACTION.—DISTRIBUTION OF WEIGHT.—TREE-CLIMBING.—THE WHEEL
- CHAPTER XIV
- CHAPTER XV
- CHAPTER XVI TILLAGE.—DRAINAGE.—SPIRAL PRINCIPLE.—CENTRI-FUGAL FORCE
- CHAPTER XVII OSCILLATION.—UNITED STRENGTH.—THE DOME
- ACOUSTICS
- INDEX
Summary
IN the primitive ages of Man the aids to civilisation were very few and very rude. Some of them, especially those which relate to hunting and war, have already been mentioned, and we now have to deal with some of those which bear upon domestic life.
Here we are in some little difficulty, for it is not very easy to draw the line where domestic life begins, or the mode in which it shall be defined. We may at all events connect domestic life with a residence of some sort, and may, in consequence, neglect all such primitive savages as need no domestic implements.
Such, for example, are the few surviving Bosjesmans of Southern Africa, not one of whom ever made a tool or an implement, or looked beyond the present day. The genuine Bosjesman can make a bow and poison his arrows, and he can light a fire; but there his civilisation ends. He cannot look beyond the present hour, he has not the faintest notion of making a provision for the future, nor did his wildest imagination ever compass the idea of a pot or a pan.
He kills his prey, and, if hunger be very pressing, he will eat it at once without waiting for the tedious ceremony of cooking; or at the best will just throw the meat upon the fire, tear it to pieces with his teeth, and swallow it when it is nothing but a mass of bleeding flesh, charred on the outside, and absolutely raw within.
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- Nature's TeachingsHuman Invention Anticipated by Nature, pp. 308 - 319Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009First published in: 1877