But of these mammals I need not tell you much for you
know them well. They surround you on all sides. They are
your daily companions in the streets and in your home, and you
can see your less familiar cousins behind the bars of the zoological
garden.
And now we come to the parting of the ways when man
suddenly leaves the endless procession of dumbly living and
dying creatures and begins to use his reason to shape the
destiny of his race.
One mammal in particular seemed to surpass all others in
its ability to find food and shelter. It had learned to use its
fore-feet for the purpose of holding its prey, and by dint of
practice it had developed a hand-like claw. After innumerable
attempts it had learned how to balance the whole of the
body upon the hind legs. (This is a difficult act, which every
child has to learn anew although the human race has been
doing it for over a million years.)
This creature, half ape and half monkey but superior to
both, became the most successful hunter and could make a
living in every clime. For greater safety, it usually moved
about in groups. It learned how to make strange grunts to
warn its young of approaching danger and after many hundreds
of thousands of years it began to use these throaty noises
for the purpose of talking.
This creature, though you may hardly believe it, was your
first ``man-like'' ancestor.
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