tion were extinguished, and
a period of gloom, despondency, and dread of the malignant powers
succeeded. Then the "new fire" was kindled on the temple altar, and the
flame was conveyed by swift messengers from hearth to hearth throughout
the land. This done, the period of gloom was followed by one of general
joy and festivity. The malignant deities were banished; the gods of
light and warmth were dominant again; happiness and security had
returned to man.

The beginning of the use of clothing, of artificial shelter, and of fire
formed one of the most vital periods in the history of human evolution.
Coincident with them was the production of a much greater variety of
implements than had been previously possessed, and many of these much
superior to the older and ruder forms. The struggle with the glacial
cold had roused man's mind out of its old sluggishness, and brought it
actively into operation in devising means of counteracting the perils of
his situation and fitting him to the new conditions of existence.

Among the important steps of progress was very likely a considerable
advance in the use of language, enabling the men of that period more
readily to consult with and advise one another, to give adequate warning
of danger, to aid in the chase or in industrial pursuits, to educate the
young and impart new ideas or teach new discoveries to the old. The
mental powers of the best-trained individuals then as now served the
whole community, and nothing of value that was once gained was likely to
be lost. Discovery and invention at that early period probably went on
with interminable slowness as compared with the progress in later ages,
yet even then new ideas, one by one, came into men's minds, and step by
step the methods of life were improved.

One important effect of the glacial chill needs to be adverted to. The
severity of the weather was not the only thing to be provided against.
The discovery of fire and the invention of clothing and habitation were
not enough to insure man's preservation. For the severe cold must have
greatly changed the conditions of the food supply, and the man of the
period found it a difficult matter to obtain the first necessaries of
life. The easy-going man of the earlier age, living amid an abundance of
fruits and vegetables and surrounded by numbers of game animals, or
dwelling beside streams which were filled with easily taken fish,
probably found the question of subsistence one of mino