If he wanted rubies he had to send to Mandalay. If he
wanted otto of roses he had to send to Turkey. Man was not yet master of
his environment.
This period of cultivation, the second stage of civilization, began
before the dawn of history and lasted until recent times. We might
almost say up to the twentieth century, for it was not until the
fundamental laws of heredity were discovered that man could originate
new species of plants and animals according to a predetermined plan by
combining such characteristics as he desired to perpetuate. And it was
not until the fundamental laws of chemistry were discovered that man
could originate new compounds more suitable to his purpose than any to
be found in nature. Since the progress of mankind is continuous it is
impossible to draw a date line, unless a very jagged one, along the
frontier of human culture, but it is evident that we are just entering
upon the third era of evolution in which man will make what he needs
instead of trying to find it somewhere. The new epoch has hardly dawned,
yet already a man may stay at home in New York or London and make his
own rubber and rubies, his own indigo and otto of roses.
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