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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nAccording to a certain myth, Prometheus stole fire from heaven and brought this blessing to earth. Throughout the mythologies of various races, fire and, as a consequence, light have been associated with divinity. They have been subjects of worship perhaps more generally than anything else, and these early impressions have survived in the ceremonial uses of light and fire even to the present time. The origin of fire as represented in any of the myths of the superstitious beings of early ages is as suitable as any other, inasmuch as definite knowledge is unavailable. Active volcanoes, spontaneous combustion, friction, accidental focusing of the sun’s image, and other means may have introduced primitive beings to fire. A study of savage tribes of the present age combined with a survey of past history of mythology, of material relics, and of the absence of lamps or other lighting utensils leads to the conclusion that the earliest source of light was the wood fire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Even to-day the savages of remote lands have not advanced further than\nthe wood-fire stage, and they may be found kneeling upon the ground\nenergetically but skilfully rubbing sticks together until the friction\nkindles a fire. In using these fire-sticks they convert mechanical\nenergy into heat energy. This is a fundamental principle of physics,\nemployed by them as necessity demands, but they are totally ignorant of\nit as a scientific law. The things which these savages learn are the\nresult of accidental discovery. Until man pondered over such simple\nfacts and co\u00f6rdinated them so that he could extend his knowledge by\ngeneral reasoning, his progress could not be rapid. But the sluggish\nmind of primitive man is capable of devising improvements, however\nslowly, and the art of making fire by means of rubbing fire-sticks\ngradually became more refined. Mechanical improvements resulted from\nexperience, with the consequence that finally one stick was rubbed to\nand fro in a groove, or was rapidly twirled between the palms of the\nhands while one end was pressed firmly into a hole in a piece of wood.\nIn the course of a few seconds or a minute, depending upon skill and\nother conditions, a fire was obtained. It is interesting to note how\ncivilized man is often compelled by necessity to adopt the methods of\nprimitive beings. The rubbing of sticks is an emergency measure of the\nmaster of woodcraft at the present time, and the production of fire in\nthis manner is the proud accomplishment or ambition of every Boy Scout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Where only such crude means of kindling fire were available it became\nthe custom in some cases to maintain a fire burning continuously in a\npublic place. Around this pyrtaneum the various civil, political, and\nreligious affairs were carried on by the light and warmth of the public\nfire. Many quaint customs evolved, apparently, from this ancient\nprocedure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Scattered over the earth at the present time various stages of civilization are to be found, from the primitive savages to the most highly cultivated peoples. Although it is possible that there are tribes of lowly beings on earth to-day unfamiliar with fire or ignorant of its uses, savages are generally able to make fire. … <\/p>\n