That problem was the one
that confronted all primitive races, and set them to fashioning
pottery. The history of their first attempts is most interesting.
Probably chance led people to the discovery that they could mix clay
with water, and that it would harden in the sun. They may have seen a
print of their own feet immortalized in the sun-baked mud, and caught
at the idea of taking the clay for more useful purposes. Nobody knows
where they got their first inspiration. But every race that has
existed has had its crude receptacles for food and water."
Theo was not sleepy now; he was far too interested to think of sleep.
"Even in the Stone Age, when men lived in caves and great creatures
now extinct roamed the earth, men made bowls, pots, and vases, some of
which are in existence in our museums of to-day," continued
Mr. Croyden. "We have, too, a few specimens of clumsy vessels made
from grayish black clay which are relics of the Lake Dwellers, who
fashioned their houses on piles, and set them in the middle of small
lakes as a protection against wild animals and rival races of
savages. Then followed what is known as the Bronze Age, and we find
that the people of this era also worked with clay.
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