“Any discourse should first go back to the simple origin of the subject under review, trace its gradual development, and explain exceptions and variations by comparing them with the original state.”

The men of old were born like the wild beasts, in woods, caves, and groves, and lived on savage fare. As time went on, the thickly crowded trees in a certain place … caught fire … and the inhabitants of the place were put to flight … After it subsided, they drew near and … brought up other people to it, showing them by signs how much comfort they got from it. In that gathering of men, at a time when utterance of sound was purely individual, from daily habits they fixed upon articulate words just as these had happen to come; then, from indicating by name things in common use, the result was that … they began to talk, and thus originate conversation with one another.