"Whether fire was first procured for man through a daring theft practiced on the gods by some hero of antiquity, or whether, as the Sioux Indians allege, it originated in the sparks struck from the rocks by a panther as he bounded up the side of a hill, its value has been obvious to every human tribe, and there has existed no race within the time of which we have record or tradition to whom fire has been unknown. The part which it has played in man's history is beyond power of narration, and the immensity of this part is only made obvious as we become conscious of the psychological atavism which occurs as we sit by the fragrant wood-fire of gipsy or other roadside traveller. All the stuffiness of houses and the pettiness of modern gentility fade away, and we are borne back to times many centuries past, when our ancestors—who are ourselves—sat round just such a fire and watched the blue or purple smoke, "lark without song," float upward, carrying the fragrance of ash or holly to the nostrils of the gods."