The most primitive tribes of Australia and Africa, like the 
Eskimos of today, have not yet reached finger-counting, nor do 
they have numbers in series. Instead they have a binary system 
of independent numbers for one  and two , with composite 
numbers up to six . After six , they perceive only “heap.” Lacking 
the sense of series, they will scarcely notice when two pins have 
been removed from a row of seven. They become aware at 
once, however, if one  pin is missing. Tobias Dantzig, who 
investigated these matters, points out (in Number: The  
Language of Science ) that the parity or kinaesthetic sense of 
these people is stronger than their number sense. It is certainly 
an indication of a developing visual stress in a culture when 
number appears. A closely integrated tribal culture will not 
easily yield to the separatist visual and individualistic pressures 
that lead to the division of labor, and then to such accelerated 
forms as writing and money. On the other hand, Western man,