As soon as man found that he could produce fire by friction, as the result of rapidly rubbing two sticks together, he began to have accidents with his fires, just as we do today. And it was probably because of one of these accidents, in which some food was cooked quite unintentionally, that primitive man made the great discovery that most of the meats and fruits and roots that he had been accustomed to eating raw, were far better if they were put in or near the fire for a while first.