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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f43e672 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #69147 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/69147) diff --git a/old/69147-0.txt b/old/69147-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index a1eeb77..0000000 --- a/old/69147-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,12214 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Darwinism stated by Darwin himself, by -Charles Darwin - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Darwinism stated by Darwin himself - Characteristic passages from the writings of Charles Darwin - -Author: Charles Darwin - -Compiler: Nathan Sheppard - -Release Date: October 13, 2022 [eBook #69147] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Tim Lindell, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DARWINISM STATED BY DARWIN -HIMSELF *** - - - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: Sidenotes are shown enclosed in square brackets, -above the paragraphs to which they apply. Italic text is enclosed in -_underscores_. - - - - - DARWINISM - - STATED BY DARWIN HIMSELF. - - - _CHARACTERISTIC PASSAGES - FROM THE WRITINGS OF CHARLES DARWIN._ - - SELECTED AND ARRANGED - - BY - NATHAN SHEPPARD, - - AUTHOR OF - “SHUT UP IN PARIS,” EDITOR OF “THE DICKENS READER,” “CHARACTER - READINGS FROM GEORGE ELIOT,” AND “GEORGE ELIOT’S ESSAYS.” - - - “There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, - having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or - into one; and that, while this planet has gone cycling on according - to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless - forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being - evolved.”--_The Origin of Species_, page 429. - - - NEW YORK: - D. APPLETON AND COMPANY, - 1, 3, AND 5 BOND STREET. - - 1884. - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1884, - BY D. APPLETON AND COMPANY. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -While these selections can not but be useful to those who are perfectly -familiar with the writings of Darwin, they are designed especially -for those who know little, or nothing, about his line of research and -argument, and yet would like to obtain a general idea of it in a form -which shall be at once authentic, brief, and inexpensive. - -This volume contains, of course, only an outline of the contents of -the twelve volumes from which it is compiled, and for which it is by -no means intended as a substitute. It will, on the contrary, we should -hope, create an appetite which can be satisfied only by a careful -reading of the works themselves. - -Darwin’s repetitions, necessitated by his method of investigation -and publication, and his unexampled candor in controversy, have been -something of an embarrassment in the classification of these passages; -so that we have been obliged in some instances to sacrifice continuity -to perspicuity. But, as one object of this book is to correct -misrepresentations by giving Darwin’s views in his own language, some -of his own repetitions must be given also, in order to leave no doubt -as to precisely what he said and did not say. It will probably be a -long while before the dispute over the theory that he advocated will -cease, but there is certainly no excuse for a difference of opinion -with regard to the language that he used, and the meaning he attached -to it. That language and that meaning will be found in these pages. -Darwinism stated by its opponents is one thing, Darwinism stated by -Darwin himself will be found to be quite another thing, for, to use his -own exclamation, “great is the power of steady misrepresentation!” - -The order followed in the arrangement of these extracts is not that -of the books, but the one naturally suggested by our plan, which is -designed to conduct the reader through the vegetable up to the animal -kingdom, and up from the lowest to the highest animal, man, “the wonder -and glory of the universe.” - -The references are to the American edition of Darwin’s works published -by D. Appleton & Co., New York. - -It is no part of our purpose to discuss the theory expounded here, but -we can not refrain from joining in the general expression of admiration -for its illustrious expounder. Lord Derby says, “He was one of half -a dozen men of this century who will be remembered a century hence”; -and yet his friends were “more impressed with the dignified simplicity -of his nature than by the great work he had done.” Professor Huxley -compares him to Socrates in wisdom and humility; and there could be no -better authority than Mr. A. R. Wallace for the statement that “there -are none to stand beside him as equals in the whole domain of science.” -He has been extolled, since his death, by a host of religious leaders -in press and pulpit (some of whose utterances will be found on another -page), and we concur with them in the opinion that science never had a -champion whose temper and behavior were more nearly in accord with the -practical injunctions of the Christian religion. Whatever we or any one -may think of Darwin’s scientific theories, no one can gainsay the value -of his personal example, and few can be so prejudiced as to resist the -fascination that will always be felt at the mention of his name. - - NEW YORK, _February 1, 1884_. - - - - -INTRODUCTORY PASSAGES QUOTED BY DARWIN IN HIS “ORIGIN OF SPECIES.” - - -“But with regard to the material world, we can at least go so far as -this--we can perceive that events are brought about not by insulated -interpositions of divine power, exerted in each particular case, but by -the establishment of general laws.”--WHEWELL: _Bridgewater Treatise_. - -“The only distinct meaning of the word ‘natural’ is _stated_, _fixed_, -or _settled_; since what is natural as much requires and presupposes an -intelligent agent to render it so, i. e., to effect it continually or -at stated times, as what is supernatural or miraculous does to effect -it for once.”--BUTLER: _Analogy of Revealed Religion_. - -“To conclude, therefore, let no man out of a weak conceit of sobriety, -or an ill-applied moderation, think or maintain, that a man can -search too far or be too well studied in the book of God’s word, or -in the book of God’s works; divinity or philosophy; but rather let -men endeavor an endless progress or proficience in both.”--BACON: -_Advancement of Learning_. - - - - -DARWIN AND HIS THEORIES FROM A RELIGIOUS POINT OF VIEW. - - -“Surely in such a man lived that true charity which is the very essence -of the true spirit of Christ.”--Canon PROTHERO. - -“The moral lesson of his life is perhaps even more valuable than is the -grand discovery which he has stamped on the world’s history.”--_The -Observer_ (London). - -“Darwin’s writings may be searched in vain for an irreverent or -unbelieving word.”--_The Church Review._ - -“The doctrine of evolution with which Darwin’s name would always be -associated lent itself at least as readily to the old promise of God as -to more modern but less complete explanations of the universe.”--Canon -BARRY. - -“The fundamental doctrine of the theist is left precisely as it was. -The belief in the great Creator and Ruler of the Universe is, as we -have seen, confessed by the author of these doctrines. The grounds -remain untouched of faith in the personal Deity who is in intimate -relation with individual souls, who is their guide and helper in life, -and who can be trusted in regard to the great hereafter.”--_The Church -Quarterly Review._ - -“It appears impossible to overrate the gain we have won in the -stupendous majesty of this (Darwin’s) idea of the Creator and -creation.”--_Sunday-School Chronicle._ - -“It is certain that Mr. Darwin’s books contain a marvelous store of -patiently accumulated and most interesting facts. Those facts seem -to point in the direction of the belief that the Great Spirit of -the Universe has wrought slowly and with infinite patience, through -innumerable ages, rather than by abrupt intervention and by means of -great catastrophes, in the production of the results, in the animate -and inanimate world, which now offer to the student of nature boundless -scope for observation and inquiry.”--_The Christian World._ - -“Let us see, in the funeral honors paid within these holy precincts to -our greatest naturalist, a happy trophy of the reconciliation between -faith and science.”--_The Guardian._ - -“That there is some truth in the theory of evolution, however, most -scientists, including those of Christian faith, believe, and Mr. Darwin -certainly has done much to make the facts plain; but no scientific -principle established by him ever has undermined any truth of the -Gospel.”--_The Congregationalist._ - -“Christian believers are found among the ranks of evolutionists -without apparent prejudice to their faith. Professor Mivart, the -zoölogist; Professor Asa Gray, the botanist; Professor Le Conte and -Professor Winchell, the geologists, may be named as among these.”--_The -Presbyterian._ - -“In all his simple and noble life Mr. Darwin was influenced by the -profoundly religious conviction that nothing was beneath the earnest -study of man which had been worthy of the mighty hand of God.”--Canon -FARRAR. - -“He has not one word to say against religion; ... by-and-by it may be -seen that he has done much to put religious faith as well as scientific -knowledge on a higher plane.”--_Independent._ - -“A celebrated author and divine has written to me that ‘he has -gradually learned to see that it is just as noble a conception of -the Deity to believe that he created a few original forms capable of -self-development into other and needful forms, as to believe that he -required a fresh act of creation to supply the voids caused by the -action of his laws.’”--_Origin of Species_, page 422. - -“I am at the head of a college where to declare against it [evolution] -would perplex my best students. They would ask me which to give up, -science or the Bible.... It is but the evolution of Genesis when each -‘brings forth after its kind.’ Science tells the same story. But what -is the limit of the fixedness of the law? I believe that the evolution -of new species is a question in science, and not of religion. It should -be left to scientific men.”--President MCCOSH. - - - - -CONTENTS. - - - I. - PAGE - THE MOVEMENTS AND HABITS OF PLANTS. - - The Movement of Plants in Relation to their Wants 2 - - The Power of Movement in Animal and Plant compared 4 - - Advantages of Cross-Fertilization 6 - - Potency of the Sexual Elements in Plants 6 - - Experiments in Crossing 8 - - The Struggle for Existence among Seeds 9 - - Practical Application of these Views 9 - - Marriages of First Cousins 11 - - Development of the Two Sexes in Plants 12 - - Why the Sexes have been reseparated 14 - - Comparative Fertility of Male and Female Plants 15 - - Effect of Climate on Reproduction 16 - - Causes of Sterility among Plants 17 - - An “Ideal Type” or Inevitable Modification 18 - - Special Adaptations to a Changing Purpose 19 - - An Illustration 21 - - As interesting on the Theory of Development as on that of Direct - Interposition 22 - - The Sleep of the Plants 24 - - Self-Protection during Sleep 25 - - Influence of Light upon Plants 28 - - Influence of Gravitation upon Plants 29 - - The Power of Digestion in Plants 31 - - Diverse Means by which Plants gain their Subsistence 34 - - How a Plant preys upon Animals 35 - - - II. - - THE PART PLAYED BY WORMS IN THE HISTORY OF THIS PLANET. - - They preserve Valuable Ruins 42 - - They prepare the Ground for Seed 43 - - Intelligence of Worms 45 - - - III. - - THE LAWS OF VARIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO ANIMALS AND PLANTS. - - Inherited Effect of Changed Habits 48 - - Effects of the Use and Disuse of Parts 50 - - Vague Origin of our Domestic Animals 52 - - Descent of the Domestic Pigeon 53 - - Origin of the Dog 55 - - Origin of the Horse 57 - - Causes of Modifications in the Horse 58 - - “Making the Works of God a mere Mockery” 59 - - Variability of Cultivated Plants 61 - - Savage Wisdom in the Cultivation of Plants 62 - - Unknown Laws of Inheritance 64 - - Laws of Inheritance that are fairly well established 66 - - Inherited Peculiarities in Man 67 - - Inherited Diseases 68 - - Causes of Non-Inheritance 69 - - Steps by which Domestic Races have been produced 71 - - Unconscious Selection 73 - - Adaptation of Animals to the Fancies of Man 74 - - Doubtful Species 75 - - Species an Arbitrary Term 77 - - The True Plan of Creation 79 - - - IV. - - THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. - - Death inevitable in the Fight for Life 82 - - “Inexplicable on the Theory of Creation” 84 - - Obscure Checks to Increase 85 - - Climate as a Check to Increase 86 - - Influence of Insects in the Struggle for Existence 88 - - No such Thing as Change in the Result of the Struggle 90 - - - V. - - NATURAL SELECTION; OR, THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. - - An Invented Hypothesis 93 - - How far the Theory may be extended 94 - - Is there any Limit to what Selection can effect? 96 - - Has Organization advanced? 97 - - A Higher Workmanship than Man’s 99 - - Why Habits and Structure are not in Agreement 102 - - No Modification in one Species designed for the Good of Another 103 - - Illustrations of the Action of Natural Selection 106 - - Divergence of Character 108 - - Evolution of the Human Eye 110 - - - VI. - - GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ORGANIC BEINGS. - - Isolated Continents never were united 115 - - Means of Dispersal 116 - - These Means of Transport not accidental 118 - - Dispersal during the Glacial Period 119 - - The Theory of Creation inadequate 122 - - Causes of a Glacial Climate 123 - - Difficulties not yet removed 124 - - Identity of the Species of Islands with those of the Mainland - explained only by this Theory 125 - - - VII. - - EVIDENCE OF THE DESCENT OF MAN FROM SOME LOWER FORM. - - Points of Correspondence between Man and the other Animals 129 - - The facts of Embryology and the Theory of Development 131 - - Two Principles that explain the Facts 134 - - Embryology against Abrupt Changes 135 - - Rudimentary Organs only to be explained on the Theory of - Development 137 - - “No other Explanation has ever been given” 139 - - Unity of Type explained by Relationship 140 - - Inexplicable on the Ordinary View of Creation 142 - - Descent with Modification the only Explanation 143 - - The History of Life on the Theory of Descent with Modification 144 - - Letters retained in the Spelling but Useless in Pronunciation 146 - - Man’s Deficiency in Tail 147 - - Points of Resemblance between Man and Monkey 149 - - Variability of Man 152 - - Causes of Variability in Domesticated Man 153 - - Action of Changed Conditions 155 - - The Inherited Effects of the Increased and Diminished Use of - Parts 156 - - Reversion as a Factor in the Development of Man 158 - - Reversion in the Human Family 160 - - Prepotence in the Transmission of Character 162 - - Natural Selection in the Development of Man 163 - - How Man became upright 165 - - The Brain enlarges as the Mental Faculties develop 167 - - Nakedness of the Skin 169 - - Is Man the most helpless of the Animals? 171 - - - VIII. - - MENTAL POWERS OF MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS COMPARED. - - Fundamental Intuitions the same in Man and the other Animals 175 - - Man and the Lower Animals excited by the same Emotions 177 - - All Animals possess some Power of Reasoning 179 - - The Power of Association in Dog and Savage 181 - - The Lower Animals progress in Intelligence 182 - - The Power of Abstraction 183 - - The Evolution of Language 185 - - Development of Languages and Species compared 188 - - The Sense of Beauty 191 - - Development of the Ear for Music 192 - - - IX. - - DEVELOPMENT OF THE MORAL SENSE. - - From the Social Instincts to the Moral Sense 195 - - Human Sympathy among Animals 197 - - The Love of Approbation 199 - - Fellow-Feeling for our Fellow-Animals 200 - - Development of the Golden Rule 201 - - Regret peculiar to Man, and why 202 - - Remorse explained 204 - - Development of Self-Control 205 - - Variability of Conscience 207 - - Progress not an Invariable Rule 209 - - All Civilized Nations are the Descendants of Barbarians 210 - - “The Ennobling Belief in God” 213 - - - X. - - THE GENEALOGY OF MAN. - - Man a Sub-Order 218 - - The Birthplace of Man 221 - - Origin of the Vertebrata 224 - - From no Bone to Backbone 226 - - Does Mankind consist of Several Species? 228 - - The Races graduate into each other 229 - - Was the First Man a Speaking Animal? 231 - - The Theory of a Single Pair 231 - - Civilized out of Existence 233 - - - XI. - - SEXUAL SELECTION AS AN AGENCY TO ACCOUNT FOR THE DIFFERENCES - BETWEEN THE RACES OF MAN. - - Struggle of the Males for the Possession of the Females 236 - - Courtship among the Lower Animals 237 - - Why the Male plays the more Active Part in Courting 239 - - Transmission of Sexual Characteristics 240 - - An Objection answered 242 - - Difference between the Sexes created by Sexual Selection 243 - - How Woman could be made to reach the Standard of Man 246 - - “Characteristic Selfishness of Man” 247 - - No Universal Standard of Beauty among Mankind 248 - - Development of the Beard 249 - - Development of the Marriage-Tie 250 - - Unnatural Selection in Marriage 252 - - Modifying Influences in Both Sexes 254 - - “Grounds that will never be shaken” 256 - - - XII. - - THE EXPRESSION OF THE EMOTIONS IN MAN AND OTHER ANIMALS. - - The Principle of Associated Habit 258 - - The Principle of Antithesis 261 - - Origin of the Principle of Antithesis 263 - - The Principle of the Action of the Excited Nervous System on the - Body 265 - - - XIII. - - MEANS OF THE EXPRESSION OF THE EMOTIONS. - - Vocal Organs 268 - - Erection of the Hair 269 - - Erection of the Ears 270 - - A Startled Horse 271 - - Monkey-Shines 271 - - Weeping of Man and Brute 272 - - The Grief-Muscles 275 - - Voluntary Power over the Grief-Muscles 276 - - “Down in the Mouth” 278 - - Laughter 279 - - Expression of the Devout Emotions 282 - - Frowning 284 - - Pouting 285 - - Decision at the Mouth 287 - - Anger 287 - - Sneering 288 - - Disgust 289 - - Shrugging the Shoulders 290 - - Blushing 291 - - Blushing not necessarily an Expression of Guilt 293 - - Blushing accounted for 294 - - A New Argument for a Single Parent-Stock 296 - - - XIV. - - THE PROVISIONAL HYPOTHESIS OF PANGENESIS. - - Functional Independence of the Units of the Body 299 - - Necessary Assumptions 302 - - Two Objections answered 305 - - Effect of Morbid Action 306 - - Transmission limited 307 - - - XV. - - OBJECTIONS TO THE THEORY OF DESCENT WITH MODIFICATION CONSIDERED. - - Misrepresentations corrected 310 - - Lapse of Time and Extent of Area 311 - - Why the Higher Forms have not supplanted the Lower 313 - - The Amount of Life must have a Limit 316 - - The Broken Branches of the Tree of Life 317 - - Why we do not find Transitional Forms 319 - - How could the Transitional Form have subsisted? 322 - - Why Nature takes no Sudden Leaps 323 - - Imperfect Contrivances of Nature accounted for 324 - - Instincts as a Difficulty 325 - - Some Instincts acquired and some lost 327 - - Innumerable Links necessarily lost 329 - - Plenty of Time for the Necessary Gradations 331 - - Wide Intervals of Time between the Geological Formations 334 - - Sudden Appearance of Groups of Allied Species 336 - - How little we know of Former Inhabitants of the World 337 - - The Extinction of Species involved in Mystery 338 - - Dead Links between Living Species 340 - - Living Descendants of Fossil Species 342 - - Unnecessary to explain the Cause of each Individual Difference 343 - - “Face to Face with an Insoluble Difficulty” 344 - - Why distasteful? 346 - - “Accords better with what we know of the Creator’s Laws” 347 - - The Grandeur of this View of Life 348 - - Not incompatible with the Belief in Immortality 349 - - - - -DARWINISM - -STATED BY DARWIN HIMSELF. - - - - -I. - -THE MOVEMENTS AND HABITS OF PLANTS. - - - [The Power - of Movement - in Plants, - page 1.] - -The most widely prevalent movement is essentially of the same nature -as that of the stem of a climbing plant, which bends successively to -all points of the compass, so that the tip revolves. This movement has -been called by Sachs “revolving nutation”; but we have found it much -more convenient to use the terms _circumnutation_ and _circumnutate_. -As we shall have to say much about this movement, it will be useful -here briefly to describe its nature. If we observe a circumnutating -stem, which happens at the time to be bent, we will say toward the -north, it will be found gradually to bend more and more easterly, until -it faces the east; and so onward to the south, then to the west, and -back again to the north. If the movement had been quite regular, the -apex would have described a circle, or rather, as the stem is always -growing upward, a circular spiral. But it generally describes irregular -elliptical or oval figures; for the apex, after pointing in any one -direction, commonly moves back to the opposite side, not, however, -returning along the same line. Afterward other irregular ellipses or -ovals are successively described, with their longer axes directed to -different points of the compass. While describing such figures, the -apex often travels in a zigzag line, or makes small subordinate loops -or triangles. In the case of leaves the ellipses are generally narrow. - - [Page 3.] - -Even the stems of seedlings before they have broken through the ground, -as well as their buried radicles, circumnutate, as far as the pressure -of the surrounding earth permits. In this universally present movement -we have the basis or groundwork for the acquirement, according to the -requirements of the plant, of the most diversified movements. - - -THE MOVEMENT OF PLANTS IN RELATION TO THEIR WANTS. - - [The Movements - and Habits - of Climbing - Plants, - page 202.] - -The most interesting point in the natural history of climbing plants -is the various kinds of movement which they display in manifest -relation to their wants. The most different organs--stems, branches, -flower-peduncles, petioles, mid-ribs of the leaf and leaflets, and -apparently aërial roots--all possess this power. - -1. The first action of a tendril is to place itself in a proper -position. For instance, the tendril of _Cobæa_ first rises vertically -up, with its branches divergent and with the terminal hooks turned -outward; the young shoot at the extremity of the stem is at the same -time bent to one side, so as to be out of the way. The young leaves of -clematis, on the other hand, prepare for action by temporarily curving -themselves downward, so as to serve as grapnels. - -2. If a twining plant or a tendril gets by any accident into an -inclined position, it soon bends upward, though secluded from the -light. The guiding stimulus no doubt is the attraction of gravity, as -Andrew Knight showed to be the case with germinating plants. If a shoot -of any ordinary plant be placed in an inclined position in a glass of -water in the dark, the extremity will, in a few hours, bend upward; -and, if the position of the shoot be then reversed, the downward-bent -shoot reverses its curvature; but if the stolon of a strawberry, which -has no tendency to grow upward, be thus treated, it will curve downward -in the direction of, instead of in opposition to, the force of gravity. -As with the strawberry, so it is generally with the twining shoots of -the _Hibbertia dentata_, which climbs laterally from bush to bush; for -these shoots, if placed in a position inclined downward, show little -and sometimes no tendency to curve upward. - -3. Climbing plants, like other plants, bend toward the light by a -movement closely analogous to the incurvation which causes them to -revolve, so that their revolving movement is often accelerated or -retarded in traveling to or from the light. On the other hand, in a few -instances tendrils bend toward the dark. - -4. We have the spontaneous revolving movement which is independent of -any outward stimulus, but is contingent on the youth of the part, and -on vigorous health; and this again, of course, depends on a proper -temperature and other favorable conditions of life. - -5. Tendrils, whatever their homological nature may be, and the petioles -or tips of the leaves of leaf-climbers, and apparently certain roots, -all have the power of movement when touched, and bend quickly toward -the touched side. Extremely slight pressure often suffices. If the -pressure be not permanent, the part in question straightens itself and -is again ready to bend on being touched. - -6. Tendrils, soon after clasping a support, but not after a mere -temporary curvature, contract spirally. If they have not come into -contact with any object, they ultimately contract spirally, after -ceasing to revolve; but in this case the movement is useless, and -occurs only after a considerable lapse of time. - -With respect to the means by which these various movements are -effected, there can be little doubt, from the researches of Sachs and -H. de Vries, that they are due to unequal growth; but, from the reasons -already assigned, I can not believe that this explanation applies to -the rapid movements from a delicate touch. - -Finally, climbing plants are sufficiently numerous to form a -conspicuous feature in the vegetable kingdom, more especially in -tropical forests. America, which so abounds with arboreal animals, -as Mr. Bates remarks, likewise abounds, according to Mohl and Palm, -with climbing plants; and, of the tendril-bearing plants examined by -me, the highest developed kinds are natives of this grand continent, -namely, the several species of _Bignonia_, _Eccremocarpus_, _Cobæa_, -and _Ampelopsis_. But even in the thickets of our temperate regions the -number of climbing species and individuals is considerable, as will be -found by counting them. - - -THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN ANIMAL AND PLANT COMPARED. - - [Page 206.] - -It has often been vaguely asserted that plants are distinguished from -animals by not having the power of movement. It should rather be said -that plants acquire and display this power only when it is of some -advantage to them; this being of comparatively rare occurrence, as -they are affixed to the ground, and food is brought to them by the air -and rain. We see how high in the scale of organization a plant may -rise, when we look at one of the more perfect tendril-bearers. It -first places its tendrils ready for action, as a polypus places its -tentacula. If the tendril be displaced, it is acted on by the force -of gravity and rights itself. It is acted on by the light, and bends -toward or from it, or disregards it, whichever maybe most advantageous. -During several days the tendrils or internodes, or both, spontaneously -revolve with a steady motion. The tendril strikes some object, and -quickly curls round and firmly grasps it. In the course of some hours -it contracts into a spire, dragging up the stem, and forming an -excellent spring. All movements now cease. By growth the tissues soon -become wonderfully strong and durable. The tendril has done its work, -and has done it in an admirable manner. - - * * * * * - - [The Power - of Movement - in Plants, - page 571.] - -It is impossible not to be struck with the resemblance between the -foregoing movements of plants and many of the actions performed -unconsciously by the lower animals. With plants an astonishingly -small stimulus suffices; and even with allied plants one may be -highly sensitive to the slightest continued pressure, and another -highly sensitive to a slight momentary touch. The habit of moving at -certain periods is inherited both by plants and animals; and several -other points of similitude have been specified. But the most striking -resemblance is the localization of their sensitiveness, and the -transmission of an influence from the excited part to another which -consequently moves. Yet plants do not, of course, possess nerves or -a central nervous system; and we may infer that with animals such -structures serve only for the more perfect transmission of impressions, -and for the more complete intercommunication of the several parts. - - -ADVANTAGES OF CROSS-FERTILIZATION. - - [The Effects - of Cross - and Self - Fertilization - in the - Vegetable - Kingdom, - page 443.] - -There are two important conclusions which may be deduced from my -observations: 1. That the advantages of cross-fertilization do not -follow from some mysterious virtue in the mere union of two distinct -individuals, but from such individuals having been subjected during -previous generations to different conditions, or to their having -varied in a manner commonly called spontaneous, so that in either case -their sexual elements have been in some degree differentiated; and, 2. -That the injury from self-fertilization follows from the want of such -differentiation in the sexual elements. These two propositions are -fully established by my experiments. Thus, when plants of the _Ipomœa_ -and of the _Mimulus_, which had been self-fertilized for the seven -previous generations, and had been kept all the time under the same -conditions, were intercrossed one with another, the offspring did not -profit in the least by the cross. - - * * * * * - - [Page 451.] - -The curious cases of plants which can fertilize and be fertilized by -any other individual of the same species, but are altogether sterile -with their own pollen, become intelligible, if the view here propounded -is correct, namely, that the individuals of the same species growing in -a state of nature near together have not really been subjected during -several previous generations to quite the same conditions. - - -POTENCY OF THE SEXUAL ELEMENTS IN PLANTS. - - [Page 446.] - -It is obvious that the exposure of two sets of plants during several -generations to different conditions can lead to no beneficial results, -as far as crossing is concerned, unless their sexual elements are -thus affected. That every organism is acted on to a certain extent by -a change in its environment will not, I presume, be disputed. It is -hardly necessary to advance evidence on this head; we can perceive the -difference between individual plants of the same species which have -grown in somewhat more shady or sunny, dry or damp places. Plants which -have been propagated for some generations under different climates or -at different seasons of the year transmit different constitutions to -their seedlings. Under such circumstances, the chemical constitution -of their fluids and the nature of their tissues are often modified. -Many other such facts could be adduced. In short, every alteration in -the function of a part is probably connected with some corresponding, -though often quite imperceptible, change in structure or composition. - -Whatever affects an organism in any way, likewise tends to act on its -sexual elements. We see this in the inheritance of newly acquired -modifications, such as those from the increased use or disuse of -a part, and even from mutilations if followed by disease. We have -abundant evidence how susceptible the reproductive system is to changed -conditions, in the many instances of animals rendered sterile by -confinement; so that they will not unite, or, if they unite, do not -produce offspring, though the confinement may be far from close; and -of plants rendered sterile by cultivation. But hardly any cases afford -more striking evidence how powerfully a change in the conditions of -life acts on the sexual elements than those already given, of plants -which are completely self-sterile in one country, and, when brought -to another, yield, even in the first generation, a fair supply of -self-fertilized seeds. - -But it may be said, granting that changed conditions act on the sexual -elements, How can two or more plants growing close together, either in -their native country or in a garden, be differently acted on, inasmuch -as they appear to be exposed to exactly the same conditions? - - -EXPERIMENTS IN CROSSING. - - [Page 447.] - -In my experiments with _Digitalis purpurea_, some flowers on a wild -plant were self-fertilized, and others were crossed with pollen from -another plant growing within two or three feet distance. The crossed -and self-fertilized plants raised from the seeds thus obtained -produced flower-stems in number as 100 to 47, and in average height -as 100 to 70. Therefore, the cross between these two plants was -highly beneficial; but how could their sexual elements have been -differentiated by exposure to different conditions? If the progenitors -of the two plants had lived on the same spot during the last score -of generations, and had never been crossed with any plant beyond the -distance of a few feet, in all probability their offspring would -have been reduced to the same state as some of the plants in my -experiments--such as the intercrossed plants of the ninth generation -of _Ipomœa_, or the self-fertilized plants of the eighth generation of -_Mimulus_, or the offspring from flowers on the same plant; and in this -case a cross between the two plants of _Digitalis_ would have done no -good. But seeds are often widely dispersed by natural means, and one -of the above two plants, or one of their ancestors, may have come from -a distance, from a more shady or sunny, dry or moist place, or from -a different kind of soil containing other organic seeds or inorganic -matter. - - -THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE AMONG SEEDS. - - [Page 449.] - -Seeds often lie dormant for several years in the ground, and germinate -when brought near the surface by any means, as by burrowing animals. -They would probably be affected by the mere circumstance of having -long lain dormant; for gardeners believe that the production of double -flowers, and of fruit, is thus influenced. Seeds, moreover, which were -matured during different seasons will have been subjected during the -whole course of their development to different degrees of heat and -moisture. - -It has been shown that pollen is often carried by insects to a -considerable distance from plant to plant. Therefore, one of the -parents or ancestors of our two plants of _Digitalis_ may have been -crossed by a distant plant growing under somewhat different conditions. -Plants thus crossed often produce an unusually large number of seeds; -a striking instance of this fact is afforded by the _Bignonia_, which -was fertilized by Fritz Müller with pollen from some adjoining plants -and set hardly any seed, but, when fertilized with pollen from a -distant plant, was highly fertile. Seedlings from a cross of this kind -grow with great vigor, and transmit their vigor to their descendants. -These, therefore, in the struggle for life, will generally beat and -exterminate the seedlings from plants which have long grown near -together under the same conditions, and will thus tend to spread. - - -PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THESE VIEWS. - - [Page 458.] - -Under a practical point of view, agriculturists and horticulturists -may learn something from the conclusions at which we have arrived. -Firstly, we see that the injury from the close breeding of animals -and from the self-fertilization of plants does not necessarily -depend on any tendency to disease or weakness of constitution common -to the related parents, and only indirectly on their relationship, -in so far as they are apt to resemble each other in all respects, -including their sexual nature. And, secondly, that the advantages -of cross-fertilization depend on the sexual elements of the parents -having become in some degree differentiated by the exposure of their -progenitors to different conditions, or from their having intercrossed -with individuals thus exposed; or, lastly, from what we call in -our ignorance spontaneous variation. He therefore who wishes to -pair closely related animals ought to keep them under conditions as -different as possible. - - * * * * * - - [Page 459.] - -As some kinds of plants suffer much more from self-fertilization than -do others, so it probably is with animals from too close interbreeding. -The effects of close interbreeding on animals, judging again from -plants, would be deterioration in general vigor, including fertility, -with no necessary loss of excellence of form; and this seems to be the -usual result. - -It is a common practice with horticulturists to obtain seeds from -another place having a very different soil, so as to avoid raising -plants for a long succession of generations under the same conditions; -but, with all the species which freely intercross by the aid of insects -or the wind, it would be an incomparably better plan to obtain seeds -of the required variety, which had been raised for some generations -under as different conditions as possible, and sow them in alternate -rows with seeds matured in the old garden. The two stocks would then -intercross, with a thorough blending of their whole organizations, and -with no loss of purity to the variety; and this would yield far more -favorable results than a mere exchange of seeds. We have seen in my -experiments how wonderfully the offspring profited in height, weight, -hardiness, and fertility, by crosses of this kind. For instance, -plants of _Ipomœa_ thus crossed were to the intercrossed plants of -the same stock, with which they grew in competition, as 100 to 78 in -height, and as 100 to 51 in fertility; and plants of _Eschscholtzia_ -similarly compared were as 100 to 45 in fertility. In comparison -with self-fertilized plants the results are still more striking; -thus cabbages derived from a cross with a fresh stock were to the -self-fertilized as 100 to 22 in weight. - -Florists may learn, from the four cases which have been fully -described, that they have the power of fixing each fleeting variety -of color, if they will fertilize the flowers of the desired kind with -their own pollen for half a dozen generations, and grow the seedlings -under the same conditions. But a cross with any other individual of the -same variety must be carefully prevented, as each has its own peculiar -constitution. After a dozen generations of self-fertilization, it is -probable that the new variety would remain constant even if grown -under somewhat different conditions; and there would no longer be any -necessity to guard against intercrosses between the individuals of the -same variety. - - -MARRIAGES OF FIRST COUSINS. - - [Page 460.] - -With respect to mankind, my son George has endeavored to discover by -a statistical investigation whether the marriages of first cousins -are at all injurious, although this is a degree of relationship which -would not be objected to in our domestic animals; and he has come to -the conclusion from his own researches, and those of Dr. Mitchell, -that the evidence as to any evil thus caused is conflicting, but on -the whole points to its being very small. From the facts given in this -volume we may infer that with mankind the marriages of nearly related -persons, some of whose parents and ancestors had lived under very -different conditions, would be much less injurious than that of persons -who had always lived in the same place and followed the same habits of -life. Nor can I see reason to doubt that the widely different habits of -life of men and women in civilized nations, especially among the upper -classes, would tend to counterbalance any evil from marriages between -healthy and somewhat closely related persons. - - -DEVELOPMENT OF THE TWO SEXES IN PLANTS. - - [Page 461.] - -Under a theoretical point of view it is some gain to science to know -that numberless structures in hermaphrodite plants, and probably -in hermaphrodite animals, are special adaptations for securing an -occasional cross between two individuals; and that the advantages from -such a cross depend altogether on the beings which are united, or their -progenitors, having had their sexual elements somewhat differentiated, -so that the embryo is benefited in the same manner as is a mature plant -or animal by a slight change in its conditions of life, although in a -much higher degree. - -Another and more important result may be deduced from my observations. -Eggs and seeds are highly serviceable as a means of dissemination, -but we now know that fertile eggs can be produced without the aid of -the male. There are also many other methods by which organisms can be -propagated asexually. Why then have the two sexes been developed, and -why do males exist which can not themselves produce offspring? The -answer lies, as I can hardly doubt, in the great good which is derived -from the fusion of two somewhat differentiated individuals; and with -the exception of the lowest organisms this is possible only by means -of the sexual elements, these consisting of cells separated from the -body, containing the germs of every part, and capable of being fused -completely together. - -It has been shown in the present volume that the offspring from the -union of two distinct individuals, especially if their progenitors -have been subjected to very different conditions, have an immense -advantage in height, weight, constitutional vigor and fertility over -the self-fertilized offspring from one of the same parents. And this -fact is amply sufficient to account for the development of the sexual -elements, that is, for the genesis of the two sexes. - -It is a different question why the two sexes are sometimes combined -in the same individual, and are sometimes separated. As with many of -the lowest plants and animals the conjugation of two individuals, -which are either quite similar or in some degree different is a common -phenomenon, it seems probable, as remarked in the last chapter, that -the sexes were primordially separate. The individual which receives -the contents of the other, may be called the female; and the other, -which is often smaller and more locomotive, may be called the male; -though these sexual names ought hardly to be applied as long as the -whole contents of the two forms are blended into one. The object -gained by the two sexes becoming united in the same hermaphrodite form -probably is to allow of occasional or frequent self-fertilization, -so as to insure the propagation of the species, more especially in -the case of organisms affixed for life to the same spot. There does -not seem to be any great difficulty in understanding how an organism, -formed by the conjugation of two individuals which represented the two -incipient sexes, might have given rise by budding first to a monœcious -and then to an hermaphrodite form; and in the case of animals even -without budding to an hermaphrodite form, for the bilateral structure -of animals perhaps indicates that they were aboriginally formed by the -fusion of two individuals. - - -WHY THE SEXES HAVE BEEN RESEPARATED. - - [Page 463.] - -It is a more difficult problem why some plants, and apparently all -the higher animals, after becoming hermaphrodites, have since had -their sexes reseparated. This separation has been attributed by -some naturalists to the advantages which follow from a division of -physiological labor. The principle is intelligible when the same organ -has to perform at the same time diverse functions; but it is not -obvious why the male and female glands, when placed in different parts -of the same compound or simple individual, should not perform their -functions equally well as when placed in two distinct individuals. In -some instances the sexes may have been reseparated for the sake of -preventing too frequent self-fertilization; but this explanation does -not seem probable, as the same end might have been gained by other and -simpler means, for instance, dichogamy. It may be that the production -of the male and female reproductive elements and the maturation of -the ovules was too great a strain and expenditure of vital force for -a single individual to withstand, if endowed with a highly complex -organization; and that at the same time there was no need for all the -individuals to produce young, and consequently that no injury, on the -contrary, good, resulted from half of them, or the males, failing to -produce offspring. - - -COMPARATIVE FERTILITY OF MALE AND FEMALE PLANTS. - - [The Different - Forms of - Flowers, - page 290.] - -Thirteen bushes (of the spindle-tree) growing near one another in a -hedge consisted of eight females quite destitute of pollen, and of five -hermaphrodites with well-developed anthers. In the autumn the eight -females were well covered with fruit, excepting one which bore only a -moderate number. Of the five hermaphrodites, one bore a dozen or two -fruits, and the remaining four bushes several dozen; but their number -was as nothing compared with those on the female bushes, for a single -branch, between two and three feet in length, from one of the latter, -yielded more than any one of the hermaphrodite bushes. The difference -in the amount of fruit produced by the two sets of bushes is all the -more striking, as from the sketches above given it is obvious that the -stigmas of the polleniferous flowers can hardly fail to receive their -own pollen; while the fertilization of the female flowers depends on -pollen being brought to them by flies and the smaller _Hymenoptera_, -which are far from being such efficient carriers as bees. - -I now determined to observe more carefully during successive seasons -some bushes growing in another place about a mile distant. As the -female bushes were so highly productive, I marked only two of them with -the letters A and B, and five polleniferous bushes with the letters C -to G. I may premise that the year 1865 was highly favorable for the -fruiting of all the bushes, especially for the polleniferous ones, some -of which were quite barren, except under such favorable conditions. -The season of 1864 was unfavorable. In 1863 the female A produced “some -fruit”; in 1864 only nine; and in 1865 ninety-seven fruit. The female -B in 1863 was “covered with fruit”; in 1864 it bore twenty-eight; and -in 1865 “innumerable very fine fruits.” I may add that three other -female trees growing close by were observed, but only during 1863, and -they then bore abundantly. With respect to the polleniferous bushes, -the one marked C did not bear a single fruit during the years 1863 -and 1864, but during 1865 it produced no less than ninety-two fruit, -which, however, were very poor. I selected one of the finest branches -with fifteen fruit, and these contained twenty seeds, or on an average -1·33 per fruit. I then took by hazard fifteen fruit from an adjoining -female bush, and these contained forty-three seeds; that is, more than -twice as many, or on an average 2·86 per fruit. Many of the fruits -from the female bushes included four seeds, and only one had a single -seed; whereas, not one fruit from the polleniferous bushes contained -four seeds. Moreover, when the two lots of seeds were compared, it was -manifest that those from the female bushes were the larger. The second -polleniferous bush, D, bore in 1863 about two dozen fruit, in 1864 only -three very poor fruit, each containing a single seed; and in 1865, -twenty equally poor fruit. Lastly, the three polleniferous bushes, E, -F, and G, did not produce a single fruit during the three years 1863, -1864, and 1865. - - -EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON REPRODUCTION. - - [Page 293.] - -A tendency to the separation of the sexes in the cultivated strawberry -seems to be much more strongly marked in the United States than in -Europe; and this appears to be the result of the direct action of -climate on the reproductive organs. In the best account which I have -seen, it is stated that many of the varieties in the United States -consist of three forms, namely, females, which produce a heavy crop -of fruit; of hermaphrodites, which “seldom produce other than a very -scanty crop of inferior and imperfect berries”; and of males, which -produce none. The most skillful cultivators plant “seven rows of female -plants, then one row of hermaphrodites, and so on throughout the -field.” The males bear large, the hermaphrodites mid-sized, and the -females small flowers. The latter plants produce few runners, while the -two other forms produce many; consequently, as has been observed both -in England and in the United States, the polleniferous forms increase -rapidly and tend to supplant the females. We may therefore infer that -much more vital force is expended in the production of ovules and fruit -than in the production of pollen. - - -CAUSES OF STERILITY AMONG PLANTS. - - [The Different - Forms of - Flower, - page 345.] - -If the sexual elements belonging to the same form are united, the -union is an illegitimate one, and more or less sterile. With dimorphic -species two illegitimate unions, and with trimorphic species twelve are -possible. There is reason to believe that the sterility of these unions -has not been specially acquired, but follows as an incidental result -from the sexual elements of the two or three forms having been adapted -to act on one another in a particular manner, so that any other kind -of union is inefficient, like that between distinct species. Another -and still more remarkable incidental result is that the seedlings from -an illegitimate union are often dwarfed and more or less completely -barren, like hybrids from the union of two widely distinct species. - - -AN “IDEAL TYPE” OR INEVITABLE MODIFICATION? - - [Fertilization - of Orchids - by Insects, - page 245.] - -It is interesting to look at one of the magnificent exotic species -(orchids), or, indeed, at one of our humblest forms, and observe -how profoundly it has been modified, as compared with all ordinary -flowers--with its great labellum, formed of one petal and two petaloid -stamens; with its singular pollen-masses, hereafter to be referred to; -with its column formed of seven cohering organs, of which three alone -perform their proper function, namely, one anther and two generally -confluent stigmas; with the third stigma modified into the rostellum -and incapable of being fertilized; and with three of the anthers no -longer functionally active, but serving either to protect the pollen -of the fertile anther or to strengthen the column, or existing as mere -rudiments, or entirely suppressed. What an amount of modification, -cohesion, abortion, and change of function do we here see! Yet hidden -in that column, with its surrounding petals and sepals, we know that -there are fifteen groups of vessels, arranged three within three, in -alternate order, which probably have been preserved to the present -time from being developed at a very early period of growth, before the -shape or existence of any part of the flower is of importance for the -well-being of the plant. - -Can we feel satisfied by saying that each orchid was created, exactly -as we now see it, on a certain “ideal type”; that the omnipotent -Creator, having fixed on one plan for the whole order, did not depart -from this plan; that he, therefore, made the same organ to perform -diverse functions--often of trifling importance compared with -their proper function--converted other organs into mere purposeless -rudiments, and arranged all as if they had to stand separate, and then -made them cohere? Is it not a more simple and intelligible view that -all the _Orchideæ_ owe what they have in common to descent from some -monocotyledonous plant, which, like so many other plants of the same -class, possessed fifteen organs, arranged alternately, three within -three, in five whorls; and that the now wonderfully changed structure -of the flower is due to a long course of slow modification--each -modification having been preserved which was useful to the plant, -during the incessant changes to which the organic and inorganic world -has been exposed? - - -SPECIAL ADAPTATIONS TO A CHANGING PURPOSE. - - [Fertilization - of Orchids, - page 282.] - -It has, I think, been shown that the _Orchideæ_ exhibit an almost -endless diversity of beautiful adaptations. When this or that part has -been spoken of as adapted for some special purpose, it must not be -supposed that it was originally always formed for this sole purpose. -The regular course of events seems to be, that a part which originally -served for one purpose becomes adapted by slow changes for widely -different purposes. To give an instance: in all the _Ophreæ_, the long -and nearly rigid caudicle manifestly serves for the application of -the pollen-grains to the stigma, when the pollinia are transported by -insects to another flower; and the anther opens widely in order that -the pollinium should be easily withdrawn; but, in the _Bee ophrys_, the -caudicle, by a slight increase in length and decrease in its thickness, -and by the anther opening a little more widely, becomes specially -adapted for the very different purpose of self-fertilization, through -the combined aid of the weight of the pollen-mass and the vibration -of the flower when moved by the wind. Every gradation between these -two states is possible--of which we have a partial instance in _O. -aranifera_. - -Again, the elasticity of the pedicel of the pollinium in some _Vandeæ_ -is adapted to free the pollen-masses from their anther-cases; but, by -a further slight modification, the elasticity of the pedicel becomes -specially adapted to shoot out the pollinium with considerable force, -so as to strike the body of the visiting insect. The great cavity in -the labellum of many _Vandeæ_ is gnawed by insects, and thus attracts -them; but in _Mormodes ignea_ it is greatly reduced in size, and serves -in chief part to keep the labellum in its new position on the summit -of the column. From the analogy of many plants we may infer that a -long, spur-like nectary is primarily adapted to secrete and hold a -store of nectar; but in many orchids it has so far lost this function -that it contains fluid only in the intercellular spaces. In those -orchids in which the nectary contains both free nectar and fluid in the -intercellular spaces, we can see how a transition from the one state -to the other could be effected, namely, by less and less nectar being -secreted from the inner membrane, with more and more retained within -the intercellular spaces. Other analogous cases could be given. - -Although an organ may not have been originally formed for some special -purpose, if it now serves for this end, we are justified in saying that -it is specially adapted for it. On the same principle, if a man were to -make a machine for some special purpose, but were to use old wheels, -springs, and pulleys, only slightly altered, the whole machine, with -all its parts, might be said to be specially contrived for its present -purpose. Thus throughout nature almost every part of each living being -has probably served, in a slightly modified condition, for diverse -purposes, and has acted in the living machinery of many ancient and -distinct specific forms. - -In my examination of orchids, hardly any fact has struck me so much as -the endless diversities of structure--the prodigality of resources--for -gaining the very same end, namely, the fertilization of one flower by -pollen from another plant. This fact is to a large extent intelligible -on the principle of natural selection. As all the parts of a flower are -co-ordinated, if slight variations in any one part were preserved from -being beneficial to the plant, then the other parts would generally -have to be modified in some corresponding manner. But these latter -parts might not vary at all, or they might not vary in a fitting -manner, and these other variations, whatever their nature might be, -which tended to bring all the parts into more harmonious action with -one another, would be preserved by natural selection. - - -AN ILLUSTRATION. - - [Page 284.] - -To give a simple illustration: in many orchids the ovarium (but -sometimes the foot-stalk) becomes for a period twisted, causing the -labellum to assume the position of a lower petal, so that insects can -easily visit the flower; but from slow changes in the form or position -of the petals, or from new sorts of insects visiting the flowers, it -might be advantageous to the plant that the labellum should resume -its normal position on the upper side of the flower, as is actually -the case with _Malaxis paludosa_, and some species of _Catasetum_, -etc. This change, it is obvious, might be simply effected by the -continued selection of varieties which had their ovaria less and less -twisted; but, if the plant only afforded varieties with the ovarium -more twisted, the same end could be attained by the selection of such -variations, until the flower was turned completely round on its axis. -This seems to have actually occurred with _Malaxis paludosa_, for the -labellum has acquired its present upward position by the ovarium being -twisted twice as much as is usual. - -Again, we have seen that in most _Vandeæ_ there is a plain relation -between the depth of the stigmatic chamber and the length of the -pedicel, by which the pollen-masses are inserted; now, if the chamber -became slightly less deep from any change in the form of the column, or -other unknown cause, the mere shortening of the pedicel would be the -simplest corresponding change; but, if the pedicel did not happen to -vary in shortness, the slightest tendency to its becoming bowed from -elasticity, as in _Phalænopsis_, or to a backward hygrometric movement, -as in one of the _Maxillarias_, would be preserved, and the tendency -would be continually augmented by selection; thus the pedicel, as far -as its action is concerned, would be modified in the same manner as if -it had been shortened. Such processes carried on during many thousand -generations in various ways, would create an endless diversity of -co-adapted structures in the several parts of the flower for the same -general purpose. This view affords, I believe, the key which partly -solves the problem of the vast diversity of structure adapted for -closely analogous ends in many large groups of organic beings. - - -AS INTERESTING ON THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT AS ON THAT OF DIRECT -INTERPOSITION. - - [Page 285.] - -The more I study nature, the more I become impressed, with -ever-increasing force, that the contrivances and beautiful adaptations -slowly acquired through each part occasionally varying in a slight -degree but in many ways, with the preservation of those variations -which were beneficial to the organism under complex and ever-varying -conditions of life, transcend in an incomparable manner the -contrivances and adaptations which the most fertile imagination of man -could invent. - -The use of each trifling detail of structure is far from a barren -search to those who believe in natural selection. When a naturalist -casually takes up the study of an organic being, and does not -investigate its whole life (imperfect though that study will ever be), -he naturally doubts whether each trifling point can be of any use, or, -indeed, whether it be due to any general law. Some naturalists believe -that numberless structures have been created for the sake of mere -variety and beauty--much as a workman would make different patterns. -I, for one, have often and often doubted whether this or that detail -of structure in many of the _Orchideæ_ and other plants could be of -any service; yet, if of no good, these structures could not have -been modeled by the natural preservation of useful variations; such -details can only be vaguely accounted for by the direct action of the -conditions of life, or the mysterious laws of correlated growth. - - [Fertilization - of Orchids, - page 2.] - -This treatise affords me also an opportunity of attempting to show that -the study of organic beings may be as interesting to an observer who is -fully convinced that the structure of each is due to secondary laws as -to one who views every trifling detail of structure as the result of -the direct interposition of the Creator. - - -THE SLEEP OF THE PLANTS. - - [The Power - of Movement - in Plants, - page 280.] - -The so-called sleep of leaves is so conspicuous a phenomenon that it -was observed as early as the time of Pliny; and since Linnæus published -his famous essay, “Somnus Plantarum,” it has been the subject of -several memoirs. Many flowers close at night, and these are likewise -said to sleep; but we are not here concerned with their movements, -for although effected by the same mechanism as in the case of young -leaves, namely, unequal growth on the opposite sides (as first proved -by Pfeffer), yet they differ essentially in being excited chiefly by -changes of temperature instead of light; and in being effected, as far -as we can judge, for a different purpose. Hardly any one supposes that -there is any real analogy between the sleep of animals and that of -plants, whether of leaves or flowers. It seems, therefore, advisable -to give a distinct name to the so-called sleep-movements of plants. -These have also generally been confounded, under the term “periodic,” -with the slight daily rise and fall of leaves, as described in the -fourth chapter; and this makes it all the more desirable to give some -distinct name to sleep-movements. Nyctitropism and nyctitropic, i. e., -night-turning, may be applied both to leaves and flowers, and will be -occasionally used by us; but it would be best to confine the term to -leaves. - - * * * * * - - [Page 281.] - -Leaves, when they go to sleep, move either upward or downward, or, in -the case of the leaflets of compound leaves, forward, that is, toward -the apex of the leaf, or backward, that is, toward its base; or, -again, they may rotate on their own axis without moving either upward -or downward. But in almost every case the plane of the blade is so -placed as to stand nearly or quite vertically at night. Therefore the -apex, or the base, or either lateral edge, may be directed toward the -zenith. Moreover, the upper surface of each leaf, and more especially -of each leaflet, is often brought into close contact with that of the -opposite one; and this is sometimes effected by singularly complicated -movements. This fact suggests that the upper surface requires more -protection than the lower one. For instance, the terminal leaflet in -trifolium, after turning up at night so as to stand vertically, often -continues to bend over until the upper surface is directed downward, -while the lower surface is fully exposed to the sky; and an arched roof -is thus formed over the two lateral leaflets, which have their upper -surfaces pressed closely together. Here we have the unusual case of one -of the leaflets not standing vertically, or almost vertically, at night. - -Considering that leaves in assuming their nyctitropic positions often -move through an angle of 90°; that the movement is rapid in the -evening; that in some cases it is extraordinarily complicated; that -with certain seedlings, old enough to bear true leaves, the cotyledons -move vertically upward at night, while at the same time the leaflets -move vertically downward; and that in the same genus the leaves or -cotyledons of some species move upward, while those of other species -move downward--from these and other such facts, it is hardly possible -to doubt that plants must derive some great advantage from such -remarkable powers of movement. - - -SELF-PROTECTION DURING SLEEP. - - [Page 284.] - -The fact that the leaves of many plants place themselves at night in -widely different positions from what they hold during the day, but -with the one point in common, that their upper surfaces avoid facing -the zenith, often with the additional fact that they come into close -contact with opposite leaves or leaflets, clearly indicates, as it -seems to us, that the object gained is the protection of the upper -surfaces from being chilled at night by radiation. There is nothing -improbable in the upper surface needing protection more than the lower, -as the two differ in function and structure. All gardeners know that -plants suffer from radiation. It is this, and not cold winds, which -the peasants of Southern Europe fear for their olives. Seedlings are -often protected from radiation by a very thin covering of straw; and -fruit-trees on walls by a few fir-branches, or even by a fishing-net, -suspended over them. There is a variety of the gooseberry, the flowers -of which, from being produced before the leaves, are not protected by -them from radiation, and consequently often fail to yield fruit. An -excellent observer has remarked that one variety of the cherry has -the petals of its flowers much curled backward, and after a severe -frost all the stigmas were killed; while, at the same time, in another -variety with incurved petals, the stigmas were not in the least injured. - - * * * * * - - [Page 285.] - -We are far from doubting that an additional advantage may be thus -gained; and we have observed with several plants, for instance, -_Desmodium gyrans_, that while the blade of the leaf sinks vertically -down at night, the petiole rises, so that the blade has to move through -a greater angle in order to assume its vertical position than would -otherwise have been necessary; but with the result that all the leaves -on the same plant are crowded together, as if for mutual protection. - -We doubted at first whether radiation would affect in any important -manner objects so thin as are many cotyledons and leaves, and more -especially affect differently their upper and lower surfaces; for, -although the temperature of their upper surfaces would undoubtedly fall -when freely exposed to a clear sky, yet we thought that they would so -quickly acquire by conduction the temperature of the surrounding air, -that it could hardly make any sensible difference to them whether they -stood horizontally, and radiated into the open sky, or vertically, and -radiated chiefly in a lateral direction toward neighboring plants and -other objects. We endeavored, therefore, to ascertain something on -this head, by preventing the leaves of several plants from going to -sleep, and by exposing to a clear sky, when the temperature was beneath -the freezing-point, these as well as the other leaves on the same -plants, which had already assumed their nocturnal vertical position. -Our experiments show that leaves thus compelled to remain horizontal -at night suffered much more injury from frost than those which were -allowed to assume their normal vertical position. It may, however, be -said that conclusions drawn from such observations are not applicable -to sleeping plants, the inhabitants of countries where frosts do not -occur. But in every country, and at all seasons, leaves must be exposed -to nocturnal chills through radiation, which might be in some degree -injurious to them, and which they would escape by assuming a vertical -position. - - * * * * * - - [The Power - of Movement - in Plants, - page 403.] - -Any one who had never observed continuously a sleeping plant would -naturally suppose that the leaves moved only in the evening when going -to sleep, and in the morning when awaking; but he would be quite -mistaken, for we have found no exception to the rule that leaves which -sleep continue to move during the whole twenty-four hours; they move, -however, more quickly when going to sleep and when awaking than at -other times. - - -INFLUENCE OF LIGHT UPON PLANTS. - - [The Power - of Movement - in Plants, - page 565.] - -The extreme sensitiveness of certain seedlings to light is highly -remarkable. The cotyledons of _Phalaris_ became curved toward a distant -lamp, which emitted so little light that a pencil held vertically close -to the plants did not cast any shadow which the eye could perceive on a -white card. These cotyledons, therefore, were affected by a difference -in the amount of light on their two sides, which the eye could not -distinguish. The degree of their curvature within a given time toward -a lateral light did not correspond at all strictly with the amount of -light which they received; the light not being at any time in excess. -They continued for nearly half an hour to bend toward a lateral light, -after it had been extinguished. They bend with remarkable precision -toward it, and this depends on the illumination of one whole side, or -on the obscuration of the whole opposite side. The difference in the -amount of light which plants at any time receive in comparison with -what they have shortly before received seems in all cases to be the -chief exciting cause of those movements which are influenced by light. -Thus seedlings brought out of darkness bend toward a dim lateral light, -sooner than others which had previously been exposed to daylight. We -have seen several analogous cases with the nyctitropic movements of -leaves. A striking instance was observed in the case of the periodic -movements of the cotyledons of a cassia: in the morning a pot was -placed in an obscure part of a room, and all the cotyledons rose up -closed; another pot had stood in the sunlight, and the cotyledons of -course remained expanded; both pots were now placed close together in -the middle of the room, and the cotyledons which had been exposed to -the sun immediately began to close, while the others opened; so that -the cotyledons in the two pots moved in exactly opposite directions -while exposed to the same degree of light. - -We found that if seedlings, kept in a dark place, were laterally -illuminated by a small wax-taper for only two or three minutes at -intervals of about three quarters of an hour, they all became bowed -to the point where the taper had been held. We felt much surprised at -this fact, and, until we had read Wiesner’s observations, we attributed -it to the after-effects of the light; but he has shown that the same -degree of curvature in a plant may be induced in the course of an hour -by several interrupted illuminations lasting altogether for twenty -minutes as by a continuous illumination of sixty minutes. We believe -that this case, as well as our own, may be explained by the excitement -from light being due not so much to its actual amount, as to the -difference in amount from that previously received; and in our case -there were repeated alternations from complete darkness to light. In -this and in several of the above-specified respects, light seems to act -on the tissues of plants almost in the same manner as it does on the -nervous system of animals. - - -INFLUENCE OF GRAVITATION UPON PLANTS. - - [Page 567.] - -Gravitation excites plants to bend away from the center of the earth, -or toward it, or to place themselves in a transverse position with -respect to it. Although it is impossible to modify in any direct -manner the attraction of gravity, yet its influence could be moderated -indirectly, in the several ways described in the tenth chapter; and -under such circumstances the same kind of evidence as that given in the -chapter on heliotropism showed in the plainest manner that apogeotropic -and geotropic, and probably diageotropic movements, are all modified -forms of circumnutation. - -Different parts of the same plant and different species are affected by -gravitation in widely different degrees and manners. Some plants and -organs exhibit hardly a trace of its action. Young seedlings, which, -as we know, circumnutate rapidly, are eminently sensitive; and we have -seen the hypocotyl of _Beta_ bending upward through 109° in three hours -and eight minutes. The after-effects of apogeotropism last for above -half an hour; and horizontally-laid hypocotyls are sometimes thus -carried temporarily beyond an upright position. The benefits derived -from geotropism, apogeotropism, and diageotropism, are generally so -manifest that they need not be specified. With the flower-peduncles -of _Oxalis_, epinasty causes them to bend down, so that the ripening -pods may be protected by the calyx from the rain. Afterward they are -carried upward by apogeotropism in combination with hyponasty, and are -thus enabled to scatter their seeds over a wider space. The capsules -and flower-heads of some plants are bowed downward through geotropism, -and they then bury themselves in the earth for the protection and slow -maturation of the seeds. This burying process is much facilitated by -the rocking movement due to circumnutation. - -In the case of the radicles of several, probably of all seedling -plants, sensitiveness to gravitation is confined to the tip, which -transmits an influence to the adjoining upper part, causing it to bend -toward the center of the earth. That there is transmission of this -kind was proved in an interesting manner when horizontally extended -radicles of the bean were exposed to the attraction of gravity for an -hour or an hour and a half, and their tips were then amputated. Within -this time no trace of curvature was exhibited, and the radicles were -now placed pointing vertically downward; but an influence had already -been transmitted from the tip to the adjoining part, for it soon became -bent to one side, in the same manner as would have occurred had the -radicle remained horizontal and been still acted on by geotropism. -Radicles thus treated continued to grow out horizontally for two or -three days, until a new tip was reformed; and this was then acted on by -geotropism, and the radicle became curved perpendicularly downward. - - -THE POWER OF DIGESTION IN PLANTS. - - [Insectivorous - Plants, - page 85.] - -As we have seen that nitrogenous fluids act very differently on the -leaves of _Drosera_ from non-nitrogenous fluids, and as the leaves -remain clasped for a much longer time over various organic bodies than -over inorganic bodies, such as bits of glass, cinder, wood, etc., it -becomes an interesting inquiry whether they can only absorb matter -already in solution, or render it soluble; that is, have the power -of digestion. We shall immediately see that they certainly have this -power, and that they act on albuminous compounds in exactly the same -manner as does the gastric juice of mammals; the digested matter being -afterward absorbed. This fact, which will be clearly proved, is a -wonderful one in the physiology of plants. - - * * * * * - - [Page 86.] - -It may be well to premise, for the sake of any reader who knows -nothing about the digestion of albuminous compounds by animals, that -this is effected by means of a ferment, pepsin, together with weak -hydrochloric acid, though almost any acid will serve. Yet neither -pepsin nor an acid by itself has any such power. We have seen that -when the glands of the disk are excited by the contact of any object, -especially of one containing nitrogenous matter, the outer tentacles -and often the blade become inflected; the leaf being thus converted -into a temporary cup or stomach. At the same time the discal glands -secrete more copiously, and the secretion becomes acid. Moreover, -they transmit some influence to the glands of the exterior tentacles, -causing them to pour forth a more copious secretion, which also becomes -acid or more acid than it was before. - -As this result is an important one, I will give the evidence. The -secretion of many glands on thirty leaves, which had not been in -any way excited, was tested with litmus-paper; and the secretion of -twenty-two of these leaves did not in the least affect the color, -whereas that of eight caused an exceedingly feeble and sometimes -doubtful tinge of red. Two other old leaves, however, which appeared -to have been inflected several times, acted much more decidedly on -the paper. Particles of clean glass were then placed on five of the -leaves, cubes of albumen on six, and bits of raw meat on three, on none -of which was the secretion at this time in the least acid. After an -interval of twenty-four hours, when almost all the tentacles on these -fourteen leaves had become more or less inflected, I again tested the -secretion, selecting glands which had not as yet reached the center or -touched any object, and it was now plainly acid. The degree of acidity -of the secretion varied somewhat on the glands of the same leaf. On -some leaves a few tentacles did not, from some unknown cause, become -inflected, as often happens; and in five instances their secretion -was found not to be in the least acid; while the secretion of the -adjoining and inflected tentacles on the same leaf was decidedly acid. -With leaves excited by particles of glass placed on the central glands, -the secretion which collects on the disk beneath them was much more -strongly acid than that poured forth from the exterior tentacles, which -were as yet only moderately inflected. When bits of albumen (and this -is naturally alkaline) or bits of meat were placed on the disk, the -secretion collected beneath them was likewise strongly acid. As raw -meat moistened with water is slightly acid, I compared its action on -litmus-paper before it was placed on the leaves, and afterward when -bathed in the secretion; and there could not be the least doubt that -the latter was very much more acid. I have indeed tried hundreds of -times the state of the secretion on the disks of leaves which were -inflected over various objects, and never failed to find it acid. We -may, therefore, conclude that the secretion from unexcited leaves, -though extremely viscid, is not acid or only slightly so, but that it -becomes acid, or much more strongly so, after the tentacles have begun -to bend over any inorganic or organic object; and still more strongly -acid after the tentacles have remained for some time closely clasped -over any object. - -I may here remind the reader that the secretion appears to be to a -certain extent antiseptic, as it checks the appearance of mold and -infusoria, thus preventing for a time the discoloration and decay of -such substances as the white of an egg, cheese, etc. It therefore acts -like the gastric juice of the higher animals, which is known to arrest -putrefaction by destroying the microzymes. - - * * * * * - - [Page 98.] - -Cubes of about one twentieth of an inch (1·27 millimetre) of moderately -roasted meat were placed on five leaves, which became in twelve hours -closely inflected. After forty-eight hours I gently opened one leaf, -and the meat now consisted of a minute central sphere, partially -digested, and surrounded by a thick envelope of transparent viscid -fluid. The whole, without being much disturbed, was removed and placed -under the microscope. In the central part the transverse striæ on the -muscular fibers were quite distinct; and it was interesting to observe -how gradually they disappeared, when the same fiber was traced into -the surrounding fluid. They disappeared by the striæ being replaced by -transverse lines formed of excessively minute dark points, which toward -the exterior could be seen only under a very high power; and ultimately -these points were lost. - - * * * * * - - [Page 134.] - -Finally, the experiments recorded in this chapter show us that there -is a remarkable accordance in the power of digestion between the -gastric juice of animals, with its pepsin and hydrochloric acid, and -the secretion of _Drosera_ with its ferment and acid belonging to the -acetic series. We can, therefore, hardly doubt that the ferment in both -cases is closely similar. - - -DIVERSE MEANS BY WHICH PLANTS GAIN THEIR SUBSISTENCE. - - [Insectivorous - Plants, - page 452.] - -Ordinary plants of the higher classes procure the requisite inorganic -elements from the soil by means of their roots, and absorb carbonic -acid from the atmosphere by means of their leaves and stems. But we -have seen in a previous part of this work that there is a class of -plants which digest and afterward absorb animal matter, namely, all -the _Droseraceæ_, _Pinguicula_, and, as discovered by Dr. Hooker, -_Nepenthes_, and to this class other species will almost certainly soon -be added. These plants can dissolve matter out of certain vegetable -substances, such as pollen, seeds, and bits of leaves. No doubt their -glands likewise absorb the salts of ammonia brought to them by the -rain. It has also been shown that some other plants can absorb ammonia -by their glandular hairs; and these will profit by that brought to them -by the rain. There is a second class of plants which, as we have just -seen, can not digest, but absorb, the products of the decay of the -animals which they capture, namely, _Utricularia_ and its close allies; -and, from the excellent observations of Dr. Mellichamp and Dr. Canby, -there can scarcely be a doubt that _Sarracenia_ and _Darlingtonia_ may -be added to this class, though the fact can hardly be considered as yet -fully proved. There is a third class of plants which feed, as is now -generally admitted, on the products of the decay of vegetable matter, -such as the bird’s-nest orchid (_Neottia_), etc. Lastly, there is the -well-known fourth class of parasites (such as the mistletoe), which -are nourished by the juices of living plants. Most, however, of the -plants belonging to these four classes obtain part of their carbon, -like ordinary species, from the atmosphere. Such are the diversified -means, as far as at present known, by which higher plants gain their -subsistence. - - -HOW A PLANT PREYS UPON ANIMALS. - -_The genus described is Genlisea ornata._ - - [Insectivorous - Plants, - page 446.] - -The utricle is formed by a slight enlargement of the narrow blade of -the leaf. A hollow neck, no less than fifteen times as long as the -utricle itself, forms a passage from the transverse slit-like orifice -into the cavity of the utricle. A utricle which measured 1/36 of an -inch (·795 millimetre) in its longer diameter had a neck 15/36 (10·583 -millimetres) in length, and 1/100 of an inch (·254 millimetre) in -breadth. On each side of the orifice there is a long spiral arm, or -tube; the structure of which will be best understood by the following -illustration: Take a narrow ribbon and wind it spirally round a thin -cylinder, so that the edges come into contact along its whole length; -then pinch up the two edges so as to form a little crest, which will, -of course, wind spirally round the cylinder, like a thread round a -screw. If the cylinder is now removed, we shall have a tube like one of -the spiral arms. The two projecting edges are not actually united, and -a needle can be pushed in easily between them. They are indeed in many -places a little separated, forming narrow entrances into the tube; but -this may be the result of the drying of the specimens. The lamina of -which the tube is formed seems to be a lateral prolongation of the lip -of the orifice; and the spiral line between the two projecting edges -is continuous with the corner of the orifice. If a fine bristle is -pushed down one of the arms, it passes into the top of the hollow neck. -Whether the arms are open or closed at their extremities could not be -determined, as all the specimens were broken; nor does it appear that -Dr. Warming ascertained this point. - -So much for the external structure. Internally the lower part of -the utricle is covered with spherical papillæ, formed of four cells -(sometimes eight, according to Dr. Warming), which evidently answer -to the quadrifid processes within the bladders of _Utricularia_. -These papillæ extend a little way up the dorsal and ventral surfaces -of the utricle; and a few, according to Warming may be found in the -upper part. This upper region is covered by many transverse rows, -one above the other, of short, closely approximate hairs, pointing -downward. These hairs have broad bases, and their tips are formed by a -separate cell. They are absent in the lower part of the utricle where -the papillæ abound. The neck is likewise lined throughout its whole -length with transverse rows of long, thin, transparent hairs, having -broad bulbous bases, with similarly constructed sharp points. They -arise from little projecting ridges, formed of rectangular epidermic -cells. The hairs vary a little in length, but their points generally -extend down to the row next below; so that, if the neck is split open -and laid flat, the inner surface resembles a paper of pins--the hairs -representing the pins, and the little transverse ridges representing -the folds of paper through which the pins are thrust. These rows of -hairs are indicated in the previous figure by numerous transverse lines -crossing the neck. The inside of the neck is also studded with papillæ; -those in the lower part are spherical and formed of four cells, as -in the lower part of the utricle; those in the upper part are formed -of two cells, which are much elongated downward beneath their points -of attachment. These two-celled papillæ apparently correspond with -the bifid process in the upper part of the bladders of _Utricularia_. -The narrow transverse orifice is situated between the bases of the -two spiral arms. No valve could be detected here, nor was any such -structure seen by Dr. Warming. The lips of the orifice are armed with -many short, thick, sharply pointed, somewhat incurved hairs or teeth. - -The two projecting edges of the spirally-wound lamina, forming the -arms, are provided with short incurved hairs or teeth, exactly like -those on the lips. These project inward at right angles to the spiral -line of junction between the two edges. The inner surface of the lamina -supports two-celled, elongated papillæ, resembling those in the upper -part of the neck, but differing slightly from them, according to -Warming, in their footstalks being formed by prolongations of large -epidermic cells; whereas the papillæ within the neck rest on small -cells sunk amid the larger ones. These spiral arms form a conspicuous -difference between the present genus and _Utricularia_. - -Lastly, there is a bundle of spiral vessels which, running up the lower -part of the linear leaf, divides close beneath the utricle. One branch -extends up the dorsal and the other up the ventral side of both the -utricle and neck. Of these two branches, one enters one spiral arm, and -the other branch the other arm. - -The utricles contained much _débris_, or dirty matter, which seemed -organic, though no distinct organisms could be recognized. It is, -indeed, scarcely possible that any object could enter the small orifice -and pass down the long, narrow neck, except a living creature. Within -the necks, however, of some specimens, a worm, with retracted horny -jaws, the abdomen of some articulate animal, and specks of dirt, -probably the remnants of other minute creatures, were found. Many of -the papillæ within both the utricles and necks were discolored, as if -they had absorbed matter. - -From this description it is sufficiently obvious how genlisea -secures its prey. Small animals entering the narrow orifice--but -what induces them to enter is not known any more than in the case of -_Utricularia_--would find their egress rendered difficult by the sharp -incurved hairs on the lips, and, as soon as they passed some way down -the neck, it would be scarcely possible for them to return, owing to -the many transverse rows of long, straight, downward-pointing hairs, -together with the ridges from which these project. Such creatures -would, therefore, perish either within the neck or utricle; and the -quadrifid and bifid papillæ would absorb matter from their decayed -remains. The transverse rows of hairs are so numerous that they seem -superfluous merely for the sake of preventing the escape of prey, -and, as they are thin and delicate, they probably serve as additional -absorbents, in the same manner as the flexible bristles on the infolded -margins of the leaves of aldrovanda. The spiral arms, no doubt, act as -accessory traps. Until fresh leaves are examined, it can not be told -whether the line of junction of the spirally-wound lamina is a little -open along its whole course or only in parts, but a small creature -which forced its way into the tube at any point would be prevented from -escaping by the incurved hairs, and would find an open path down the -tube into the neck, and so into the utricle. If the creature perished -within the spiral arms, its decaying remains would be absorbed and -utilized by the bifid papillæ. We thus see that animals are captured -by genlisea, not by means of an elastic valve, as with the foregoing -species, but by a contrivance resembling an eel-trap, though more -complex. - - - - -II. - -THE PART PLAYED BY WORMS IN THE HISTORY OF THIS PLANET. - - - [The Formation - of Vegetable - Mold through - the Action of - Earthworms, - page 305.] - -Worms have played a more important part in the history of the world -than most persons would at first suppose. In almost all humid countries -they are extraordinarily numerous, and for their size possess great -muscular power. In many parts of England a weight of more than ten -tons (10,516 kilogrammes) of dry earth annually passes through their -bodies and is brought to the surface on each acre of land; so that the -whole superficial bed of vegetable mold passes through their bodies -in the course of every few years. From the collapsing of the old -burrows the mold is in constant though slow movement, and the particles -composing it are thus rubbed together. By these means fresh surfaces -are continually exposed to the action of the carbonic acid in the -soil, and of the humus-acids which appear to be still more efficient -in the decomposition of rocks. The generation of the humus-acids -is probably hastened during the digestion of the many half-decayed -leaves which worms consume. Thus the particles of earth, forming the -superficial mold, are subjected to conditions eminently favorable for -their decomposition and disintegration. Moreover, the particles of -the softer rocks suffer some amount of mechanical trituration in the -muscular gizzards of worms, in which small stones serve as mill-stones. - -The finely levigated castings, when brought to the surface in a moist -condition, flow during rainy weather down any moderate slope; and the -smaller particles are washed far down even a gently inclined surface. -Castings when dry often crumble into small pellets, and these are apt -to roll down any sloping surface. Where the land is quite level and -is covered with herbage, and where the climate is humid so that much -dust can not be blown away, it appears at first sight impossible that -there should be any appreciable amount of subaërial denudation; but -worm-castings are blown, especially while moist and viscid, in one -uniform direction by the prevalent winds which are accompanied by -rain. By these several means the superficial mold is prevented from -accumulating to a great thickness; and a thick bed of mold checks in -many ways the disintegration of the underlying rocks and fragments of -rock. - -The removal of worm-castings by the above means leads to results which -are far from insignificant. It has been shown that a layer of earth, -·2 of an inch in thickness, is in many places annually brought to the -surface per acre; and if a small part of this amount flows, or rolls, -or is washed, even for a short distance down every inclined surface, or -is repeatedly blown in one direction, a great effect will be produced -in the course of ages. It was found by measurements and calculations -that on a surface with a mean inclination of 9° 26’, 2·4 cubic inches -of earth which had been ejected by worms crossed, in the course of a -year, a horizontal line one yard in length; so that 240 cubic inches -would cross a line a hundred yards in length. This latter amount in a -damp state would weigh eleven and a half pounds. Thus a considerable -weight of earth is continually moving down each side of every valley, -and will in time reach its bed. Finally, this earth will be transported -by the streams flowing in the valleys into the ocean, the great -receptacle for all matter denuded from the land. It is known from the -amount of sediment annually delivered into the sea by the Mississippi, -that its enormous drainage-area must on an average be lowered ·00263 of -an inch each year; and this would suffice in four and a half million -years to lower the whole drainage-area to the level of the sea-shore. -So that, if a small fraction of the layer of fine earth, ·2 of an -inch in thickness, which is annually brought to the surface by worms, -is carried away, a great result can not fail to be produced within a -period which no geologist considers extremely long. - - -THEY PRESERVE VALUABLE RUINS. - - [Page 308.] - -Archæologists ought to be grateful to worms, as they protect and -preserve for an indefinitely long period every object, not liable to -decay, which is dropped on the surface of the land, by burying it -beneath their castings. Thus, also, many elegant and curious tesselated -pavements and other ancient remains have been preserved; though no -doubt the worms have in these cases been largely aided by earth washed -and blown from the adjoining land, especially when cultivated. The old -tesselated pavements have, however, often suffered by having subsided -unequally from being unequally undermined by the worms. Even old -massive walls may be undermined and subside; and no building is in this -respect safe, unless the foundations lie six or seven feet beneath the -surface, at a depth at which worms can not work. It is probable that -many monoliths and some old walls have fallen down from having been -undermined by worms. - - -THEY PREPARE THE GROUND FOR SEED. - - [Page 309.] - -Worms prepare the ground in an excellent manner for the growth of -fibrous-rooted plants and for seedlings of all kinds. They periodically -expose the mold to the air, and sift it so that no stones larger than -the particles which they can swallow are left in it. They mingle the -whole intimately together, like a gardener who prepares fine soil for -his choicest plants. In this state it is well fitted to retain moisture -and to absorb all soluble substances, as well as for the process of -nitrification. The bones of dead animals, the harder parts of insects, -the shells of land-mollusks, leaves, twigs, etc., are before long all -buried beneath the accumulating castings of worms, and are thus brought -in a more or less decayed state within reach of the roots of plants. -Worms likewise drag an infinite number of dead leaves and other parts -of plants into their burrows, partly for the sake of plugging them up -and partly as food. - -The leaves which are dragged into the burrows as food, after being torn -into the finest shreds, partially digested, and saturated with the -intestinal and urinary secretions, are commingled with much earth. This -earth forms the dark-colored, rich humus which almost everywhere covers -the surface of the land with a fairly well-defined layer or mantle. -Von Hensen placed two worms in a vessel eighteen inches in diameter, -which was filled with sand, on which fallen leaves were strewed; and -these were soon dragged into their burrows to a depth of three inches. -After about six weeks an almost uniform layer of sand, a centimetre -(·4 inch) in thickness, was converted into humus by having passed -through the alimentary canals of these two worms. It is believed by -some persons that worm-burrows, which often penetrate the ground almost -perpendicularly to a depth of five or six feet, materially aid in its -drainage; notwithstanding that the viscid castings piled over the -mouths of the burrows prevent or check the rain-water directly entering -them. They allow the air to penetrate deeply into the ground. They also -greatly facilitate the downward passage of roots of moderate size; and -these will be nourished by the humus with which the burrows are lined. -Many seeds owe their germination to having been covered by castings; -and others buried to a considerable depth beneath accumulated castings -lie dormant, until at some future time they are accidentally uncovered -and germinate. - - * * * * * - - [Page 313.] - -When we behold a wide, turf-covered expanse, we should remember that -its smoothness, on which so much of its beauty depends, is mainly due -to all the inequalities having been slowly leveled by worms. It is -a marvelous reflection that the whole of the superficial mold over -any such expanse has passed, and will again pass, every few years -through the bodies of worms. The plow is one of the most ancient and -most valuable of man’s inventions; but long before he existed the -land was in fact regularly plowed, and still continues to be thus -plowed, by earth-worms. It may be doubted whether there are many other -animals which have played so important a part in the history of the -world as have these lowly organized creatures. Some other animals, -however, still more lowly organized, namely corals, have done far more -conspicuous work in having constructed innumerable reefs and islands in -the great oceans; but these are almost confined to the tropical zones. - - -INTELLIGENCE OF WORMS. - - [Page 91.] - -We can hardly escape from the conclusion that worms show some degree -of intelligence in their manner of plugging up their burrows. Each -particular object is seized in too uniform a manner, and from causes -which we can generally understand, for the result to be attributed to -mere chance. That every object has not been drawn in by its pointed -end, may be accounted for by labor having been saved through some being -inserted by their broader or thicker ends. No doubt worms are led by -instinct to plug up their burrows; and it might have been expected that -they would have been led by instinct how best to act in each particular -case, independently of intelligence. We see how difficult it is to -judge whether intelligence comes into play, for even plants might -sometimes be thought to be thus directed; for instance, when displaced -leaves redirect their upper surfaces toward the light by extremely -complicated movements and by the shortest course. With animals, actions -appearing due to intelligence may be performed through inherited habit -without any intelligence, although aboriginally thus acquired. Or the -habit may have been acquired through the preservation and inheritance -of beneficial variations of some other habit; and in this case the -new habit will have been acquired independently of intelligence -throughout the whole course of its development. There is no _a priori_ -improbability in worms having acquired special instincts through -either of these two latter means. Nevertheless, it is incredible that -instincts should have been developed in reference to objects, such -as the leaves or petioles of foreign plants, wholly unknown to the -progenitors of the worms which act in the described manner. Nor are -their actions so unvarying or inevitable as are most true instincts. - -As worms are not guided by special instincts in each particular case, -though possessing a general instinct to plug up their burrows, and, as -chance is excluded, the next most probable conclusion seems to be that -they try in many different ways to draw in objects, and at last succeed -in some one way. But it is surprising that an animal so low in the -scale as a worm should have the capacity for acting in this manner, as -many higher animals have no such capacity. - - * * * * * - - [Page 95.] - -Mr. Romanes, who has specially studied the minds of animals, believes -that we can safely infer intelligence only when we see an individual -profiting by its own experience. Now, if worms try to drag objects into -their burrows first in one way and then in another, until they at last -succeed, they profit at least in each particular instance by experience. - - * * * * * - - [Page 98.] - -One alternative alone is left, namely, that worms, although standing -low in the scale of organization, possess some degree of intelligence. -This will strike every one as very improbable; but it may be doubted -whether we know enough about the nervous system of the lower animals to -justify our natural distrust of such a conclusion. With respect to the -small size of the cerebral ganglia, we should remember what a mass of -inherited knowledge, with some power of adapting means to an end, is -crowded into the minute brain of a worker-ant. - - - - -III. - -THE LAWS OF VARIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO ANIMALS AND PLANTS. - - - [The Variation - of Animals and - Plants under - Domestication, - vol. i, - page 3.] - -I shall in this volume treat, as fully as my materials permit, the -whole subject of variation under domestication. We may thus hope to -obtain some light, little though it be, on the causes of variability, -on the laws which govern it--such as the direct action of climate and -food, the effects of use and disuse, and of correlation of growth--and -on the amount of change to which domesticated organisms are liable. - - * * * * * - -Although man does not cause variability and can not even prevent it, -he can select, preserve, and accumulate the variations given to him -by the hand of Nature almost in any way which he chooses; and thus he -can certainly produce a great result. Selection may be followed either -methodically and intentionally, or unconsciously and unintentionally. -Man may select and preserve each successive variation, with the -distinct intention of improving and altering a breed, in accordance -with a preconceived idea; and by thus adding up variations, often so -slight as to be imperceptible by an uneducated eye, he has effected -wonderful changes and improvements. It can, also, be clearly shown -that man, without any intention or thought of improving the breed, -by preserving in each successive generation the individuals which he -prizes most, and by destroying the worthless individuals, slowly, -though surely, induces great changes. As the will of man thus comes -into play, we can understand how it is that domesticated breeds show -adaptation to his wants and pleasures. We can further understand how it -is that domestic races of animals and cultivated races of plants often -exhibit an abnormal character, as compared with natural species; for -they have been modified not for their own benefit, but for that of man. - - -INHERITED EFFECT OF CHANGED HABITS. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 5.] - -When we compare the individuals of the same variety or subvariety of -our older cultivated plants and animals, one of the first points which -strikes us is, that they generally differ more from each other than do -the individuals of any one species or variety in a state of nature. And -if we reflect on the vast diversity of the plants and animals which -have been cultivated, and which have varied during all ages under -the most different climates and treatment, we are driven to conclude -that this great variability is due to our domestic productions having -been raised under conditions of life not so uniform as, and somewhat -different from, those to which the parent species had been exposed -under nature. - - * * * * * - - [Page 8.] - -Changed habits produce an inherited effect, as in the period of the -flowering of plants when transported from one climate to another. With -animals the increased use or disuse of parts has had a more marked -influence; thus I find in the domestic duck that the bones of the wing -weigh less and the bones of the leg more, in proportion to the whole -skeleton, than do the same bones in the wild-duck; and this change may -be safely attributed to the domestic duck flying much less, and walking -more, than its wild parents. The great and inherited development of -the udders in cows and goats in countries where they are habitually -milked, in comparison with these organs in other countries, is probably -another instance of the effects of use. Not one of our domestic animals -can be named which has not in some country drooping ears; and the view -which has been suggested that the drooping is due to the disease of the -muscles of the ear, from the animals being seldom much alarmed, seems -probable. - - * * * * * - - [Page 9.] - -From facts collected by Heusinger, it appears that white sheep and pigs -are injured by certain plants, while dark-colored individuals escape, -Professor Wyman has recently communicated to me a good illustration -of this fact: on asking some farmers in Virginia how it was that -all their pigs were black, they informed him that the pigs ate the -paint-root (_Lachnanthes_), which colored their bones pink, and which -caused the hoofs of all but the black varieties to drop off; and one -of the “crackers” (i. e., Virginia squatters) added, “We select the -black members of a litter for raising, as they alone have a good -chance of living.” Hairless dogs have imperfect teeth; long-haired and -coarse-haired animals are apt to have, as is asserted, long or many -horns; pigeons with feathered feet have skin between their outer toes; -pigeons with short beaks have small feet, and those with long beaks -large feet. Hence, if man goes on selecting, and thus augmenting, any -peculiarity, he will almost certainly modify unintentionally other -parts of the structure, owing to the mysterious laws of correlation. - - -EFFECTS OF THE USE AND DISUSE OF PARTS. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 108.] - -From the facts alluded to in the first chapter, I think there can be no -doubt that use in our domestic animals has strengthened and enlarged -certain parts, and disuse diminished them, and that such modifications -are inherited. Under free nature we have no standard of comparison by -which to judge of the effects of long-continued use or disuse, for we -know not the parent forms; but many animals possess structures which -can be best explained by the effects of disuse. As Professor Owen has -remarked, there is no greater anomaly in nature than a bird that can -not fly; yet there are several in this state. The logger-headed duck of -South America can only flap along the surface of the water, and has its -wings in nearly the same condition as the domestic Aylesbury duck: it -is a remarkable fact that the young birds, according to Mr. Cunningham, -can fly, while the adults have lost this power. As the larger -ground-feeding birds seldom take flight, except to escape danger, it -is probable that the nearly wingless condition of several birds, now -inhabiting or which lately inhabited several oceanic islands, tenanted -by no beast of prey, has been caused by disuse. The ostrich, indeed, -inhabits continents, and is exposed to danger from which it can not -escape by flight, but it can defend itself by kicking its enemies as -efficiently as many quadrupeds. We may believe that the progenitor -of the ostrich genus had habits like those of the bustard, and that, -as the size and weight of its body were increased during successive -generations, its legs were used more, and its wings less, until they -became incapable of flight. - - * * * * * - - [Page 109.] - -The insects in Madeira which are not ground-feeders, and which, as -certain flower-feeding _Coleoptera_ and _Lepidoptera_, must habitually -use their wings to gain their subsistence, have, as Mr. Wollaston -suspects, their wings not at all reduced, but even enlarged. This is -quite compatible with the action of natural selection. For, when a new -insect first arrived on the island, the tendency of natural selection -to enlarge or to reduce the wings would depend on whether a greater -number of individuals were saved by successfully battling with the -winds, or by giving up the attempt and rarely or never flying. As with -mariners shipwrecked near a coast, it would have been better for the -good swimmers if they had been able to swim still farther, whereas it -would have been better for the bad swimmers if they had not been able -to swim at all and had stuck to the wreck. - -The eyes of moles and of some burrowing rodents are rudimentary in -size, and in some cases are quite covered by skin and fur. This state -of the eyes is probably due to gradual reduction from disuse, but -aided, perhaps, by natural selection. In South America a burrowing -rodent--the tuco-tuco, or ctenomys--is even more subterranean in its -habits than the mole; and I was assured by a Spaniard, who had often -caught them, that they were frequently blind. One which I kept alive -was certainly in this condition, the cause, as appeared on dissection, -having been inflammation of the nictitating membrane. As frequent -inflammation of the eyes must be injurious to any animal, and as eyes -are certainly not necessary to animals having subterranean habits, a -reduction in their size, with the adhesion of the eyelids and growth of -fur over them, might in such case be an advantage; and, if so, natural -selection would aid the effects of disuse. - - -VAGUE ORIGIN OF OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 13.] - -In the case of most of our anciently domesticated animals and plants, -it is not possible to come to any definite conclusion whether they -are descended from one or several wild species. The argument mainly -relied on by those who believe in the multiple origin of our domestic -animals is, that we find in the most ancient times, on the monuments -of Egypt, and in the lake-habitations of Switzerland, much diversity -in the breeds; and that some of these ancient breeds closely resemble -or are even identical with, those still existing. But this only throws -far backward the history of civilization, and shows that animals were -domesticated at a much earlier period than has hitherto been supposed. -The lake-inhabitants of Switzerland cultivated several kinds of wheat -and barley, the pea, the poppy for oil, and flax; and they possessed -several domesticated animals. They also carried on commerce with other -nations. All this clearly shows, as Heer has remarked, that they had at -this early age progressed considerably in civilization; and this again -implies a long-continued previous period of less advanced civilization, -during which the domesticated animals, kept by different tribes in -different districts, might have varied and given rise to distinct -races. Since the discovery of flint tools in the superficial formations -of many parts of the world, all geologists believe that barbarian man -existed at an enormously remote period; and we know that at the present -day there is hardly a tribe so barbarous as not to have domesticated at -least the dog. - - * * * * * - -The origin of most of our domestic animals will probably forever remain -vague. - - * * * * * - - [Page 12.] - -In attempting to estimate the amount of structural difference -between allied domestic races, we are soon involved in doubt, from -not knowing whether they are descended from one or several parent -species. This point, if it could be cleared up, would be interesting; -if, for instance, it could be shown that the greyhound, bloodhound, -terrier, spaniel, and bull-dog, which we all know propagate their -kind truly, were the offspring of any single species. Then such facts -would have great weight in making us doubt about the immutability of -the many closely allied natural species--for instance, of the many -foxes--inhabiting different quarters of the world. - - -DESCENT OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 17.] - -Great as are the differences between the breeds of the pigeon, I am -fully convinced that the common opinion of naturalists is correct, -namely, that all are descended from the rock-pigeon (_Columba livia_), -including under this term several geographical races or sub-species, -which differ from each other in the most trifling respects. As several -of the reasons which have led me to this belief are in some degree -applicable in other cases, I will here briefly give them. If the -several breeds are not varieties, and have not proceeded from the -rock-pigeon, they must have descended from at least seven or eight -aboriginal stocks; for it is impossible to make the present domestic -breeds by the crossing of any lesser number: how, for instance, -could a pouter be produced by crossing two breeds unless one of the -parent-stocks possessed the characteristic enormous crop? The supposed -aboriginal stocks must all have been rock-pigeons--that is, they did -not breed or willingly perch on trees. But besides _C. livia_, with -its geographical sub-species, only two or three other species of -rock-pigeons are known, and these have not any of the characters of the -domestic breeds. Hence the supposed aboriginal stocks must either still -exist in the countries where they were originally domesticated, and yet -be unknown to ornithologists--and this, considering their size, habits, -and remarkable characters, seems improbable--or they must have become -extinct in the wild state. But birds breeding on precipices, and good -fliers, are unlikely to be exterminated; and the common rock-pigeon, -which has the same habits with the domestic breeds, has not been -exterminated even on several of the smaller British islets, or on the -shores of the Mediterranean. Hence the supposed extermination of so -many species having similar habits with the rock-pigeon seems a very -rash assumption. Moreover, the several above-named domesticated breeds -have been transported to all parts of the world, and therefore some of -them must have been carried back again into their native country; but -not one has become wild or feral, though the dovecot-pigeon, which is -the rock-pigeon in a very slightly altered state, has become feral in -several places. Again, all recent experience shows that it is difficult -to get wild animals to breed freely under domestication; yet, on the -hypothesis of the multiple origin of our pigeons, it must be assumed -that at least seven or eight species were so thoroughly domesticated -in ancient times by half-civilized man as to be quite prolific under -confinement. - -An argument of great weight, and applicable in several other cases, -is, that the above-specified breeds, though agreeing generally with -the wild rock-pigeon in constitution, habits, voice, coloring, and -in most parts of their structure, yet are certainly highly abnormal -in other parts; we may look in vain through the whole great family -of _Columbidæ_ for a beak like that of the English carrier, or -that of the short-faced tumbler, or barb; for reversed feathers -like those of the Jacobin; for a crop like that of the pouter; for -tail-feathers like those of the fantail. Hence it must be assumed not -only that half-civilized man succeeded in thoroughly domesticating -several species, but that he intentionally or by chance picked out -extraordinarily abnormal species; and, further, that these very species -have since all become extinct or unknown. So many strange contingencies -are improbable in the highest degree. - - -ORIGIN OF THE DOG. - - [Animals and - Plants under - Domestication, - vol. i, - page 15.] - -The first and chief point of interest in this chapter is, whether -the numerous domesticated varieties of the dog have descended from a -single wild species, or from several. Some authors believe that all -have descended from the wolf, or from the jackal, or from an unknown -and extinct species. Others again believe, and this of late has been -the favorite tenet, that they have descended from several species, -extinct and recent, more or less commingled together. We shall probably -never be able to ascertain their origin with certainty. Paleontology -does not throw much light on the question, owing, on the one hand, to -the close similarity of the skulls of extinct as well as living wolves -and jackals, and owing, on the other hand, to the great dissimilarity -of the skulls of the several breeds of the domestic dogs. It seems, -however, that remains have been found in the later tertiary deposits -more like those of a large dog than of a wolf, which favors the belief -of De Blainville that our dogs are the descendants of a single extinct -species. On the other hand, some authors go so far as to assert that -every chief domestic breed must have had its wild prototype. This -latter view is extremely improbable: it allows nothing for variation; -it passes over the almost monstrous character of some of the breeds; -and it almost necessarily assumes that a large number of species have -become extinct since man domesticated the dog; whereas we plainly see -that wild members of the dog-family are extirpated by human agency with -much difficulty; even so recently as 1710 the wolf existed in so small -an island as Ireland. - - * * * * * - - [Page 18.] - -At a period between four and five thousand years ago, various -breeds--viz., pariah dogs, greyhounds, common hounds, mastiffs, -house-dogs, lap-dogs, and turnspits--existed, more or less closely -resembling our present breeds. But there is not sufficient evidence -that any of these ancient dogs belonged to the same identical -sub-varieties with our present dogs. As long as man was believed to -have existed on this earth only about six thousand years, this fact of -the great diversity of the breeds at so early a period was an argument -of much weight that they had proceeded from several wild sources, for -there would not have been sufficient time for their divergence and -modification. But now that we know, from the discovery of flint tools -imbedded with the remains of extinct animals, in districts which have -since undergone great geographical changes, that man has existed for an -incomparably longer period, and bearing in mind that the most barbarous -nations possess domestic dogs, the argument from insufficient time -falls away greatly in value. - - [Page 26.] - -From this resemblance of the half-domesticated dogs in several -countries to the wild species still living there--from the facility -with which they can often be crossed together--from even half-tamed -animals being so much valued by savages--and from the other -circumstances previously remarked on which favor their domestication, -it is highly probable that the domestic dogs of the world are descended -from two well-defined species of wolf (viz., _C. lupus_ and _C. -latrans_), and from two or three other doubtful species (namely, the -European, Indian, and North African wolves); from at least one or two -South American canine species; from several races or species of jackal; -and perhaps from one or more extinct species. - - -ORIGIN OF THE HORSE. - - [Animals and - Plants under - Domestication, - vol. i, - page 51.] - -The history of the horse is lost in antiquity. Remains of this -animal in a domesticated condition have been found in the Swiss -lake-dwellings, belonging to the Neolithic period. At the present -time the number of breeds is great, as may be seen by consulting any -treatise on the horse. Looking only to the native ponies of Great -Britain, those of the Shetland Isles, Wales, the New Forest, and -Devonshire are distinguishable; and so it is, among other instances, -with each separate island in the great Malay Archipelago. Some of the -breeds present great differences in size, shape of ears, length of -mane, proportions of the body, form of the withers and hind-quarters, -and especially in the head. Compare the race-horse, dray-horse, and a -Shetland pony in size, configuration, and disposition; and see how much -greater the difference is than between the seven or eight other living -species of the genus _Equus_. - - * * * * * - - [Page 52.] - -Horses have often been observed, according to M. Gaudry, to possess -a trapezium and a rudiment of a fifth metacarpal bone, so that “one -sees appearing by monstrosity, in the foot of the horse, structures -which normally exist in the foot of the hipparion”--an allied and -extinct animal. In various countries horn-like projections have been -observed on the frontal bones of the horse: in one case described by -Mr. Percival they arose about two inches above the orbital processes, -and were “very like those in a calf from five to six months old,” being -from half to three quarters of an inch in length. - - -CAUSES OF MODIFICATIONS IN THE HORSE. - - [Page 54.] - -With respect to the causes of the modifications which horses have -undergone, the conditions of life seem to produce a considerable direct -effect. Mr. D. Forbes, who has had excellent opportunities of comparing -the horses of Spain with those of South America, informs me that the -horses of Chili, which have lived under nearly the same conditions as -their progenitors in Andalusia, remain unaltered, while the Pampas -horses and the Puno ponies are considerably modified. There can be -no doubt that horses become greatly reduced in size and altered in -appearance by living on mountains and islands; and this apparently is -due to want of nutritious or varied food. Every one knows how small and -rugged the ponies are on the northern islands and on the mountains of -Europe. Corsica and Sardinia have their native ponies; and there were, -or still are, on some islands on the coast of Virginia, ponies like -those of the Shetland Islands, which are believed to have originated -through exposure to unfavorable conditions. The Puno ponies, which -inhabit the lofty regions of the Cordillera, are, as I hear from -Mr. D. Forbes, strange little creatures, very unlike their Spanish -progenitors. Farther south, in the Falkland Islands, the offspring of -the horses imported in 1764 have already so much deteriorated in size -and strength, that they are unfitted for catching wild cattle with the -lasso; so that fresh horses have to be brought for this purpose from -La Plata at a great expense. The reduced size of the horses bred on -both southern and northern islands, and on several mountain-chains, -can hardly have been caused by the cold, as a similar reduction has -occurred on the Virginian and Mediterranean islands. - - * * * * * - - [Page 56.] - -It is scarcely possible to doubt that the long-continued selection of -qualities serviceable to man has been the chief agent in the formation -of the several breeds of the horse. Look at a dray-horse, and see how -well adapted he is to draw heavy weights, and how unlike in appearance -to any allied wild animal. The English race-horse is known to be -derived from the commingled blood of Arabs, Turks, and Barbs; but -selection, which was carried on during very early times in England, -together with training, have made him a very different animal from his -parent stocks. - - -“MAKING THE WORKS OF GOD A MERE MOCKERY.” - - [Origin of - Species, - page 130.] - -We see several distinct species of the horse-genus becoming, by -simple variation, striped on the legs like a zebra, or striped on -the shoulders like an ass. In the horse we see this tendency strong -whenever a dun tint appears--a tint that approaches to that of the -general coloring of the other species of the genus. The appearance of -the stripes is not accompanied by any change of form or by any other -new character. We see this tendency to become striped most strongly -displayed in hybrids from between several of the most distinct -species. Now observe the case of the several breeds of pigeons: they -are descended from a pigeon (including two or three sub-species or -geographical races) of a bluish color, with certain bars and other -marks; and, when any breed assumes by simple variation a bluish tint, -these bars and other marks invariably reappear; but without any other -change of form or character. When the oldest and truest breeds of -various colors are crossed, we see a strong tendency for the blue tint -and bars and marks to reappear in the mongrels. I have stated that -the most probable hypothesis to account for the reappearance of very -ancient characters is--that there is a _tendency_ in the young of each -successive generation to produce the long-lost character, and that this -tendency, from unknown causes, sometimes prevails. And we have just -seen that in several species of the horse-genus the stripes are either -plainer or appear more commonly in the young than in the old. Call the -breeds of pigeons, some of which have bred true for centuries, species; -and how exactly parallel is the case with that of the species of the -horse-genus! For myself, I venture confidently to look back thousands -on thousands of generations, and I see an animal striped like a zebra, -but perhaps otherwise very differently constructed, the common parent -of our domestic horse (whether or not it be descended from one or more -wild stocks), of the ass, the hemionus, quagga, and zebra. - -He who believes that each equine species was independently created, -will, I presume, assert that each species has been created with a -tendency to vary, both under nature and under domestication, in this -particular manner, so as often to become striped like the other species -of the genus; and that each has been created with a strong tendency, -when crossed with species inhabiting distant quarters of the world, to -produce hybrids resembling in their stripes, not their own parents, -but other species of the genus. To admit this view is, as it seems to -me, to reject a real for an unreal, or at least for an unknown, cause. -It makes the works of God a mere mockery and deception; I would almost -as soon believe with the old and ignorant cosmogonists, that fossil -shells had never lived, but had been created in stone so as to mock the -shells living on the sea-shore. - - -VARIABILITY OF CULTIVATED PLANTS. - - [Animals and - Plants, vol. - i, page 322.] - -I shall not enter into so much detail on the variability of cultivated -plants as in the case of domesticated animals. The subject is -involved in much difficulty. Botanists have generally neglected -cultivated varieties, as beneath their notice. In several cases the -wild prototype is unknown or doubtfully known; and in other cases -it is hardly possible to distinguish between escaped seedlings and -truly wild plants, so that there is no safe standard of comparison by -which to judge of any supposed amount of change. Not a few botanists -believe that several of our anciently cultivated plants have become -so profoundly modified that it is not possible now to recognize their -aboriginal parent-forms. Equally perplexing are the doubts whether some -of them are descended from one species, or from several inextricably -commingled by crossing and variation. Variations often pass into, and -can not be distinguished from, monstrosities; and monstrosities are -of little significance for our purpose. Many varieties are propagated -solely by grafts, buds, layers, bulbs, etc., and frequently it is -not known how far their peculiarities can be transmitted by seminal -generation. - - * * * * * - - [Page 325.] - -From innumerable experiments made through dire necessity by the -savages of every land, with the results handed down by tradition, -the nutritious, stimulating, and medicinal properties of the most -unpromising plants were probably first discovered. It appears, for -instance, at first an inexplicable fact that untutored man, in three -distant quarters of the world, should have discovered, among a host -of native plants, that the leaves of the tea-plant and mattee, and -the berries of the coffee, all included a stimulating and nutritious -essence, now known to be chemically the same. We can also see that -savages suffering from severe constipation would naturally observe -whether any of the roots which they devoured acted as aperients. We -probably owe our knowledge of the uses of almost all plants to man -having originally existed in a barbarous state, and having been often -compelled by severe want to try as food almost everything which he -could chew and swallow. - - -SAVAGE WISDOM IN THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS. - - [Page 326.] - -The savage inhabitants of each land, having found out by many and -hard trials what plants were useful, or could be rendered useful by -various cooking processes, would after a time take the first step in -cultivation by planting them near their usual abodes. Livingstone -states that the savage Batokas sometimes left wild fruit-trees standing -in their gardens, and occasionally even planted them, “a practice -seen nowhere else among the natives.” But Du Chaillu saw a palm and -some other wild fruit-trees which had been planted; and these trees -were considered private property. The next step in cultivation, and -this would require but little forethought, would be to sow the seeds -of useful plants; and, as the soil near the hovels of the natives -would often be in some degree manured, improved varieties would sooner -or later arise. Or a wild and unusually good variety of a native -plant might attract the attention of some wise old savage; and he -would transplant it, or sow its seed. That superior varieties of wild -fruit-trees occasionally are found is certain, as in the case of the -American species of hawthorns, plums, cherries, grapes, and hickories, -specified by Professor Asa Gray. - - * * * * * - - [Page 336.] - -We now know that man was sufficiently civilized to cultivate the ground -at an immensely remote period; so that wheat might have been improved -long ago up to that standard of excellence which was possible under the -then existing state of agriculture. One small class of facts supports -this view of the slow and gradual improvement of our cereals. In the -most ancient lake-habitations of Switzerland, when men employed only -flint-tools, the most extensively cultivated wheat was a peculiar kind, -with remarkably small ears and grains. “While the grains of the modern -forms are in section from seven to eight millimetres in length, the -larger grains from the lake-habitations are six, seldom seven, and -the smaller ones only four. The ear is thus much narrower, and the -spikelets stand out more horizontally, than in our present forms.” So -again with barley, the most ancient and most extensively cultivated -kind had small ears, and the grains were “smaller, shorter, and nearer -to each other, than in that now grown; without the husk they were two -and one half lines long, and scarcely one and one half broad, while -those now grown have a length of three lines, and almost the same -in breadth.” These small-grained varieties of wheat and barley are -believed by Heer to be the parent-forms of certain existing allied -varieties, which have supplanted their early progenitors. - - -UNKNOWN LAWS OF INHERITANCE. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 10.] - -The laws governing inheritance are for the most part unknown. No one -can say why the same peculiarity in different individuals of the same -species, or in different species, is sometimes inherited and sometimes -not so; why the child often reverts in certain characters to its -grandfather or grandmother or more remote ancestor; why a peculiarity -is often transmitted from one sex to both sexes, or to one sex alone, -more commonly but not exclusively to the like sex. It is a fact of -some importance to us that peculiarities appearing in the males of our -domestic breeds are often transmitted either exclusively, or in a much -greater degree, to the males alone. A much more important rule, which I -think may be trusted, is that, at whatever period of life a peculiarity -first appears, it tends to reappear in the offspring at a corresponding -age, though sometimes earlier. In many cases this could not be -otherwise: thus the inherited peculiarities in the horns of cattle -could appear only in the offspring when nearly mature; peculiarities -in the silk-worm are known to appear at the corresponding caterpillar -or cocoon stage. But hereditary diseases and some other facts make me -believe that the rule has a wider extension, and that, when there is no -apparent reason why a peculiarity should appear at any particular age, -yet that it does tend to appear in the offspring at the same period at -which it first appeared in the parent. I believe this rule to be of the -highest importance in explaining the laws of embryology. These remarks -are, of course, confined to the first _appearance_ of the peculiarity, -and not to the primary cause which may have acted on the ovules or on -the male element; in nearly the same manner as the increased length of -the horns in the offspring from a short-horned cow by a long-horned -bull, though appearing late in life, is clearly due to the male element. - - * * * * * - - [Variation of - Animals and - Plants, vol. - i, page 445.] - -If animals and plants had never been domesticated, and wild ones alone -had been observed, we should probably never have heard the saying that -“like begets like.” The proposition would have been as self-evident -as that all the buds on the same tree are alike, though neither -proposition is strictly true. For, as has often been remarked, probably -no two individuals are identically the same. All wild animals recognize -each other, which shows that there is some difference between them; -and, when the eye is well practiced, the shepherd knows each sheep, and -man can distinguish a fellow-man out of millions on millions of other -men. - - * * * * * - - [Page 446.] - -The subject of inheritance is wonderful. When a new character arises, -whatever its nature may be, it generally tends to be inherited, at -least in a temporary and sometimes in a most persistent manner. -What can be more wonderful than that some trifling peculiarity, not -primordially attached to the species, should be transmitted through the -male or female sexual cells, which are so minute as not to be visible -to the naked eye, and afterward through the incessant changes of a long -course of development, undergone either in the womb or in the egg, and -ultimately appear in the offspring when mature, or even when quite -old, as in the case of certain diseases? Or, again, what can be more -wonderful than the well-ascertained fact that the minute ovule of a -good milking-cow will produce a male, from whom a cell, in union with -an ovule, will produce a female, and she, when mature, will have large -mammary glands, yielding an abundant supply of milk, and even milk of -a particular quality? Nevertheless, the real subject of surprise is, -as Sir H. Holland has well remarked, not that a character should be -inherited, but that any should ever fail to be inherited. - - -LAWS OF INHERITANCE THAT ARE FAIRLY WELL ESTABLISHED. - - [Animals and - Plants, vol. - ii, page 61.] - -Though much remains obscure with respect to inheritance, we may look -at the following laws as fairly well established: Firstly, a tendency -in every character, new and old, to be transmitted by seminal and bud -generation, though often counteracted by various known and unknown -causes. Secondly, reversion or atavism, which depends on transmission -and development being distinct powers: it acts in various degrees and -manners through both seminal and bud generation. Thirdly, prepotency of -transmission, which may be confined to one sex, or be common to both -sexes. Fourthly, transmission, as limited by sex, generally to the same -sex in which the inherited character first appeared; and this in many, -probably most cases, depends on the new character having first appeared -at a rather late period of life. Fifthly, inheritance at corresponding -periods of life, with some tendency to the earlier development of the -inherited character. In these laws of inheritance, as displayed under -domestication, we see an ample provision for the production, through -variability and natural selection, of new specific forms. - - -INHERITED PECULIARITIES IN MAN. - - [Animals and - Plants, vol. - i, page 450.] - -Gait, gestures, voice, and general bearing, are all inherited, as -the illustrious Hunter and Sir A. Carlisle have insisted. My father -communicated to me some striking instances, in one of which a man died -during the early infancy of his son, and my father, who did not see -this son until grown up and out of health, declared that it seemed to -him as if his old friend had risen from the grave, with all his highly -peculiar habits and manners. Peculiar manners pass into tricks, and -several instances could be given of their inheritance; as in the case, -often quoted, of the father who generally slept on his back, with his -right leg crossed over the left, and whose daughter, while an infant in -the cradle, followed exactly the same habit, though an attempt was made -to cure her. I will give one instance which has fallen under my own -observation, and which is curious from being a trick associated with -a peculiar state of mind, namely, pleasurable emotion. A boy had the -singular habit, when pleased, of rapidly moving his fingers parallel -to each other, and, when much excited, of raising both hands, with the -fingers still moving, to the sides of his face on a level with the -eyes: when this boy was almost an old man, he could still hardly resist -this trick when much pleased, but from its absurdity concealed it. He -had eight children. Of these, a girl, when pleased, at the age of four -and a half years, moved her fingers in exactly the same way, and, what -is still odder, when much excited, she raised both her hands, with her -fingers still moving, to the sides of her face, in exactly the same -manner as her father had done, and sometimes even still continued to do -so when alone. I never heard of any one, excepting this one man and his -little daughter, who had this strange habit; and certainly imitation -was in this instance out of the question. - - -INHERITED DISEASES. - - [Animals and - Plants, vol. - ii, page 54.] - -Large classes of diseases usually appear at certain ages, such as St. -Vitus’s dance in youth, consumption in early mid-life, gout later, -and apoplexy still later; and these are naturally inherited at the -same period. But, even in diseases of this class, instances have been -recorded, as with St. Vitus’s dance, showing that an unusually early -or late tendency to the disease is inheritable. In most cases the -appearance of any inherited disease is largely determined by certain -critical periods in each person’s life, as well as by unfavorable -conditions. There are many other diseases, which are not attached to -any particular period, but which certainly tend to appear in the child -at about the same age at which the parent was first attacked. An array -of high authorities, ancient and modern, could be given in support of -this proposition. The illustrious Hunter believed in it; and Piorry -cautions the physician to look closely to the child at the period when -any grave inheritable disease attacked the parent. Dr. Prosper Lucas, -after collecting facts from every source, asserts that affections of -all kinds, though not related to any particular period of life, tend -to reappear in the offspring at whatever period of life they first -appeared in the progenitor. - - * * * * * - - [Page 55.] - -Esquirol gives several striking instances of insanity coming on at -the same age as that of a grandfather, father, and son, who all -committed suicide near their fiftieth year. Many other cases could -be given, as of a whole family who became insane at the age of -forty. Other cerebral affections sometimes follow the same rule--for -instance, epilepsy and apoplexy. A woman died of the latter disease -when sixty-three years old; one of her daughters at forty-three, and -the other at sixty-seven: the latter had twelve children, who all -died from tubercular meningitis. I mention this latter case because -it illustrates a frequent occurrence, namely, a change in the precise -nature of an inherited disease, though still affecting the same organ. - - * * * * * - -Two brothers, their father, their paternal uncles, seven cousins, -and their paternal grandfather, were all similarly affected by a -skin-disease, called pityriasis versicolor; “the disease, strictly -limited to the males of the family (though transmitted through the -females), usually appeared at puberty, and disappeared at about the -age of forty or forty-five years.” The second case is that of four -brothers, who, when about twelve years old, suffered almost every week -from severe headaches, which were relieved only by a recumbent position -in a dark room. Their father, paternal uncles, paternal grandfather, -and grand-uncles all suffered in the same way from headaches, which -ceased at the age of fifty-four or fifty-five in all those who lived so -long. None of the females of the family were affected. - - -CAUSES OF NON-INHERITANCE. - - [Animals and - Plants, vol. - i, page 470.] - -A large number of cases of non-inheritance are intelligible on the -principle that a strong tendency to inheritance does exist, but that it -is overborne by hostile or unfavorable conditions of life. No one would -expect that our improved pigs, if forced during several generations -to travel about and root in the ground for their own subsistence, -would transmit, as truly as they now do, their short muzzles and legs, -and their tendency to fatten. Dray-horses assuredly would not long -transmit their great size and massive limbs, if compelled to live -in a cold, damp, mountainous region; we have, indeed, evidence of -such deterioration in the horses which have run wild on the Falkland -Islands. European dogs in India often fail to transmit their true -character. Our sheep in tropical countries lose their wool in a few -generations. There seems also to be a close relation between certain -peculiar pastures and the inheritance of an enlarged tail in fat-tailed -sheep, which form one of the most ancient breeds in the world. With -plants, we have seen that tropical varieties of maize lose their proper -character in the course of two or three generations, when cultivated -in Europe; and conversely so it is with European varieties cultivated -in Brazil. Our cabbages, which here come so true by seed, can not form -heads in hot countries. According to Carrière, the purple-leafed beech -and barberry transmit their character by seed far less truly in certain -districts than in others. Under changed circumstances, periodical -habits of life soon fail to be transmitted, as the period of maturity -in summer and winter wheat, barley, and vetches. So it is with animals: -for instance, a person, whose statement I can trust, procured eggs of -Aylesbury ducks from that town, where they are kept in houses, and are -reared as early as possible for the London market; the ducks bred from -these eggs in a distant part of England, hatched their first brood on -January 24th, while common ducks, kept in the same yard and treated in -the same manner, did not hatch till the end of March; and this shows -that the period of hatching was inherited. But the grandchildren of -these Aylesbury ducks completely lost their habit of early incubation, -and hatched their eggs at the same time with the common ducks of the -same place. - -Many cases of non-inheritance apparently result from the conditions of -life continually inducing fresh variability. We have seen that when the -seeds of pears, plums, apples, etc., are sown, the seedlings generally -inherit some degree of family likeness. Mingled with these seedlings, -a few, and sometimes many, worthless, wild-looking plants commonly -appear, and their appearance may be attributed to the principle of -reversion. But scarcely a single seedling will be found perfectly to -resemble the parent-form; and this may be accounted for by constantly -recurring variability induced by the conditions of life. - - -STEPS BY WHICH DOMESTIC RACES HAVE BEEN PRODUCED. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 22.] - -Some effect may be attributed to the direct and definite action of the -external conditions of life, and some to habit; but he would be a bold -man who would account by such agencies for the differences between a -dray and race horse, a greyhound and blood-hound, a carrier and tumbler -pigeon. One of the most remarkable features in our domesticated races -is that we see in them adaptation, not, indeed, to the animal’s or -plant’s own good, but to man’s use or fancy. Some variations useful to -him have probably arisen suddenly, or by one step; many botanists, for -instance, believe that the fuller’s teasel, with its hooks, which can -not be rivaled by any mechanical contrivance, is only a variety of the -wild _Dipsacus_; and this amount of change may have suddenly arisen in -a seedling. So it has probably been with the turnspit-dog; and this is -known to have been the case with the ancon sheep. But when we compare -the dray-horse and race-horse, the dromedary and camel, the various -breeds of sheep fitted either for cultivated land or mountain-pasture, -with the wool of one breed good for one purpose, and that of another -breed for another purpose; when we compare the many breeds of dogs, -each good for man in different ways; when we compare the game-cock, so -pertinacious in battle, with other breeds so little quarrelsome, with -“everlasting layers” which never desire to sit, and with the bantam, so -small and elegant; when we compare the host of agricultural, culinary, -orchard, and flower-garden races of plants, most useful to man at -different seasons and for different purposes, or so beautiful in his -eyes--we must, I think, look further than to mere variability. We can -not suppose that all the breeds were suddenly produced as perfect and -as useful as we now see them; indeed, in many cases, we know that this -has not been their history. The key is man’s power of accumulative -selection: Nature gives successive variations; man adds them up in -certain directions useful to him. In this sense he may be said to have -made for himself useful breeds. - - * * * * * - - [Page 23.] - -If selection consisted merely in separating some very distinct variety, -and breeding from it, the principle would be so obvious as hardly to be -worth notice; but its importance consists in the great effect produced -by the accumulation in one direction, during successive generations, of -differences absolutely inappreciable by an uneducated eye--differences -which I for one have vainly attempted to appreciate. Not one man in -a thousand has accuracy of eye and judgment sufficient to become an -eminent breeder. If gifted with these qualities, and he studies his -subject for years, and devotes his lifetime to it with indomitable -perseverance, he will succeed, and may make great improvements; if -he wants any of these qualities, he will assuredly fail. Few would -readily believe in the natural capacity and years of practice requisite -to become even a skillful pigeon-fancier. - - -UNCONSCIOUS SELECTION. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 25.] - -A man who intends keeping pointers naturally tries to get as good dogs -as he can, and afterward breeds from his own best dogs, but he has no -wish or expectation of permanently altering the breed. Nevertheless, -we may infer that this process, continued during centuries, would -improve and modify any breed, in the same way as Bakewell, Collins, -etc., by this very same process, only carried on more methodically, did -greatly modify, even during their lifetimes, the forms and qualities -of their cattle. Slow and insensible changes of this kind can never be -recognized unless actual measurements or careful drawings of the breeds -in question have been made long ago, which may serve for comparison. -In some cases, however, unchanged or but little changed individuals -of the same breed exist in less civilized districts, where the breed -has been less improved. There is reason to believe that King Charles’s -spaniel has been unconsciously modified to a large extent since the -time of that monarch. Some highly competent authorities are convinced -that the setter is directly derived from the spaniel, and has probably -been slowly altered from it. It is known that the English pointer has -been greatly changed within the last century, and in this case the -change has, it is believed, been chiefly effected by crosses with the -fox-hound; but what concerns us is, that the change has been effected -unconsciously and gradually, and yet so effectually, that, though the -old Spanish pointer certainly came from Spain, Mr. Borrow has not -seen, as I am informed by him, any native dog in Spain like our pointer. - -By a similar process of selection, and by careful training, English -race-horses have come to surpass in fleetness and size the parent -Arabs, so that the latter, by the regulations for the Goodwood races, -are favored in the weights which they carry. Lord Spencer and others -have shown how the cattle of England have increased in weight and in -early maturity, compared with the stock formerly kept in this country. - - * * * * * - - [Page 26.] - -If there exist savages so barbarous as never to think of the inherited -character of the offspring of their domestic animals, yet any one -animal particularly useful to them, for any special purpose, would -be carefully preserved during famines and other accidents, to which -savages are so liable, and such choice animals would thus generally -leave more offspring than the inferior ones; so that in this case there -would be a kind of unconscious selection going on. We see the value set -on animals even by the barbarians of Tierra del Fuego, by their killing -and devouring their old women, in times of dearth, as of less value -than their dogs. - - -ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS TO THE FANCIES OF MAN. - - [Page 28.] - -On the view here given of the important part which selection by man has -played, it becomes at once obvious how it is that our domestic races -show adaptation in their structure or in their habits to man’s wants or -fancies. We can, I think, further understand the frequently abnormal -character of our domestic races, and likewise their differences being -so great in external characters, and relatively so slight in internal -parts or organs. Man can hardly select, or only with much difficulty, -any deviation of structure excepting such as is externally visible; -and, indeed, he rarely cares for what is internal. He can never act -by selection, excepting on variations which are first given to him in -some slight degree by nature. No man would ever try to make a fantail -till he saw a pigeon with a tail developed in some slight degree in -an unusual manner, or a pouter till he saw a pigeon with a crop of -somewhat unusual size; and the more abnormal or unusual any character -was when it first appeared, the more likely it would be to catch his -attention. But to use such an expression as trying to make a fantail -is, I have no doubt, in most cases, utterly incorrect. The man who -first selected a pigeon with a slightly larger tail, never dreamed what -the descendants of that pigeon would become through long-continued, -partly unconscious and partly methodical, selection. Perhaps the -parent-bird of all fantails had only fourteen tail-feathers somewhat -expanded, like the present Java fantail, or like individuals of other -and distinct breeds, in which as many as seventeen tail-feathers have -been counted. Perhaps the first pouter-pigeon did not inflate its crop -much more than the turbit now does the upper part of its œsophagus--a -habit which is disregarded by all fanciers, as it is not one of the -points of the breed. - - -DOUBTFUL SPECIES. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 36.] - -The forms which possess in some considerable degree the character of -species, but which are so closely similar to other forms, or are so -closely linked to them by intermediate gradations, that naturalists -do not like to rank them as distinct species, are in several respects -the most important for us. We have every reason to believe that many -of these doubtful and closely allied forms have permanently retained -their characters for a long time; for as long, as far as we know, as -have good and true species. Practically, when a naturalist can unite -by means of intermediate links any two forms, he treats the one as a -variety of the other; ranking the most common, but sometimes the one -first described, as the species, and the other as the variety. But -cases of great difficulty, which I will not here enumerate, sometimes -arise in deciding whether or not to rank one form as a variety of -another, even when they are closely connected by intermediate links; -nor will the commonly-assumed hybrid nature of the intermediate forms -always remove the difficulty. In very many cases, however, one form is -ranked as a variety of another, not because the intermediate links have -actually been found, but because analogy leads the observer to suppose -either that they do now somewhere exist, or may formerly have existed; -and here a wide door for the entry of doubt and conjecture is opened. - -Hence, in determining whether a form should be ranked as a species or -a variety, the opinion of naturalists having sound judgment and wide -experience seems the only guide to follow. We must, however, in many -cases, decide by a majority of naturalists, for few well-marked and -well-known varieties can be named which have not been ranked as species -by at least some competent judges. - -That varieties of this doubtful nature are far from uncommon can not -be disputed. Compare the several floras of Great Britain, of France, -or of the United States, drawn up by different botanists, and see what -a surprising number of forms have been ranked by one botanist as good -species, and by another as mere varieties. Mr. H. C. Watson, to whom -I lie under deep obligation for assistance of all kinds, has marked -for me one hundred and eighty-two British plants, which are generally -considered as varieties, but which have all been ranked by botanists -as species; and in making this list he has omitted many trifling -varieties, but which nevertheless have been ranked by some botanists as -species, and he has entirely omitted several highly polymorphic genera. -Under genera, including the most polymorphic forms, Mr. Babington gives -two hundred and fifty-one species, whereas Mr. Bentham gives only -one hundred and twelve--a difference of one hundred and thirty-nine -doubtful forms! - - -SPECIES AN ARBITRARY TERM. - - [Page 41.] - -Certainly no clear line of demarkation has as yet been drawn between -species and sub-species--that is, the forms which in the opinion -of some naturalists come very near to, but do not quite arrive at, -the rank of species; or, again, between sub-species and well-marked -varieties, or between lesser varieties and individual differences. -These differences blend into each other by an insensible series; and a -series impresses the mind with the idea of an actual passage. - -Hence I look at individual differences, though of small interest to -the systematist, as of the highest importance for us, as being the -first steps toward such slight varieties as are barely thought worth -recording in works on natural history. And I look at varieties which -are in any degree more distinct and permanent as steps toward more -strongly-marked and permanent varieties; and at the latter, as leading -to sub-species, and then to species. The passage from one stage of -difference to another may, in many cases, be the simple result of the -nature of the organism, and of the different physical conditions to -which it has long been exposed; but with respect to the more important -and adaptive characters, the passage from one stage of difference to -another may be safely attributed to the cumulative action of natural -selection, hereafter to be explained, and to the effects of the -increased use or disuse of parts. A well-marked variety may therefore -be called an incipient species; but whether this belief is justifiable -must be judged by the weight of the various facts and considerations to -be given throughout this work. - -It need not be supposed that all varieties or incipient species attain -the rank of species. They may become extinct, or they may endure as -varieties for very long periods, as has been shown to be the case by -Mr. Wollaston with the varieties of certain fossil land-shells in -Madeira, and with plants by Gaston de Saporta. If a variety were to -flourish so as to exceed in numbers the parent species, it would then -rank as the species, and the species as the variety; or it might come -to supplant and exterminate the parent species; or both might coexist, -and both rank as independent species. But we shall hereafter return to -this subject. - -From these remarks it will be seen that I look at the term species -as one arbitrarily given, for the sake of convenience, to a set -of individuals closely resembling each other, and that it does -not essentially differ from the term variety, which is given to -less distinct and more fluctuating forms. The term variety, again, -in comparison with mere individual differences, is also applied -arbitrarily, for convenience’ sake. - - -THE TRUE PLAN OF CREATION. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 425.] - -When the views advanced by me in this volume, and by Mr. Wallace, or -when analogous views on the origin of species are generally admitted, -we can dimly foresee that there will be a considerable revolution in -natural history. Systematists will be able to pursue their labors as at -present; but they will not be incessantly haunted by the shadowy doubt -whether this or that form be a true species. - - * * * * * - - [Page 426.] - -Hereafter we shall be compelled to acknowledge that the only -distinction between species and well-marked varieties is, that the -latter are known, or believed, to be connected at the present day by -intermediate gradations, whereas species were formerly thus connected. -Hence, without rejecting the consideration of the present existence -of intermediate gradations between any two forms, we shall be led -to weigh more carefully and to value higher the actual amount of -difference between them. It is quite possible that forms now generally -acknowledged to be merely varieties may hereafter be thought worthy of -specific names; and in this case scientific and common language will -come into accordance. In short, we shall have to treat species in the -same manner as those naturalists treat genera who admit that genera are -merely artificial combinations made for convenience. This may not be a -cheering prospect; but we shall at least be freed from the vain search -for the undiscovered and undiscoverable essence of the term species. - -The other and more general departments of natural history will rise -greatly in interest. The terms used by naturalists, of affinity, -relationship, community of type, paternity, morphology, adaptive -characters, rudimentary and aborted organs, etc., will cease to be -metaphorical, and will have a plain signification. When we no longer -look at an organic being as a savage looks at a ship, as something -wholly beyond his comprehension; when we regard every production of -nature as one which has had a long history; when we contemplate every -complex structure and instinct as the summing up of many contrivances, -each useful to the possessor, in the same way as any great mechanical -invention is the summing up of the labor, the experience, the reason, -and even the blunders of numerous workmen; when we thus view each -organic being, how far more interesting--I speak from experience--does -the study of natural history become! - -A grand and almost untrodden field of inquiry will be opened, on the -causes and laws of variation, on correlation, on the effects of use -and disuse, on the direct action of external conditions, and so forth. -The study of domestic productions will rise immensely in value. A new -variety raised by man will be a more important and interesting subject -for study than one more species added to the infinitude of already -recorded species. Our classifications will come to be, as far as they -can be so made, genealogies, and will then truly give what may be -called the plan of creation. - - - - -IV. - -THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. - - - [Origin of - Species, - page 50.] - -A struggle for existence inevitably follows from the high rate at -which all organic beings tend to increase. Every being, which during -its natural lifetime produces several eggs or seeds, must suffer -destruction during some period of its life, and during some season or -occasional year, otherwise, on the principle of geometrical increase, -its numbers would quickly become so inordinately great that no country -could support the product. Hence, as more individuals are produced -than can possibly survive, there must in every case be a struggle for -existence, either one individual with another of the same species, -or with the individuals of distinct species, or with the physical -conditions of life. It is the doctrine of Malthus applied with -manifold force to the whole animal and vegetable kingdoms; for in this -case there can be no artificial increase of food, and no prudential -restraint from marriage. Although some species may be now increasing, -more or less rapidly, in numbers, all can not do so, for the world -would not hold them. - -There is no exception to the rule that every organic being naturally -increases at so high a rate, that, if not destroyed, the earth would -soon be covered with the progeny of a single pair. Even slow-breeding -man has doubled in twenty-five years, and at this rate, in less than -a thousand years, there would literally not be standing-room for his -progeny. Linnæus has calculated that if an annual plant produced only -two seeds--and there is no plant so unproductive as this--and their -seedlings next year produced two, and so on, then in twenty years there -would be a million plants. The elephant is reckoned the slowest breeder -of all known animals, and I have taken some pains to estimate its -probable minimum rate of natural increase; it will be safest to assume -that it begins breeding when thirty years old, and goes on breeding -till ninety years old, bringing forth six young in the interval, and -surviving till one hundred years old; if this be so, after a period of -from seven hundred and forty to seven hundred and fifty years, there -would be nearly nineteen million elephants alive, descended from the -first pair. - - -DEATH INEVITABLE IN THE FIGHT FOR LIFE. - - [Page 52.] - -In a state of nature almost every full-grown plant annually produces -seed, and among animals there are very few which do not annually pair. -Hence we may confidently assert that all plants and animals are tending -to increase at a geometrical ratio, that all would rapidly stock every -station in which they could anyhow exist, and that this geometrical -tendency to increase must be checked by destruction at some period of -life. Our familiarity with the larger domestic animals tends, I think, -to mislead us: we see no great destruction falling on them, but we do -not keep in mind that thousands are annually slaughtered for food, and -that in a state of nature an equal number would have somehow to be -disposed of. - -The only difference between organisms which annually produce eggs or -seeds by the thousand and those which produce extremely few is, that -the slow breeders would require a few more years to people, under -favorable conditions, a whole district, let it be ever so large. The -condor lays a couple of eggs and the ostrich a score, and yet in the -same country the condor may be the more numerous of the two; the Fulmar -petrel lays but one egg, yet it is believed to be the most numerous -bird in the world. One fly deposits hundreds of eggs, and another, like -the _Hippobosca_, a single one; but this difference does not determine -how many individuals of the two species can be supported in a district. -A large number of eggs is of some importance to those species which -depend on a fluctuating amount of food, for it allows them rapidly to -increase in number. But the real importance of a large number of eggs -or seeds is to make up for much destruction at some period of life; -and this period in the great majority of cases is an early one. If an -animal can in any way protect its own eggs or young, a small number may -be produced, and yet the average stock be fully kept up; but, if many -eggs or young are destroyed, many must be produced, or the species will -become extinct. It would suffice to keep up the full number of a tree, -which lived on an average for a thousand years, if a single seed were -produced once in a thousand years, supposing that this seed were never -destroyed, and could be insured to germinate in a fitting place. So -that, in all cases, the average number of any animal or plant depends -only indirectly on the number of its eggs or seeds. - -In looking at Nature, it is most necessary to keep the foregoing -considerations always in mind--never to forget that every single -organic being may be said to be striving to the utmost to increase in -numbers; that each lives by a struggle at some period of its life; -that heavy destruction inevitably falls either on the young or old -during each generation or at recurrent intervals. Lighten any check, -mitigate the destruction ever so little, and the number of the species -will almost instantaneously increase to any amount. - - -“INEXPLICABLE ON THE THEORY OF CREATION.” - - [Origin of - Species, - page 413.] - -As each species tends by its geometrical rate of reproduction to -increase inordinately in number, and as the modified descendants of -each species will be enabled to increase by as much as they become more -diversified in habits and structure, so as to be able to seize on many -and widely different places in the economy of nature, there will be a -constant tendency in natural selection to preserve the most divergent -offspring of any one species. Hence, during a long-continued course -of modification, the slight differences characteristic of varieties -of the same species tend to be augmented into the greater differences -characteristic of the species of the same genus. New and improved -varieties will inevitably supplant and exterminate the older, less -improved, and intermediate varieties; and thus species are rendered -to a large extent defined and distinct objects. Dominant species -belonging to the larger groups within each class tend to give birth -to new and dominant forms; so that each large group tends to become -still larger, and at the same time more divergent in character. But, -as all groups can not thus go on increasing in size, for the world -would not hold them, the more dominant groups beat the less dominant. -This tendency in the large groups to go on increasing in size and -diverging in character, together with the inevitable contingency of -much extinction, explains the arrangement of all the forms of life in -groups subordinate to groups, all within a few great classes, which -has prevailed throughout all time. This grand fact of the grouping of -all organic beings under what is called the Natural System is utterly -inexplicable on the theory of creation. - - -OBSCURE CHECKS TO INCREASE. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 53.] - -The causes which check the natural tendency of each species to increase -are most obscure. Look at the most vigorous species; by as much as it -swarms in numbers, by so much will it tend to increase still further. -We know not exactly what the checks are even in a single instance. Nor -will this surprise any one who reflects how ignorant we are on this -head, even in regard to mankind, although so incomparably better known -than any other animal. - - * * * * * - -Eggs or very young animals seem generally to suffer most, but this is -not invariably the case. With plants there is a vast destruction of -seeds, but, from some observations which I have made it appears that -the seedlings suffer most from germinating in ground already thickly -stocked with other plants. Seedlings, also, are destroyed in vast -numbers by various enemies; for instance, on a piece of ground three -feet long and two wide, dug and cleared, and where there could be no -choking from other plants, I marked all the seedlings of our native -weeds as they came up, and out of 357 no less than 295 were destroyed, -chiefly by slugs and insects. If turf which has long been mown, and the -case would be the same with turf closely browsed by quadrupeds, be let -to grow, the more vigorous plants gradually kill the less vigorous, -though fully grown plants; thus out of twenty species growing on a -little plot of mown turf (three feet by four) nine species perished, -from the other species being allowed to grow up freely. - -The amount of food for each species, of course, gives the extreme limit -to which each can increase; but very frequently it is not the obtaining -food, but the serving as prey to other animals, which determines the -average number of a species. Thus, there seems to be little doubt that -the stock of partridges, grouse, and hares on any large estate depends -chiefly on the destruction of vermin. If not one head of game were shot -during the next twenty years in England, and, at the same time, if no -vermin were destroyed, there would, in all probability, be less game -than at present, although hundreds of thousands of game animals are now -annually shot. On the other hand, in some cases, as with the elephant, -none are destroyed by beasts of prey; for even the tiger in India most -rarely dares to attack a young elephant protected by its dam. - - -CLIMATE AS A CHECK TO INCREASE. - - [Page 54.] - -Climate plays an important part in determining the average numbers of -a species, and periodical seasons of extreme cold or drought seem to -be the most effective of all checks. I estimated (chiefly from the -greatly reduced numbers of nests in the spring) that the winter of -1854–’55 destroyed four fifths of the birds in my own grounds; and this -is a tremendous destruction, when we remember that ten per cent is an -extraordinarily severe mortality from epidemics with man. The action of -climate seems at first sight to be quite independent of the struggle -for existence; but, in so far as climate chiefly acts in reducing -food, it brings on the most severe struggle between the individuals, -whether of the same or of distinct species, which subsist on the same -kind of food. Even when climate--for instance, extreme cold--acts -directly, it will be the least vigorous individuals, or those which -have got least food through the advancing winter, which will suffer -most. When we travel from south to north, or from a damp region to a -dry, we invariably see some species gradually getting rarer and rarer, -and finally disappearing; and, the change of climate being conspicuous, -we are tempted to attribute the whole effect to its direct action. But -this is a false view: we forget that each species, even where it most -abounds, is constantly suffering enormous destruction at some period -of its life, from enemies or from competitors for the same place and -food; and, if these enemies or competitors be in the least degree -favored by any slight change of climate, they will increase in numbers; -and, as each area is already fully stocked with inhabitants, the other -species must decrease. When we travel southward and see a species -decreasing in numbers, we may feel sure that the cause lies quite as -much in other species being favored as in this one being hurt. So it -is when we travel northward, but in a somewhat lesser degree, for the -number of species of all kinds, and therefore of competitors, decreases -northward; hence, in going northward, or in ascending a mountain, we -far oftener meet with stunted forms, due to the _directly_ injurious -action of climate, than we do in proceeding southward or in descending -a mountain. When we reach the Arctic regions, or snow-capped summits, -or absolute deserts, the struggle for life is almost exclusively with -the elements. - - -INFLUENCE OF INSECTS IN THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE. - - [Page 56.] - -In several parts of the world insects determine the existence of -cattle. Perhaps Paraguay offers the most curious instance of this; for -here neither cattle nor horses nor dogs have ever run wild, though they -swarm southward and northward in a feral state; and Azara and Rengger -have shown that this is caused by the greater number in Paraguay of -a certain fly, which lays its eggs in the navels of these animals -when first born. The increase of these flies, numerous as they are, -must be habitually checked by some means, probably by other parasitic -insects. Hence, if certain insectivorous birds were to decrease in -Paraguay, the parasitic insects would probably increase; and this -would lessen the number of the navel-frequenting flies; then cattle -and horses would become feral, and this would certainly greatly alter -(as indeed I have observed in parts of South America) the vegetation: -this again would largely affect the insects, and this, as we have -just seen in Staffordshire, the insectivorous birds, and so onward -in ever-increasing circles of complexity. Not that under nature the -relations will ever be as simple as this. Battle within battle must be -continually recurring with varying success; and yet in the long run -the forces are so nicely balanced that the face of Nature remains for -long periods of time uniform, though assuredly the merest trifle would -give the victory to one organic being over another. Nevertheless, so -profound is our ignorance, and so high our presumption, that we marvel -when we hear of the extinction of an organic being; and, as we do not -see the cause, we invoke cataclysms to desolate the world, or invent -laws on the duration of the forms of life! - - * * * * * - - [Page 57.] - -Nearly all our orchidaceous plants absolutely require the visits of -insects to remove their pollen-masses and thus to fertilize them. I -find from experiments that humble-bees are almost indispensable to -the fertilization of the heart’s-ease (_Viola tricolor_), for other -bees do not visit this flower. I have also found that the visits of -bees are necessary for the fertilization of some kinds of clover: for -instance, 20 heads of Dutch clover (_Trifolium repens_) yielded 2,290 -seeds, but 20 other heads protected from bees produced not one. Again, -100 heads of red clover (_T. pratense_) produced 2,700 seeds, but the -same number of protected heads produced not a single seed. Humble-bees -alone visit red clover, as other bees can not reach the nectar. It -has been suggested that moths may fertilize the clovers; but I doubt -whether they could do so in the case of the red clover, from their -weight not being sufficient to depress the wing-petals. Hence we may -infer as highly probable that, if the whole genus of humble-bees became -extinct or very rare in England, the heart’s-ease and red clover would -become very rare, or wholly disappear. The number of humble-bees in -any district depends in a great measure on the number of field-mice, -which destroy their combs and nests; and Colonel Newman, who has long -attended to the habits of humble-bees, believes that “more than two -thirds of them are thus destroyed all over England.” Now, the number -of mice is largely dependent, as every one knows, on the number of -cats; and Colonel Newman says, “Near villages and small towns I have -found the nests of humble-bees more numerous than elsewhere, which I -attribute to the number of cats that destroy the mice.” Hence it is -quite credible that the presence of a feline animal in large numbers in -a district might determine, through the intervention first of mice and -then of bees, the frequency of certain flowers in that district! - - -NO SUCH THING AS CHANCE IN THE RESULT OF THE STRUGGLE. - - [Page 58.] - -When we look at the plants and bushes clothing an entangled bank, we -are tempted to attribute their proportional numbers and kinds to what -we call chance. But how false a view is this! Every one has heard -that, when an American forest is cut down, a very different vegetation -springs up; but it has been observed that ancient Indian ruins in -the Southern United States, which must formerly have been cleared of -trees, now display the same beautiful diversity and proportion of -kinds as in the surrounding virgin forest. What a struggle must have -gone on during long centuries between the several kinds of trees, each -annually scattering its seeds by the thousand; what war between insect -and insect--between insects, snails, and other animals with birds and -beasts of prey--all striving to increase, all feeding on each other, or -on the trees, their seeds and seedlings, or on the other plants which -first clothed the ground and thus checked the growth of the trees! -Throw up a handful of feathers, and all fall to the ground according -to definite laws; but how simple is the problem where each shall fall -compared to that of the action and reaction of the innumerable plants -and animals which have determined, in the course of centuries, the -proportional numbers and kinds of trees now growing on the old Indian -ruins! - - * * * * * - - [Page 61.] - -It is good thus to try in imagination to give to any one species an -advantage over another. Probably in no single instance should we know -what to do. This ought to convince us of our ignorance on the mutual -relations of all organic beings--a conviction as necessary as it is -difficult to acquire. All that we can do is to keep steadily in mind -that each organic being is striving to increase in a geometrical ratio; -that each at some period of its life, during some season of the year, -during each generation or at intervals, has to struggle for life and -to suffer great destruction. When we reflect on this struggle, we may -console ourselves with the full belief that the war of nature is not -incessant, that no fear is felt, that death is generally prompt, and -that the vigorous, the healthy, and the happy survive and multiply. - - - - -V. - -NATURAL SELECTION: OR, THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. - - - [Variation of - Animals and - Plants under - Domestication, - vol. i, - page 6.] - -The preservation, during the battle for life, of varieties which -possess any advantage in structure, constitution, or instinct, I -have called Natural Selection; and Mr. Herbert Spencer has well -expressed the same idea by the Survival of the Fittest. The term -“natural selection” is in some respects a bad one, as it seems to -imply conscious choice; but this will be disregarded after a little -familiarity. No one objects to chemists speaking of “elective -affinity”; and certainly an acid has no more choice in combining with a -base than the conditions of life have in determining whether or not a -new form be selected or preserved. The term is so far a good one as it -brings into connection the production of domestic races by man’s power -of selection and the natural preservation of varieties and species -in a state of nature. For brevity sake I sometimes speak of natural -selection as an intelligent power; in the same way as astronomers speak -of the attraction of gravity as ruling the movements of the planets, or -as agriculturists speak of man making domestic races by his power of -selection. In the one case, as in the other, selection does nothing -without variability, and this depends in some manner on the action of -the surrounding circumstances in the organism. I have, also, often -personified the word Nature; for I have found it difficult to avoid -this ambiguity; but I mean by nature only the aggregate action and -product of many natural laws, and by laws only the ascertained sequence -of events. - - -AN INVENTED HYPOTHESIS. - - [Animals and - Plants, vol. - i, page 9.] - -In scientific investigations it is permitted to invent any hypothesis, -and if it explains various large and independent classes of facts it -rises to the rank of a well-grounded theory. The undulations of the -ether and even its existence are hypothetical, yet every one now admits -the undulatory theory of light. The principle of natural selection -may be looked at as a mere hypothesis, but rendered in some degree -probable by what we positively know of the variability of organic -beings in a state of nature--by what we positively know of the struggle -for existence, and the consequent almost inevitable preservation of -favorable variations--and from the analogical formation of domestic -races. Now, this hypothesis may be tested--and this seems to me the -only fair and legitimate manner of considering the whole question--by -trying whether it explains several large and independent classes of -facts; such as the geological succession of organic beings, their -distribution in past and present times, and their mutual affinities -and homologies. If the principle of natural selection does explain -these and other large bodies of facts, it ought to be received. On the -ordinary view of each species having been independently created, we -gain no scientific explanation of any one of these facts. We can only -say that it has so pleased the Creator to command that the past and -present inhabitants of the world should appear in a certain order and -in certain areas; that he has impressed on them the most extraordinary -resemblances, and has classed them in groups subordinate to groups. But -by such statements we gain no new knowledge; we do not connect together -facts and laws; we explain nothing. - - * * * * * - - [Page 12.] - -These facts have as yet received no explanation on the theory of -independent creation; they can not be grouped together under one point -of view, but each has to be considered as an ultimate fact. As the -first origin of life on this earth, as well as the continued life of -each individual, is at present quite beyond the scope of science, I -do not wish to lay much stress on the greater simplicity of the view -of a few forms or of only one form having been originally created, -instead of innumerable miraculous creations having been necessary at -innumerable periods; though this more simple view accords well with -Maupertuis’s philosophical axiom of “least action.” - - -HOW FAR THE THEORY MAY BE EXTENDED. - - [Page 13.] - -In considering how far the theory of natural selection may be -extended--that is, in determining from how many progenitors the -inhabitants of the world have descended--we may conclude that at -least all the members of the same class have descended from a single -ancestor. A number of organic beings are included in the same class, -because they present, independently of their habits of life, the same -fundamental type of structure, and because they graduate into each -other. Moreover, members of the same class can in most cases be shown -to be closely alike at an early embryonic age. These facts can be -explained on the belief of their descent from a common form; therefore -it may be safely admitted that all the members of the same class are -descended from one progenitor. But as the members of quite distinct -classes have something in common in structure and much in common in -constitution, analogy would lead us one step further, and to infer -as probable that all living creatures are descended from a single -prototype. - - * * * * * - - [Descent of - Man, part I., - page 61.] - -Thus a large yet undefined extension may safely be given to the direct -and indirect results of natural selection; but I now admit, after -reading the essay by Nägeli on plants, and the remarks by various -authors with respect to animals, more especially those recently made by -Professor Broca, that in the earlier editions of my “Origin of Species” -I perhaps attributed too much to the action of natural selection or -the survival of the fittest. I have altered the fifth edition of the -“Origin” so as to confine my remarks to adaptive changes of structure; -but I am convinced, from the light gained during even the last few -years, that very many structures which now appear to us useless will -hereafter be proved to be useful, and will therefore come within the -range of natural selection. Nevertheless, I did not formerly consider -sufficiently the existence of structures, which, as far as we can at -present judge, are neither beneficial nor injurious; and this I believe -to be one of the greatest oversights as yet detected in my work. I -may be permitted to say, as some excuse, that I had two distinct -objects in view: firstly, to show that species had not been separately -created; and, secondly, that natural selection had been the chief agent -of change, though largely aided by the inherited effects of habit, -and slightly by the direct action of the surrounding conditions. I -was not, however, able to annul the influence of my former belief, -then almost universal, that each species had been purposely created; -and this led to my tacit assumption that every detail of structure, -excepting rudiments, was of some special, though unrecognized, service. -Any one with this assumption in his mind would naturally extend too far -the action of natural selection, either during past or present times. -Some of those who admit the principle of evolution, but reject natural -selection, seem to forget, when criticising my book, that I had the -above two objects in view; hence if I have erred in giving to natural -selection great power, which I am very far from admitting, or in having -exaggerated its power, which is in itself probable, I have at least, as -I hope, done good service in aiding to overthrow the dogma of separate -creations. - - -IS THERE ANY LIMIT TO WHAT SELECTION CAN EFFECT? - - [Animals and - Plants, vol. - ii, page 228.] - -The foregoing discussion naturally leads to the question, What is the -limit to the possible amount of variation in any part or quality, and, -consequently, is there any limit to what selection can effect? Will a -race-horse ever be reared fleeter than Eclipse? Can our prize cattle -and sheep be still further improved? Will a gooseberry ever weigh more -than that produced by “London” in 1852? Will the beet-root in France -yield a greater percentage of sugar? Will future varieties of wheat and -other grain produce heavier crops than our present varieties? These -questions can not be positively answered; but it is certain that we -ought to be cautious in answering them by a negative. In some lines of -variation the limit has probably been reached. Youatt believes that -the reduction of bone in some of our sheep has already been carried so -far that it entails great delicacy of constitution. - - * * * * * - - [Page 229.] - -No doubt there is a limit beyond which the organization can not -be modified compatibly with health or life. The extreme degree of -fleetness, for instance, of which a terrestrial animal is capable, may -have been acquired by our present race-horses; but, as Mr. Wallace -has well remarked, the question that interests us “is not whether -indefinite and unlimited change in any or all directions is possible, -but whether such differences as do occur in nature could have been -produced by the accumulation of varieties by selection.” And in the -case of our domestic productions, there can be no doubt that many parts -of the organization, to which man has attended, have been thus modified -to a greater degree than the corresponding parts in the natural species -of the same genera or even families. We see this in the form and size -of our light and heavy dogs or horses, in the beak and many other -characters of our pigeons, in the size and quality of many fruits, in -comparison with the species belonging to the same natural groups. - - -HAS ORGANIZATION ADVANCED? - - [Origin of - Species, - page 308.] - -The problem whether organization on the whole has advanced is in -many ways excessively intricate. The geological record, at all times -imperfect, does not extend far enough back to show with unmistakable -clearness that within the known history of the world organization has -largely advanced. Even at the present day, looking to members of the -same class, naturalists are not unanimous which forms ought to be -ranked as highest: thus, some look at the selaceans or sharks, from -their approach in some important points of structure to reptiles, as -the highest fish; others look at the teleosteans as the highest. The -ganoids stand intermediate between the selaceans and teleosteans; -the latter at the present day are largely preponderant in number; -but formerly selaceans and ganoids alone existed; and in this case, -according to the standard of highness chosen, so will it be said -that fishes have advanced or retrograded in organization. To attempt -to compare members of distinct types in the scale of highness seems -hopeless; who will decide whether a cuttle-fish be higher than a -bee--that insect which the great Von Baer believed to be “in fact -more highly organized than a fish, although upon another type”? In -the complex struggle for life it is quite credible that crustaceans, -not very high in their own class, might beat cephalopods, the highest -mollusks; and such crustaceans, though not highly developed, would -stand very high in the scale of invertebrate animals, if judged by -the most decisive of all trials--the law of battle. Besides these -inherent difficulties in deciding which forms are the most advanced -in organization, we ought not solely to compare the highest members -of a class at any two periods--though undoubtedly this is one and -perhaps the most important element in striking a balance--but we ought -to compare all the members, high and low, at the two periods. At an -ancient epoch the highest and lowest molluscoidal animals, namely, -cephalopods and brachiopods, swarmed in numbers; at the present -time both groups are greatly reduced, while others, intermediate in -organization, have largely increased; consequently some naturalists -maintain that mollusks were formerly more highly developed than at -present; but a stronger case can be made out on the opposite side, by -considering the vast reduction of brachiopods, and the fact that our -existing cephalopods, though few in number, are more highly organized -than their ancient representatives. We ought also to compare the -relative proportional numbers at any two periods of the high and low -classes throughout the world; if, for instance, at the present day -fifty thousand kinds of vertebrate animals exist, and if we knew that -at some former period only ten thousand kinds existed, we ought to look -at this increase in number in the highest class, which implies a great -displacement of lower forms, as a decided advance in the organization -of the world. We thus see how hopelessly difficult it is to compare -with perfect fairness, under such extremely complex relations, the -standard of organization of the imperfectly-known faunas of successive -periods. - - * * * * * - - [Origin of - Species, - page 121.] - -There may truly be said to be a constant struggle going on between, on -the one hand, the tendency to reversion to a less perfect state, as -well as an innate tendency to new variations, and, on the other hand, -the power of steady selection to keep the breed true. In the long run -selection gains the day, and we do not expect to fail so completely -as to breed bird as coarse as a common tumbler-pigeon from a good -short-faced strain. But, as long as selection is rapidly going on, much -variability in the parts undergoing modification may always be expected. - - -A HIGHER WORKMANSHIP THAN MAN’S. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 65.] - -As man can produce, and certainly has produced, a great result by his -methodical and unconscious means of selection, what may not natural -selection affect? Man can act only on external and visible characters: -Nature, if I may be allowed to personify the natural preservation or -survival of the fittest, cares nothing for appearances, except in so -far as they are useful to any being. She can act on every internal -organ, on every shade of constitutional difference, on the whole -machinery of life. Man selects only for his own good: Nature only for -that of the being which she tends. Every selected character is fully -exercised by her, as is implied by the fact of their selection. Man -keeps the natives of many climates in the same country; he seldom -exercises each selected character in some peculiar and fitting manner; -he feeds a long and a short beaked pigeon on the same food; he does -not exercise a long-backed or long-legged quadruped in any peculiar -manner; he exposes sheep with long and short wool to the same climate. -He does not allow the most vigorous males to struggle for the females. -He does not rigidly destroy all inferior animals, but protects during -each varying season, as far as lies in his power, all his productions. -He often begins his selection by some half-monstrous form; or at -least by some modification prominent enough to catch the eye or to -be plainly useful to him. Under nature, the slightest differences of -structure or constitution may well turn the nicely-balanced scale in -the struggle for life, and so be preserved. How fleeting are the wishes -and efforts of man! how short his time! and consequently how poor will -be his results, compared with those accumulated by Nature during whole -geological periods! Can we wonder, then, that Nature’s productions -should be far “truer” in character than man’s productions; that they -should be infinitely better adapted to the most complex conditions of -life, and should plainly bear the stamp of far higher workmanship? - -It may metaphorically be said that natural selection is daily and -hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, the slightest variations: -rejecting those that are bad, preserving and adding up all that -are good; silently and insensibly working, _whenever and wherever -opportunity offers_, at the improvement of each organic being in -relation to its organic and inorganic conditions of life. We see -nothing of these slow changes in progress, until the hand of Time -has marked the lapse of ages, and then so imperfect is our view into -long-past geological ages that we see only that the forms of life are -now different from what they formerly were. - - * * * * * - - [Page 66.] - -Although natural selection can act only through and for the good -of each being, yet characters and structures, which we are apt to -consider as of very trifling importance, may thus be acted on. When -we see leaf-eating insects green and bark-feeders mottled-gray, the -Alpine ptarmigan white in winter, the red-grouse the color of heather, -we must believe that these tints are of service to these birds and -insects in preserving them from danger. Grouse, if not destroyed at -some period of their lives, would increase in countless numbers; they -are known to suffer largely from birds of prey; and hawks are guided -by eye-sight to their prey--so much so, that on parts of the Continent -persons are warned not to keep white pigeons, as being the most liable -to destruction. Hence natural selection might be effective in giving -the proper color to each kind of grouse, and in keeping that color, -when once acquired, true and constant. Nor ought we to think that the -occasional destruction of an animal of any particular color would -produce little effect: we should remember how essential it is in a -flock of white sheep to destroy a lamb with the faintest trace of black. - - -WHY HABITS AND STRUCTURE ARE NOT IN AGREEMENT. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 142.] - -He who believes that each being has been created as we now see it must -occasionally have felt surprise when he has met with an animal having -habits and structure not in agreement. What can be plainer than that -the webbed feet of ducks and geese are formed for swimming? Yet there -are upland geese with webbed feet which rarely go near the water; and -no one except Audubon has seen the frigate-bird, which has all its four -toes webbed, alight on the surface of the ocean. On the other hand, -grebes and coots are eminently aquatic, although their toes are only -bordered by membrane. What seems plainer than that the long toes, not -furnished with membrane, of the _Grallatores_, are formed for walking -over swamps and floating plants?--the water-hen and land-rail are -members of this order, yet the first is nearly as aquatic as the coot, -and the second nearly as terrestrial as the quail or partridge. In such -cases, and many others could be given, habits have changed without a -corresponding change of structure. The webbed feet of the upland goose -may be said to have become almost rudimentary in function, though not -in structure. In the frigate-bird, the deeply-scooped membrane between -the toes shows that structure has begun to change. - -He who believes in separate and innumerable acts of creation may -say that in these cases it has pleased the Creator to cause a being -of one type to take the place of one belonging to another type; but -this seems to me only restating the fact in dignified language. He -who believes in the struggle for existence and in the principle -of natural selection, will acknowledge that every organic being is -constantly endeavoring to increase in numbers; and that if any one -being varies ever so little, either in habits or structure, and thus -gains an advantage over some other inhabitant of the same country, it -will seize on the place of that inhabitant, however different that may -be from its own place. Hence it will cause him no surprise that there -should be geese and frigate-birds with webbed feet, living on the dry -land and rarely alighting on the water; that there should be long-toed -corn-crakes, living in meadows instead of in swamps; that there should -be woodpeckers where hardly a tree grows; that there should be diving -thrushes and diving _Hymenoptera_, and petrels with the habits of auks. - - -NO MODIFICATION IN ONE SPECIES DESIGNED FOR THE GOOD OF ANOTHER. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 162.] - -Natural selection can not possibly produce any modification in a -species exclusively for the good of another species; though throughout -nature one species incessantly takes advantage of, and profits by, the -structures of others. But natural selection can and does often produce -structures for the direct injury of other animals, as we see in the -fang of the adder, and in the ovipositor of the ichneumon, by which its -eggs are deposited in the living bodies of other insects. If it could -be proved that any part of the structure of any one species had been -formed for the exclusive good of another species, it would annihilate -my theory, for such could not have been produced through natural -selection. Although many statements may be found in works on natural -history to this effect, I can not find even one which seems to me of -any weight. It is admitted that the rattlesnake has a poison-fang for -its own defense, and for the destruction of its prey; but some authors -suppose that at the same time it is furnished with a rattle for its -own injury, namely, to warn its prey. I would almost as soon believe -that the cat curls the end of its tail when preparing to spring, in -order to warn the doomed mouse. It is a much more probable view that -the rattlesnake uses its rattle, the cobra expands its frill, and the -puff-adder swells while hissing so loudly and harshly, in order to -alarm the many birds and beasts which are known to attack even the -most venomous species. Snakes act on the same principle which makes -the hen ruffle her feathers and expand her wings when a dog approaches -her chickens; but I have not space here to enlarge on the many ways by -which animals endeavor to frighten away their enemies. - -Natural selection will never produce in a being any structure more -injurious than beneficial to that being, for natural selection acts -solely by and for the good of each. No organ will be formed, as Paley -has remarked, for the purpose of causing pain or for doing an injury to -its possessor. If a fair balance be struck between the good and evil -caused by each part, each will be found on the whole advantageous. -After the lapse of time, under changing conditions of life, if any part -comes to be injurious, it will be modified; or, if it be not so, the -being will become extinct as myriads have become extinct. - -Natural selection tends only to make each organic being as perfect -as, or slightly more perfect than, the other inhabitants of the same -country with which it comes into competition. And we see that this -is the standard of perfection attained under nature. The endemic -productions of New Zealand, for instance, are perfect one compared -with another; but they are now rapidly yielding before the advancing -legions of plants and animals introduced from Europe. Natural selection -will not produce absolute perfection, nor do we always meet, as far as -we can judge, with this high standard under nature. The correction for -the aberration of light is said by Müller not to be perfect even in -that most perfect organ, the human eye. - - * * * * * - - [Page 67.] - -Natural selection will modify the structure of the young in relation -to the parent, and of the parent in relation to the young. In social -animals it will adapt the structure of each individual for the benefit -of the whole community, if the community profits by the selected -change. What natural selection can not do is, to modify the structure -of one species, without giving it any advantage, for the good of -another species; and, though statements to this effect may be found -in works of natural history, I can not find one case which will bear -investigation. A structure used only once in an animal’s life, if of -high importance to it, might be modified to any extent by natural -selection; for instance, the great jaws possessed by certain insects, -used exclusively for opening the cocoon, or the hard tip to the beak of -unhatched birds, used for breaking the egg. It has been asserted that, -of the best short-beaked tumbler-pigeons, a greater number perish in -the egg than are able to get out of it, so that fanciers assist in the -act of hatching. Now, if Nature had to make the beak of a full-grown -pigeon very short for the bird’s own advantage, the process of -modification would be very slow, and there would be simultaneously the -most rigorous selection of all the young birds within the egg, which -had the most powerful and hardest beaks, for all with weak beaks would -inevitably perish; or, more delicate and more easily broken shells -might be selected, the thickness of the shell being known to vary like -every other structure. - - -ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE ACTION OF NATURAL SELECTION. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 70.] - -In order to make it clear how, as I believe, natural selection acts, I -must beg permission to give one or two imaginary illustrations. Let us -take the case of a wolf, which preys on various animals, securing some -by craft, some by strength, and some by fleetness; and let us suppose -that the fleetest prey, a deer for instance, had from any change in -the country increased in numbers, or that other prey had decreased -in numbers, during that season of the year when the wolf was hardest -pressed for food. Under such circumstances the swiftest and slimmest -wolves would have the best chance of surviving, and so be preserved or -selected--provided always that they retained strength to master their -prey at this or some other period of the year, when they were compelled -to prey on other animals. I can see no more reason to doubt that this -would be the result, than that man should be able to improve the -fleetness of his greyhounds by careful and methodical selection, or by -that kind of unconscious selection which follows from each man trying -to keep the best dogs without any thought of modifying the breed. I -may add that, according to Mr. Pierce, there are two varieties of the -wolf inhabiting the Catskill Mountains in the United States, one with -a light greyhound-like form, which pursues deer, and the other more -bulky, with shorter legs, which more frequently attacks the shepherd’s -flocks. - - * * * * * - - [Page 73.] - -Certain plants excrete sweet juice, apparently for the sake of -eliminating something injurious from the sap: this is effected, for -instance, by glands at the base of the stipules in some _Leguminosæ_, -and at the backs of the leaves of the common laurel. This juice, though -small in quantity, is greedily sought by insects; but their visits do -not in any way benefit the plant. Now, let us suppose that the juice -or nectar was excreted from the inside of the flowers of a certain -number of plants of any species. Insects in seeking the nectar would -get dusted with pollen, and would often transport it from one flower to -another. The flowers of two distinct individuals of the same species -would thus get crossed; and the act of crossing, as can be fully -proved, gives rise to vigorous seedlings, which consequently would -have the best chance of flourishing and surviving. The plants which -produced flowers with the largest glands or nectaries, excreting most -nectar, would oftenest be visited by insects, and would oftenest be -crossed; and so in the long run would gain the upper hand and form a -local variety. The flowers, also, which had their stamens and pistils -placed, in relation to the size and habits of the particular insect -which visited them, so as to favor in any degree the transportal of -the pollen, would likewise be favored. We might have taken the case of -insects visiting flowers for the sake of collecting pollen instead of -nectar; and, as pollen is formed for the sole purpose of fertilization, -its destruction appears to be a simple loss to the plant; yet if a -little pollen were carried, at first occasionally and then habitually, -by the pollen-devouring insects from flower to flower, and a cross -thus effected, although nine tenths of the pollen were destroyed, -it might still be a great gain to the plant to be thus robbed; and -the individuals which produced more and more pollen, and had larger -anthers, would be selected. - -When our plant, by the above process long continued, had been rendered -highly attractive to insects, they would, unintentionally on their -part, regularly carry pollen from flower to flower. - - -DIVERGENCE OF CHARACTER. - - [Page 86.] - -According to my view, varieties are species in the process of -formation, or are, as I have called them, incipient species. How, then, -does the lesser difference between varieties become augmented into the -greater difference between species? That this does habitually happen, -we must infer from most of the innumerable species throughout nature -presenting well-marked differences; whereas varieties, the supposed -prototypes and parents of future well-marked species, present slight -and ill-defined differences. Mere chance, as we may call it, might -cause one variety to differ in some character from its parents, and -the offspring of this variety again to differ from its parent in the -very same character and in a greater degree; but this alone would -never account for so habitual and large a degree of difference as that -between the species of the same genus. - -As has always been my practice, I have sought light on this head from -our domestic productions. We shall here find something analogous. -It will be admitted that the production of races so different as -short-horn and Hereford cattle, race and cart horses, the several -breeds of pigeons, etc., could never have been effected by the mere -chance accumulation of similar variations during many successive -generations. In practice, a fancier is, for instance, struck by a -pigeon having a slightly shorter beak; another fancier is struck by a -pigeon having a rather longer beak; and, on the acknowledged principle -that “fanciers do not and will not admire a medium standard, but -like extremes,” they both go on (as has actually occurred with the -sub-breeds of the tumbler-pigeon) choosing and breeding from birds -with longer and longer beaks, or with shorter and shorter beaks. -Again, we may suppose that, at an early period of history, the men -of one nation or district required swifter horses, while those of -another required stronger and bulkier horses. The early differences -would be very slight; but, in the course of time, from the continued -selection of swifter horses in the one case, and of stronger ones in -the other, the differences would become greater, and would be noted -as forming two sub-breeds. Ultimately, after the lapse of centuries, -these sub-breeds would become converted into two well-established -and distinct breeds. As the differences became greater, the inferior -animals with intermediate characters, being neither very swift nor -very strong, would not have been used for breeding, and will thus have -tended to disappear. Here, then, we see in man’s productions the action -of what may be called the principle of divergence, causing differences, -at first barely appreciable, steadily to increase, and the breeds to -diverge in character, both from each other and from their common parent. - -But how, it may be asked, can any analogous principle apply in nature? -I believe it can and does apply most efficiently (though it was a long -time before I saw how), from the simple circumstance that the more -diversified the descendants from any one species become in structure, -constitution, and habits, by so much will they be better enabled to -seize on many and widely diversified places in the polity of nature, -and so be enabled to increase in numbers. - - * * * * * - - [Page 89.] - -The advantage of diversification of structure in the inhabitants of the -same region is, in fact, the same as that of the physiological division -of labor in the organs of the same individual body--a subject so well -elucidated by Milne-Edwards. No physiologist doubts that a stomach -adapted to digest vegetable matter alone, or flesh alone, draws most -nutriment from these substances. So in the general economy of any land, -the more widely and perfectly the animals and plants are diversified -for different habits of life, so will a greater number of individuals -be capable of there supporting themselves. A set of animals, with -their organization but little diversified, could hardly compete with -a set more perfectly diversified in structure. It may be doubted, for -instance, whether the Australian marsupials, which are divided into -groups differing but little from each other, and feebly representing, -as Mr. Waterhouse and others have remarked, our carnivorous, -ruminant, and rodent mammals, could successfully compete with these -well-developed orders. In the Australian mammals, we see the process of -diversification in an early and incomplete stage of development. - - -EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN EYE. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 143.] - -To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for -adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different -amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic -aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I -freely confess, absurd in the highest degree. When it was first said -that the sun stood still and the world turned round, the common sense -of mankind declared the doctrine false; but the old saying of _Vox -populi vox Dei_, as every philosopher knows, can not be trusted in -science. - - * * * * * - - [Page 145.] - -Within the highest division of the animal kingdom, namely, the -_Vertebrata_, we can start from an eye so simple that it consists, as -in the lancelet, of a little sac of transparent skin, furnished with -a nerve and lined with pigment, but destitute of any other apparatus. -In fishes and reptiles, as Owen has remarked, “the range of gradations -of dioptric structures is very great.” It is a significant fact that -even in man, according to the high authority of Virchow, the beautiful -crystalline lens is formed in the embryo by an accumulation of -epidermic cells, lying in a sac-like fold of the skin; and the vitreous -body is formed from embryonic subcutaneous tissue. To arrive, however, -at a just conclusion regarding the formation of the eye, with all its -marvelous yet not absolutely perfect characters, it is indispensable -that the reason should conquer the imagination; but I have felt the -difficulty far too keenly to be surprised at others hesitating to -extend the principle of natural selection to so startling a length. - -It is scarcely possible to avoid comparing the eye with a telescope. -We know that this instrument has been perfected by the long-continued -efforts of the highest human intellects; and we naturally infer that -the eye has been formed by a somewhat analogous process. But may not -this inference be presumptuous? Have we any right to assume that the -Creator works by intellectual powers like those of man? If we must -compare the eye to an optical instrument, we ought in imagination to -take a thick layer of transparent tissue, with spaces filled with -fluid, and with a nerve sensitive to light beneath, and then suppose -every part of this layer to be continually changing slowly in density, -so as to separate into layers of different densities and thicknesses, -placed at different distances from each other, and with the surfaces -of each layer slowly changing in form. Further, we must suppose that -there is a power, represented by natural selection or the survival -of the fittest, always intently watching each slight alteration in -the transparent layers; and carefully preserving each which, under -varied circumstances, in any way or in any degree, tends to produce -a distincter image. We must suppose each new state of the instrument -to be multiplied by the million; each to be preserved until a better -one is produced, and then the old ones to be all destroyed. In living -bodies, variation will cause the slight alterations, generation will -multiply them almost infinitely, and natural selection will pick out -with unerring skill each improvement. Let this process go on for -millions of years; and during each year on millions of individuals of -many kinds; and may we not believe that a living optical instrument -might thus be formed as superior to one of glass as the works of the -Creator are to those of man? - - - - -VI. - -GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ORGANIC BEINGS. - - - [Origin of - Species, - page 320.] - -We are thus brought to the question which has been largely discussed -by naturalists, namely, whether species have been created at one or -more points of the earth’s surface. Undoubtedly there are many cases of -extreme difficulty in understanding how the same species could possibly -have migrated from some one point to the several distant and isolated -points where now found. Nevertheless the simplicity of the view that -each species was first produced within a single region captivates the -mind. He who rejects it rejects the _vera causa_ of ordinary generation -with subsequent migration, and calls in the agency of a miracle. It is -universally admitted that in most cases the area inhabited by a species -is continuous; and that, when a plant or animal inhabits two points so -distant from each other, or with an interval of such a nature, that the -space could not have been easily passed over by migration, the fact -is given as something remarkable and exceptional. The incapacity of -migrating across a wide sea is more clear in the case of terrestrial -mammals than perhaps with any other organic beings; and, accordingly, -we find no inexplicable instances of the same mammals inhabiting -distant points of the world. No geologist feels any difficulty in -Great Britain possessing the same quadrupeds with the rest of Europe, -for they were no doubt once united. But, if the same species can be -produced at two separate points, why do we not find a single mammal -common to Europe and Australia or South America? The conditions of -life are nearly the same, so that a multitude of European animals and -plants have become naturalized in America and Australia; and some of -the aboriginal plants are identically the same at these distant points -of the northern and southern hemispheres. The answer, as I believe, -is, that mammals have not been able to migrate, whereas some plants, -from their varied means of dispersal, have migrated across the wide -and broken interspaces. The great and striking influence of barriers -of all kinds is intelligible only on the view that the great majority -of species have been produced on one side, and have not been able to -migrate to the opposite side. Some few families, many sub-families, -very many genera, and a still greater number of sections of genera, -are confined to a single region: and it has been observed by several -naturalists that the most natural genera, or those genera in which the -species are most closely related to each other, are generally confined -to the same country, or, if they have a wide range, that their range is -continuous. What a strange anomaly it would be, if a directly opposite -rule were to prevail, when we go down one step lower in the series, -namely, to the individuals of the same species, and these had not been, -at least at first, confined to some one region! - -Hence it seems to me, as it has to many other naturalists, that the -view of each species having been produced in one area alone, and -having subsequently migrated from that area as far as its powers of -migration and subsistence under past and present conditions permitted, -is the most probable. Undoubtedly many cases occur, in which we can -not explain how the same species could have passed from one point -to the other. But the geographical and climatal changes, which have -certainly occurred within recent geological times, must have rendered -discontinuous the formerly continuous range of many species. So that we -are reduced to consider whether the exceptions to continuity of range -are so numerous and of so grave a nature that we ought to give up the -belief, rendered probable by general considerations, that each species -has been produced within one area, and has migrated thence as far as it -could. - - -ISOLATED CONTINENTS NEVER WERE UNITED. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 324.] - -Whenever it is fully admitted, as it will some day be, that each -species has proceeded from a single birthplace, and when in the course -of time we know something definite about the means of distribution, we -shall be enabled to speculate with security on the former extension -of the land. But I do not believe that it will ever be proved that -within the recent period most of our continents which now stand quite -separate have been continuously, or almost continuously, united with -each other, and with the many existing oceanic islands. Several facts -in distribution, such as the great difference in the marine faunas on -the opposite sides of almost every continent, the close relation of the -tertiary inhabitants of several lands and even seas to their present -inhabitants, the degree of affinity between the mammals inhabiting -islands with those of the nearest continent, being in part determined -(as we shall hereafter see) by the depth of the intervening ocean, -these and other such facts are opposed to the admission of such -prodigious geographical revolutions within the recent period as are -necessary on the view advanced by Forbes and admitted by his followers. -The nature and relative proportions of the inhabitants of oceanic -islands are likewise opposed to the belief of their former continuity -with continents. Nor does the almost universally volcanic composition -of such islands favor the admission that they are the wrecks of -sunken continents; if they had originally existed as continental -mountain-ranges, some at least of the islands would have been formed, -like other mountain-summits, of granite, metamorphic schists, old -fossiliferous and other rocks, instead of consisting of mere piles of -volcanic matter. - - -MEANS OF DISPERSAL. - - [Page 326.] - -Living birds can hardly fail to be highly effective agents in the -transportation of seeds. I could give many facts showing how frequently -birds of many kinds are blown by gales to vast distances across the -ocean. We may safely assume that under such circumstances their rate -of flight would often be thirty-five miles an hour; and some authors -have given a far higher estimate. I have never seen an instance of -nutritious seeds passing through the intestines of a bird; but hard -seeds of fruit pass uninjured through even the digestive organs of a -turkey. In the course of two months I picked up in my garden twelve -kinds of seeds out of the excrement of small birds, and these seemed -perfect, and some of them, which were tried, germinated. But the -following fact is more important: the crops of birds do not secrete -gastric juice, and do not, as I know by trial, injure in the least the -germination of seeds; now, after a bird has found and devoured a large -supply of food, it is positively asserted that all the grains do not -pass into the gizzard for twelve or even eighteen hours. A bird in this -interval might easily be blown to the distance of five hundred miles, -and hawks are known to look out for tired birds, and the contents of -their torn crops might thus readily get scattered. Some hawks and owls -bolt their prey whole, and, after an interval of from twelve to twenty -hours, disgorge pellets, which, as I know from experiments made in the -Zoölogical Gardens, include seeds capable of germination. Some seeds -of the oat, wheat, millet, canary, hemp, clover, and beet germinated -after having been from twelve to twenty-one hours in the stomachs of -different birds of prey; and two seeds of beet grew after having been -thus retained for two days and fourteen hours. Fresh-water fish, I -find, eat seeds of many land and water plants: fish are frequently -devoured by birds, and thus the seeds might be transported from place -to place. I forced many kinds of seeds into the stomachs of dead fish, -and then gave their bodies to fishing-eagles, storks, and pelicans; -these birds, after an interval of many hours, either rejected the seeds -in pellets or passed them in their excrement; and several of these -seeds retained the power of germination. Certain seeds, however, were -always killed by this process. - -Locusts are sometimes blown to great distances from the land; I myself -caught one three hundred and seventy miles from the coast of Africa, -and have heard of others caught at greater distances. - - * * * * * - - [Page 328.] - -As icebergs are known to be sometimes loaded with earth and stones, and -have even carried brushwood, bones, and the nest of a land-bird, it can -hardly be doubted that they must occasionally, as suggested by Lyell, -have transported seeds from one part to another of the Arctic and -Antarctic regions, and during the Glacial period from one part of the -now temperate regions to another. In the Azores, from the large number -of plants common to Europe, in comparison with the species on the other -islands of the Atlantic, which stand nearer to the mainland, and (as -remarked by Mr. H. C. Watson) from their somewhat northern character in -comparison with the latitude, I suspected that these islands had been -partly stocked by ice-borne seeds during the Glacial epoch. - - -THESE MEANS OF TRANSPORT NOT ACCIDENTAL. - - [Page 329.] - -These means of transport are sometimes called accidental, but this is -not strictly correct; the currents of the sea are not accidental, nor -is the direction of prevalent gales of wind. It should be observed -that scarcely any means of transport would carry seeds for very great -distances: for seeds do not retain their vitality when exposed for -a great length of time to the action of sea-water; nor could they -be long carried in the crops or intestines of birds. These means, -however, would suffice for occasional transport across tracts of sea -some hundred miles in breadth, or from island to island, or from a -continent to a neighboring island, but not from one distant continent -to another. The floras of distant continents would not by such means -become mingled; but would remain as distinct as they now are. The -currents, from their course, would never bring seeds from North -America to Britain, though they might and do bring seeds from the West -Indies to our western shores, where, if not killed by their very long -immersion in salt-water, they could not endure our climate. Almost -every year, one or two land-birds are blown across the whole Atlantic -Ocean, from North America to the western shores of Ireland and England; -but seeds could be transported by these rare wanderers only by one -means, namely, by dirt adhering to their feet or beaks, which is in -itself a rare accident. Even in this case, how small would be the -chance of a seed falling on favorable soil and coming to maturity! But -it would be a great error to argue that, because a well-stocked island, -like Great Britain, has not, as far as is known (and it would be very -difficult to prove this), received within the last few centuries, -through occasional means of transport, immigrants from Europe or any -other continent, a poorly-stocked island, though standing more remote -from the mainland, would not receive colonists by similar means. Out of -a hundred kinds of seeds or animals transported to an island, even if -far less well-stocked than Britain, perhaps not more than one would be -so well fitted to its new home as to become naturalized. But this is -no valid argument against what would be effected by occasional means -of transport, during the long lapse of geological time, while the -island was being upheaved, and before it had become fully stocked with -inhabitants. On almost bare land, with few or no destructive insects -or birds living there, nearly every seed which chanced to arrive, if -fitted for the climate, would germinate and survive. - - -DISPERSAL DURING THE GLACIAL PERIOD. - - [Page 434.] - -The Glacial period is defined “as a period of great cold and of -enormous extension of ice upon the surface of the earth. It is believed -that glacial periods have occurred repeatedly during the geological -history of the earth, but the term is generally applied to the close of -the Tertiary epoch, when nearly the whole of Europe was subjected to an -Arctic climate.” - - * * * * * - - [Origin of - Species, - page 330.] - -The identity of many plants and animals, on mountain-summits, separated -from each other by hundreds of miles of lowlands, where Alpine species -could not possibly exist, is one of the most striking cases known -of the same species living at distant points, without the apparent -possibility of their having migrated from one point to the other. It -is indeed a remarkable fact to see so many plants of the same species -living on the snowy regions of the Alps or Pyrenees, and in the extreme -northern parts of Europe; but it is far more remarkable that the plants -on the White Mountains, in the United States of America, are all the -same with those of Labrador, and nearly all the same, as we hear from -Asa Gray, with those on the loftiest mountains of Europe. Even as long -ago as 1747 such facts led Gmelin to conclude that the same species -must have been independently created at many distinct points; and we -might have remained in this same belief, had not Agassiz and others -called vivid attention to the Glacial period, which, as we shall -immediately see, affords a simple explanation of these facts. We have -evidence of almost every conceivable kind, organic and inorganic, -that, within a very recent geological period, Central Europe and North -America suffered under an Arctic climate. The ruins of a house burned -by fire do not tell their tale more plainly than do the mountains of -Scotland and Wales, with their scored flanks, polished surfaces, and -perched bowlders, of the icy streams with which their valleys were -lately filled. So greatly has the climate of Europe changed, that in -Northern Italy gigantic moraines, left by old glaciers, are now clothed -by the vine and maize. Throughout a large part of the United States -erratic bowlders and scored rocks plainly reveal a former cold period. - -The former influence of the glacial climate on the distribution of the -inhabitants of Europe, as explained by Edward Forbes, is substantially -as follows. But we shall follow the changes more readily by supposing a -new glacial period slowly to come on, and then pass away, as formerly -occurred. As the cold came on, and as each more southern zone became -fitted for the inhabitants of the north, these would take the places -of the former inhabitants of the temperate regions. The latter, at the -same time, would travel farther and farther southward, unless they were -stopped by barriers, in which case they would perish. The mountains -would become covered with snow and ice, and their former Alpine -inhabitants would descend to the plains. By the time that the cold had -reached its maximum, we should have an Arctic fauna and flora, covering -the central parts of Europe, as far south as the Alps and Pyrenees, and -even stretching into Spain. The now temperate regions of the United -States would likewise be covered by Arctic plants and animals, and -these would be nearly the same with those of Europe; for the present -circumpolar inhabitants, which we suppose to have everywhere traveled -southward, are remarkably uniform round the world. - -As the warmth returned, the Arctic forms would retreat northward, -closely followed up in their retreat by the productions of the more -temperate regions. And, as the snow melted from the bases of the -mountains, the Arctic forms would seize on the cleared and thawed -ground, always ascending, as the warmth increased and the snow still -further disappeared, higher and higher, while their brethren were -pursuing their northern journey. Hence, when the warmth had fully -returned, the same species, which had lately lived together on the -European and North American lowlands, would again be found in the -Arctic regions of the Old and New Worlds, and on many isolated -mountain-summits far distant from each other. - -Thus we can understand the identity of many plants at points so -immensely remote as the mountains of the United States and those of -Europe. - - -THE THEORY OF CREATION INADEQUATE. - - [Page 334.] - -As on the land, so in the waters of the sea, a slow southern migration -of a marine fauna, which, during the Pliocene or even a somewhat -earlier period, was nearly uniform along the continuous shores of the -Polar Circle, will account, on the theory of modification, for many -closely allied forms now living in marine areas completely sundered. -Thus, I think, we can understand the presence of some closely allied, -still existing and extinct tertiary forms on the eastern and western -shores of temperate North America; and the still more striking fact -of many closely allied crustaceans (as described in Dana’s admirable -work), some fish and other marine animals, inhabiting the Mediterranean -and the seas of Japan--these two areas being now completely separated -by the breadth of a whole continent and by wide spaces of ocean. - -These cases of close relationship in species either now or formerly -inhabiting the seas on the eastern and western shores of North America, -the Mediterranean and Japan, and the temperate lands of North America -and Europe, are inexplicable on the theory of creation. We can not -maintain that such species have been created alike, in correspondence -with the nearly similar physical conditions of the areas; for, if we -compare, for instance, certain parts of South America with parts of -South Africa or Australia, we see countries closely similar in all -their physical conditions, with their inhabitants utterly dissimilar. - - -CAUSES OF A GLACIAL CLIMATE. - - [Page 336.] - -Mr. Croll, in a series of admirable memoirs, has attempted to show -that a glacial condition of climate is the result of various physical -causes, brought into operation by an increase in the eccentricity of -the earth’s orbit. All these causes tend toward the same end; but the -most powerful appears to be the indirect influence of the eccentricity -of the orbit upon oceanic currents. According to Mr. Croll, cold -periods regularly recur every ten to fifteen thousand years; and these -at long intervals are extremely severe, owing to certain contingencies, -of which the most important, as Sir C. Lyell has shown, is the relative -position of the land and water. Mr. Croll believes that the last great -Glacial period occurred about two hundred and forty thousand years ago, -and endured with slight alterations of climate for about one hundred -and sixty thousand years. With respect to more ancient Glacial periods, -several geologists are convinced from direct evidence that such -occurred during the Miocene and Eocene formations, not to mention still -more ancient formations. But the most important result for us, arrived -at by Mr. Croll, is that, whenever the northern hemisphere passes -through a cold period, the temperature of the southern hemisphere is -actually raised, with the winters rendered much milder, chiefly through -changes in the direction of the ocean-currents. So conversely it will -be with the northern hemisphere, while the southern passes through a -glacial period. This conclusion throws so much light on geographical -distribution that I am strongly inclined to trust in it. - - -DIFFICULTIES NOT YET REMOVED. - - [Page 341.] - -I am far from supposing that all the difficulties in regard to the -distribution and affinities of the identical and allied species, which -now live so widely separated in the north and south, and sometimes on -the intermediate mountain-ranges, are removed on the views above given. -The exact lines of migration can not be indicated. We can not say why -certain species and not others have migrated; why certain species have -been modified and have given rise to new forms, while others have -remained unaltered. We can not hope to explain such facts, until we can -say why one species and not another becomes naturalized by man’s agency -in a foreign land; why one species ranges twice or thrice as far, and -is twice or thrice as common, as another species within their own homes. - -Various special difficulties also remain to be solved; for instance, -the occurrence, as shown by Dr. Hooker, of the same plants at points -so enormously remote as Kerguelen Land, New Zealand, and Fuegia; but -icebergs, as suggested by Lyell, may have been concerned in their -dispersal. The existence at these and other distant points of the -southern hemisphere of species which, though distinct, belong to genera -exclusively confined to the south, is a more remarkable case. Some of -these species are so distinct that we can not suppose that there has -been time since the commencement of the last Glacial period for their -migration and subsequent modification to the necessary degree. The -facts seem to indicate that distinct species belonging to the same -genera have migrated in radiating lines from a common center; and I am -inclined to look in the southern, as in the northern hemisphere, to a -former and warmer period, before the commencement of the last Glacial -period, when the Antarctic lands, now covered with ice, supported a -highly peculiar and isolated flora. It may be suspected that, before -this flora was exterminated during the last Glacial epoch, a few forms -had been already widely dispersed to various points of the southern -hemisphere by occasional means of transport, and by the aid, as -halting-places, of now sunken islands. Thus the southern shores of -America, Australia, and New Zealand, may have become slightly tinted by -the same peculiar forms of life. - - -IDENTITY OF THE SPECIES OF ISLANDS WITH THOSE OF THE MAINLAND EXPLAINED -ONLY BY THIS THEORY. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 353.] - -The most striking and important fact for us is the affinity of the -species which inhabit islands to those of the nearest mainland, -without being actually the same. Numerous instances could be given. -The Galapagos Archipelago, situated under the equator, lies at the -distance of between five hundred and six hundred miles from the shores -of South America. Here almost every product of the land and of the -water bears the unmistakable stamp of the American Continent. There are -twenty-six land-birds; of these, twenty-one or perhaps twenty-three -are ranked as distinct species, and would commonly be assumed to have -been here created; yet the close affinity of most of these birds to -American species is manifest in every character, in their habits, -gestures, and tones of voice. So it is with the other animals, and -with a large proportion of the plants, as shown by Dr. Hooker in -his admirable Flora of this archipelago. The naturalist, looking at -the inhabitants of these volcanic islands in the Pacific, distant -several hundred miles from the continent, feels that he is standing -on American land. Why should this be so? why should the species -which are supposed to have been created in the Galapagos Archipelago, -and nowhere else, bear so plainly the stamp of affinity to those -created in America? There is nothing in the conditions of life, in the -geological nature of the islands, in their height or climate, or in -the proportions in which the several classes are associated together, -which closely resembles the conditions of the South American coast; -in fact, there is a considerable dissimilarity in all these respects. -On the other hand, there is a considerable degree of resemblance in -the volcanic nature of the soil, in the climate, height, and size of -the islands, between the Galapagos and Cape de Verd Archipelagos; -but what an entire and absolute difference in their inhabitants! The -inhabitants of the Cape de Verd Islands are related to those of Africa, -like those of the Galapagos to America. Facts such as these admit of -no sort of explanation on the ordinary view of independent creation; -whereas, on the view here maintained, it is obvious that the Galapagos -Islands would be likely to receive colonists from America, whether -by occasional means of transport or (though I do not believe in this -doctrine) by formerly continuous land, and the Cape de Verd Islands -from Africa; such colonists would be liable to modification, the -principle of inheritance still betraying their original birthplace. - -Many analogous facts could be given: indeed, it is an almost universal -rule that the endemic productions of islands are related to those of -the nearest continent, or of the nearest large island. The exceptions -are few, and most of them can be explained. Thus, although Kerguelen -Land stands nearer to Africa than to America, the plants are related, -and that very closely, as we know from Dr. Hooker’s account, to those -of America: but, on the view that this island has been mainly stocked -by seeds brought with earth and stones on icebergs, drifted by the -prevailing currents, this anomaly disappears. New Zealand in its -endemic plants is much more closely related to Australia, the nearest -mainland, than to any other region: and this is what might have been -expected; but it is also plainly related to South America, which, -although the next nearest continent, is so enormously remote that the -fact becomes an anomaly. But this difficulty partially disappears on -the view that New Zealand, South America, and the other southern lands -have been stocked in part from a nearly intermediate though distant -point, namely, from the Antarctic islands, when they were clothed with -vegetation, during a warmer tertiary period, before the commencement -of the last Glacial period. The affinity, which, though feeble, I am -assured by Dr. Hooker is real, between the flora of the southwestern -corner of Australia and of the Cape of Good Hope, is a far more -remarkable case; but this affinity is confined to the plants, and will, -no doubt, some day be explained. - - - - -VII. - -EVIDENCE OF THE DESCENT OF MAN FROM SOME LOWER FORM. - - - [The Descent - of Man, - page 5.] - -He who wishes to decide whether man is the modified descendant of some -pre-existing form would probably first inquire whether man varies, -however slightly, in bodily structure and in mental faculties; and, -if so, whether the variations are transmitted to his offspring in -accordance with the laws which prevail with the lower animals. Again, -are the variations the result, as far as our ignorance permits us -to judge, of the same general causes, and are they governed by the -same general laws, as in the case of other organisms; for instance, -by correlation, the inherited effects of use and disuse, etc.? Is -man subject to similar malconformations, the result of arrested -development, of reduplication of parts, etc., and does he display -in any of his anomalies reversion to some former and ancient type -of structure? It might also naturally be inquired whether man, like -so many other animals, has given rise to varieties and sub-races, -differing but slightly from each other, or to races differing so much -that they must be classed as doubtful species. How are such races -distributed over the world; and how, when crossed, do they react on -each other in the first and succeeding generations? And so with many -other points. - -The inquirer would next come to the important point whether man -tends to increase at so rapid a rate as to lead to occasional severe -struggles for existence; and consequently to beneficial variations, -whether in body or mind, being preserved, and injurious ones -eliminated. Do the races or species of men, whichever term may be -applied, encroach on and replace one another, so that some finally -become extinct? We shall see that all these questions, as indeed -is obvious in respect to most of them, must be answered in the -affirmative, in the same manner as with the lower animals. - - -POINTS OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN MAN AND THE OTHER ANIMALS. - - [The Descent - of Man, - page 6.] - -It is notorious that man is constructed on the same general type or -model as other mammals. All the bones in his skeleton can be compared -with corresponding bones in a monkey, bat, or seal. So it is with his -muscles, nerves, blood-vessels, and internal viscera. The brain, the -most important of all the organs, follows the same law, as shown by -Huxley and other anatomists. Bischoff, who is a hostile witness, admits -that every chief fissure and fold in the brain of man has its analogy -in that of the orang; but he adds that at no period of development do -their brains perfectly agree; nor could perfect agreement be expected, -for otherwise their mental powers would have been the same. - - * * * * * - -Man is liable to receive from the lower animals, and to communicate -to them, certain diseases, as hydrophobia, variola, the glanders, -syphilis, cholera, herpes, etc.; and this fact proves the close -similarity of their tissues and blood, both in minute structure and -composition, far more plainly than does their comparison under the -best microscope, or by the aid of the best chemical analysis. Monkeys -are liable to many of the same non-contagious diseases as we are; thus -Rengger, who carefully observed for a long time the _Cebus Azaræ_ in -its native land, found it liable to catarrh, with the usual symptoms, -and which, when often recurrent, led to consumption. These monkeys -suffered also from apoplexy, inflammation of the bowels, and cataract -in the eye. The younger ones when shedding their milk-teeth often died -from fever. Medicines produced the same effect on them as on us. Many -kinds of monkeys have a strong taste for tea, coffee, and spirituous -liquors: they will also, as I have myself seen, smoke tobacco with -pleasure. Brehm asserts that the natives of Northeastern Africa catch -the wild baboons by exposing vessels with strong beer, by which they -are made drunk. He has seen some of these animals, which he kept in -confinement, in this state; and he gives a laughable account of their -behavior and strange grimaces. On the following morning they were very -cross and dismal; they held their aching heads with both hands, and -wore a most pitiable expression: when beer or wine was offered them, -they turned away with disgust, but relished the juice of lemons. An -American monkey, an Ateles, after getting drunk on brandy, would never -touch it again, and thus was wiser than many men. These trifling facts -prove how similar the nerves of taste must be in monkeys and man, and -how similarly their whole nervous system is affected. - -Man is infested with internal parasites, sometimes causing fatal -effects; and is plagued by external parasites, all of which belong to -the same genera or families as those infesting other mammals, and in -the case of scabies to the same species. Man is subject, like other -mammals, birds, and even insects, to that mysterious law which causes -certain normal processes, such as gestation, as well as the maturation -and duration of various diseases, to follow lunar periods. His wounds -are repaired by the same process of healing; and the stumps left after -the amputation of his limbs, especially during an early embryonic -period, occasionally possess some power of regeneration, as in the -lowest animals. - - * * * * * - - [Page 9.] - -Man is developed from an ovule, about the 125th of an inch in diameter, -which differs in no respect from the ovules of other animals. The -embryo itself at a very early period can hardly be distinguished -from that of other members of the vertebrate kingdom. At this period -the arteries run in arch-like branches, as if to carry the blood to -branchiæ which are not present in the higher vertebrata, though the -slits on the side of the neck still remain, marking their former -position. At a somewhat later period, when the extremities are -developed, “the feet of lizards and mammals,” as the illustrious Von -Baer remarks, “the wings and feet of birds, no less than the hands -and feet of man, all arise from the same fundamental form.” It is, -says Professor Huxley, “quite in the later stages of development that -the young human being presents marked differences from the young ape, -while the latter departs as much from the dog in its developments as -the man does. Startling as this last assertion may appear to be, it is -demonstrably true.” - - -THE FACTS OF EMBRYOLOGY AND THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 386.] - -This is one of the most important subjects (embryology) in the whole -round of natural history. The metamorphoses of insects, with which -every one is familiar, are generally effected abruptly by a few -stages; but the transformations are in reality numerous and gradual, -though concealed. A certain ephemerous insect (_Chlöeon_), during its -development, molts, as shown by Sir J. Lubbock, above twenty times, -and each time undergoes a certain amount of change; and in this case -we see the act of metamorphosis performed in a primary and gradual -manner. Many insects, and especially certain crustaceans, show us what -wonderful changes of structure can be effected during development. -Such changes, however, reach their climax in the so-called alternate -generations of some of the lower animals. It is, for instance, an -astonishing fact that a delicate branching coralline, studded with -polypi and attached to a submarine rock, should produce, first by -budding and then by transverse division, a host of huge floating -jelly-fishes; and that these should produce eggs, from which are -hatched swimming animalcules, which attach themselves to rocks, and -become developed into branching corallines; and so on in an endless -cycle. The belief in the essential identity of the process of alternate -generation and of ordinary metamorphosis has been greatly strengthened -by Wagner’s discovery of the larva or maggot of a fly, namely, the -_Cecidomyia_, producing asexually other larvæ, and these others, which -finally are developed into mature males and females, propagating their -kind in the ordinary manner by eggs. - - * * * * * - - [Page 387.] - -It has been already stated that various parts in the same individual, -which are exactly alike during an early embryonic period, become widely -different and serve for widely different purposes in the adult state. -So, again, it has been shown that generally the embryos of the most -distinct species belonging to the same class are closely similar, but -become, when fully developed, widely dissimilar. A better proof of -this latter fact can not be given than the statement by Von Baer that -“the embryos of mammalia, of birds, lizards, and snakes, probably also -of chelonia, are in their earliest states exceedingly like one another, -both as a whole and in the mode of development of their parts; so much -so, in fact, that we can often distinguish the embryos only by their -size. In my possession are two little embryos in spirit, whose names -I have omitted to attach, and at present I am quite unable to say to -what class they belong. They may be lizards or small birds, or very -young mammalia, so complete is the similarity in the mode of formation -of the head and trunk in these animals. The extremities, however, are -still absent in these embryos. But, even if they had existed in the -earliest stage of their development, we should learn nothing, for the -feet of lizards and mammals, the wings and feet of birds, no less than -the hands and feet of man, all arise from the same fundamental form.” -The larvæ of most crustaceans, at corresponding stages of development, -closely resemble each other, however different the adults may become; -and so it is with very many other animals. A trace of the law of -embryonic resemblance occasionally lasts till a rather late age: thus -birds of the same genus, and of allied genera, often resemble each -other in their immature plumage; as we see in the spotted feathers in -the young of the thrush group. In the cat tribe, most of the species -when adult are striped or spotted in lines; and stripes or spots can -be plainly distinguished in the whelp of the lion and the puma. We -occasionally though rarely see something of the same kind in plants; -thus the first leaves of the ulex or furze, and the first leaves of the -phyllodineous acacias, are pinnate or divided like the ordinary leaves -of the _Leguminosæ_. - - -TWO PRINCIPLES THAT EXPLAIN THE FACTS. - - [Page 390.] - -How, then, can we explain these several facts in embryology--namely, -the very general, though not universal, difference in structure between -the embryo and the adult; the various parts in the same individual -embryo, which ultimately become very unlike and serve for diverse -purposes, being at an early period of growth alike; the common, but -not invariable, resemblance between the embryos or larvæ of the most -distinct species in the same class; the embryo often retaining, while -within the egg or womb, structures which are of no service to it, -either at that or at a later period of life; on the other hand, larvæ, -which have to provide for their own wants, being perfectly adapted to -the surrounding conditions; and, lastly, the fact of certain larvæ -standing higher in the scale of organization than the mature animal -into which they are developed? I believe that all these facts can be -explained as follows: - -It is commonly assumed, perhaps from monstrosities affecting the -embryo at a very early period, that slight variations or individual -differences necessarily appear at an equally early period. We have -little evidence on this head, but what we have certainly points the -other way; for it is notorious that breeders of cattle, horses, and -various fancy animals, can not positively tell, until some time after -birth, what will be the merits or demerits of their young animals. -We see this plainly in our own children; we can not tell whether -a child will be tall or short, or what its precise features will -be. The question is not, at what period of life each variation may -have been caused, but at what period the effects are displayed. The -cause may have acted, and I believe often has acted, on one or both -parents before the act of generation. It deserves notice that it is -of no importance to a very young animal, as long as it remains in -its mother’s womb or in the egg, or as long as it is nourished and -protected by its parent, whether most of its characters are acquired a -little earlier or later in life. It would not signify, for instance, to -a bird which obtained its food by having a much-curved beak whether or -not while young it possessed a beak of this shape, as long as it was -fed by its parents. - -I have stated in the first chapter that at whatever age a variation -first appears in the parent, it tends to reappear at a corresponding -age in the offspring. Certain variations can only appear at -corresponding ages; for instance, peculiarities in the caterpillar, -cocoon, or imago states of the silk-moth; or, again, in the full-grown -horns of cattle. But variations, which, for all that we can see, might -have first appeared either earlier or later in life, likewise tend to -reappear at a corresponding age in the offspring and parent. I am far -from meaning that this is invariably the case, and I could give several -exceptional cases of variations (taking the word in the largest sense) -which have supervened at an earlier age in the child than in the parent. - -These two principles, namely, that slight variations generally -appear at a not very early period of life, and are inherited at a -corresponding not early period, explain, as I believe, all the above -specified leading facts in embryology. - - -EMBRYOLOGY AGAINST ABRUPT CHANGES. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 203.] - -Unless we admit transformations as prodigious as those advocated by -Mr. Mivart, such as the sudden development of the wings of birds or -bats, or the sudden conversion of a Hipparion into a horse, hardly any -light is thrown by the belief in abrupt modifications on the deficiency -of connecting links in our geological formations. But against the -belief in such abrupt changes embryology enters a strong protest. It -is notorious that the wings of birds and bats, and the legs of horses -or other quadrupeds, are undistinguishable at an early embryonic -period, and that they become differentiated by insensibly fine steps. -Embryological resemblances of all kinds can be accounted for, as we -shall hereafter see, by the progenitors of our existing species having -varied after early youth, and having transmitted their newly acquired -characters to their offspring at a corresponding age. The embryo -is thus left almost unaffected, and serves as a record of the past -condition of the species. Hence it is that existing species during -the early stages of their development so often resemble ancient and -extinct forms belonging to the same class. On this view of the meaning -of embryological resemblances, and indeed on any view, it is incredible -that an animal should have undergone such momentous and abrupt -transformations as those above indicated, and yet should not bear even -a trace in its embryonic condition of any sudden modification, every -detail in its structure being developed by insensibly fine steps. - -He who believes that some ancient form was transformed suddenly through -an internal force or tendency into, for instance, one furnished with -wings, will be almost compelled to assume, in opposition to all -analogy, that many individuals varied simultaneously. It can not be -denied that such abrupt and great changes of structure are widely -different from those which most species apparently have undergone. He -will further be compelled to believe that many structures beautifully -adapted to all the other parts of the same creature and to the -surrounding conditions, have been suddenly produced; and of such -complex and wonderful coadaptations he will not be able to assign a -shadow of an explanation. He will be forced to admit that these great -and sudden transformations have left no trace of their action on the -embryo. To admit all this is, as it seems to me, to enter into the -realms of miracle, and to leave those of science. - - -RUDIMENTARY ORGANS ONLY TO BE EXPLAINED ON THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT. - - [Descent of - Man, page 11.] - -Not one of the higher animals can be named which does not bear some -part in a rudimentary condition; and man forms no exception to the -rule. Rudimentary organs must be distinguished from those that are -nascent, though in some cases the distinction is not easy. The former -are either absolutely useless, such as the mammæ of male quadrupeds, -or the incisor teeth of ruminants which never cut through the gums; or -they are of such slight service to their present possessors that we -can hardly suppose that they were developed under the conditions which -now exist. Organs in this latter state are not strictly rudimentary, -but they are tending in this direction. Nascent organs, on the other -hand, though not fully developed, are of high service to their -possessors, and are capable of further development. Rudimentary organs -are eminently variable; and this is partly intelligible, as they are -useless, or nearly useless, and consequently are no longer subjected -to natural selection. They often become wholly suppressed. When this -occurs, they are nevertheless liable to occasional reappearance through -reversion--a circumstance well worthy of attention. - - * * * * * - - [Page 12.] - -Rudiments of various muscles have been observed in many parts of the -human body; and not a few muscles which are regularly present in some -of the lower animals can occasionally be detected in man in a greatly -reduced condition. Every one must have noticed the power which many -animals, especially horses, possess of moving or twitching their skin; -and this is effected by the _panniculus carnosus_. Remnants of this -muscle in an efficient state are found in various parts of our bodies: -for instance, the muscle on the forehead, by which the eyebrows are -raised. - - * * * * * - - [Page 13.] - -Some few persons have the power of contracting the superficial muscles -on their scalps; and these muscles are in a variable and partially -rudimentary condition. M. A. de Candolle has communicated to me a -curious instance of the long-continued persistence or inheritance of -this power, as well as of its unusual development. He knows a family in -which one member, the present head of the family, could, when a youth, -pitch several heavy books from his head by the movement of the scalp -alone; and he won wagers by performing this feat. His father, uncle, -grandfather, and his three children possess the same power to the same -unusual degree. This family became divided eight generations ago into -two branches; so that the head of the above-mentioned branch is cousin -in the seventh degree to the head of the other branch. This distant -cousin resides in another part of France; and, on being asked whether -he possessed the same faculty, immediately exhibited his power. This -case offers a good illustration how persistent may be the transmission -of an absolutely useless faculty, probably derived from our remote -semi-human progenitors, since many monkeys have, and frequently use, -the power of largely moving their scalps up and down. - - * * * * * - - [Page 23.] - -It is well known that in the males of all mammals, including man, -rudimentary mammæ exist. These in several instances have become well -developed, and have yielded a copious supply of milk. Their essential -identity in the two sexes is likewise shown by their occasional -sympathetic enlargement in both during an attack of the measles. - - -“NO OTHER EXPLANATION HAS EVER BEEN GIVEN.” - - [Page 24.] - -The homological construction of the whole frame in the members of the -same class is intelligible, if we admit their descent from a common -progenitor, together with their subsequent adaptation to diversified -conditions. On any other view, the similarity of pattern between the -hand of a man or monkey, the foot of a horse, the flipper of a seal, -the wing of a bat, etc., is utterly inexplicable. It is no scientific -explanation to assert that they have all been formed on the same -ideal plan. With respect to development, we can clearly understand, -on the principle of variations supervening at a rather late embryonic -period, and being inherited at a corresponding period, how it is -that the embryos of wonderfully different forms should still retain, -more or less perfectly, the structure of their common progenitor. No -other explanation has ever been given of the marvelous fact that the -embryos of a man, dog, seal, bat, reptile, etc., can at first hardly be -distinguished from each other. In order to understand the existence of -rudimentary organs, we have only to suppose that a former progenitor -possessed the parts in question in a perfect state, and that under -changed habits of life they became greatly reduced, either from simple -disuse or through the natural selection of those individuals which were -least encumbered with a superfluous part, aided by the other means -previously indicated. - -Thus we can understand how it has come to pass that man and all other -vertebrate animals have been constructed on the same general model, why -they pass through the same early stages of development, and why they -retain certain rudiments in common. Consequently we ought frankly to -admit their community of descent; to take any other view is to admit -that our own structure, and that of all the animals around us, is a -mere snare laid to entrap our judgment. This conclusion is greatly -strengthened, if we look to the members of the whole animal series, and -consider the evidence derived from their affinities or classification, -their geographical distribution, and geological succession. It is only -our natural prejudice and that arrogance which made our forefathers -declare that they were descended from demi-gods which leads us to demur -to this conclusion. But the time will before long come when it will be -thought wonderful that naturalists, who were well acquainted with the -comparative structure and development of man and other mammals, should -have believed that each was the work of a separate act of creation. - - -UNITY OF TYPE EXPLAINED BY RELATIONSHIP. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 382.] - -We have seen that the members of the same class, independently of -their habits of life, resemble each other in the general plan of their -organization. This resemblance is often expressed by the term “unity -of type”; or by saying that the several parts and organs in the -different species of the class are homologous. The whole subject is -included under the general term of Morphology. This is one of the most -interesting departments of natural history, and may almost be said to -be its very soul. What can be more curious than that the hand of a man, -formed for grasping, that of a mole for digging, the leg of the horse, -the paddle of the porpoise, and the wing of the bat, should all be -constructed on the same pattern, and should include similar bones, in -the same relative positions? How curious it is, to give a subordinate -though striking instance, that the hind-feet of the kangaroo, which -are so well fitted for bounding over the open plains, those of the -climbing, leaf-eating koala, equally well fitted for grasping the -branches of trees, those of the ground-dwelling, insect or root eating, -bandicoots, and those of some other Australian marsupials, should all -be constructed on the same extraordinary type, namely, with the bones -of the second and third digits extremely slender and enveloped within -the same skin, so that they appear like a single toe furnished with -two claws! Notwithstanding this similarity of pattern, it is obvious -that the hind-feet of these several animals are used for as widely -different purposes as it is possible to conceive. The case is rendered -all the more striking by the American opossums, which follow nearly -the same habits of life as some of their Australian relatives, having -feet constructed on the ordinary plan. Professor Flower, from whom -these statements are taken, remarks in conclusion, “We may call this -conformity to type, without getting much nearer to an explanation of -the phenomenon”; and he then adds, “but is it not powerfully suggestive -of true relationship, of inheritance from a common ancestor?” - - -INEXPLICABLE ON THE ORDINARY VIEW OF CREATION. - - [Page 384.] - -How inexplicable are the cases of serial homologies on the ordinary -view of creation! Why should the brain be inclosed in a box composed -of such numerous and such extraordinarily shaped pieces of bone, -apparently representing vertebræ? As Owen has remarked, the benefit -derived from the yielding of the separate pieces in the act of -parturition by mammals will by no means explain the same construction -in the skulls of birds and reptiles. Why should similar bones have been -created to form the wing and the leg of a bat, used as they are for -such totally different purposes, namely, flying and walking? Why should -one crustacean, which has an extremely complex mouth formed of many -parts, consequently always have fewer legs; or conversely, those with -many legs have simpler mouths? Why should the sepals, petals, stamens, -and pistils, in each flower, though fitted for such distinct purposes, -be all constructed on the same pattern? - -On the theory of natural selection, we can, to a certain extent, -answer these questions. We need not here consider how the bodies of -some animals first became divided into a series of segments, or how -they became divided into right and left sides, with corresponding -organs, for such questions are almost beyond investigation. It is, -however, probable that some serial structures are the result of cells -multiplying by division, entailing the multiplication of the parts -developed from such cells. It must suffice for our purpose to bear -in mind that an indefinite repetition of the same part or organ is -the common characteristic, as Owen has remarked, of all low or little -specialized forms; therefore the unknown progenitor of the Vertebrata -probably possessed many vertebræ; the unknown progenitor of the -Articulata, many segments; and the unknown progenitor of flowering -plants, many leaves arranged in one or more spires. We have also -formerly seen that parts many times repeated are eminently liable to -vary, not only in number, but in form. Consequently such parts being -already present in considerable numbers, and being highly variable, -would naturally afford the materials for adaptation to the most -different purposes; yet they would generally retain, through the -force of inheritance, plain traces of their original or fundamental -resemblance. They would retain this resemblance all the more, as the -variations, which afforded the basis for their subsequent modification -through natural selection, would tend from the first to be similar, the -parts being at an early stage of growth alike, and being subjected to -nearly the same conditions. Such parts, whether more or less modified, -unless their common origin became wholly obscured, would be serially -homologous. - - -DESCENT WITH MODIFICATION THE ONLY EXPLANATION. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 400.] - -In works on natural history, rudimentary organs are generally said -to have been created “for the sake of symmetry,” or in order “to -complete the scheme of Nature.” But this is not an explanation, merely -a restatement of the fact. Nor is it consistent with itself: thus the -boa-constrictor has rudiments of hind-limbs and of a pelvis, and if it -be said that these bones have been retained “to complete the scheme of -Nature,” why, as Professor Weismann asks, have they not been retained -by other snakes, which do not possess even a vestige of these same -bones? What would be thought of an astronomer who maintained that the -satellites revolve in elliptic courses round their planets “for the -sake of symmetry,” because the planets thus revolve round the sun? An -eminent physiologist accounts for the presence of rudimentary organs, -by supposing that they serve to excrete matter in excess, or matter -injurious to the system; but can we suppose that the minute papilla, -which often represents the pistil in male flowers, and which is formed -of mere cellular tissue, can thus act? Can we suppose that rudimentary -teeth, which are subsequently absorbed, are beneficial to the rapidly -growing embryonic calf by removing matter so precious as phosphate of -lime? When a man’s fingers have been amputated, imperfect nails have -been known to appear on the stumps, and I could as soon believe that -these vestiges of nails are developed in order to excrete horny matter, -as that the rudimentary nails on the fin of the manatee have been -developed for this same purpose. - -On the view of descent with modification, the origin of rudimentary -organs is comparatively simple; and we can understand to a large extent -the laws governing their imperfect development. - - -THE HISTORY OF LIFE ON THE THEORY OF DESCENT WITH MODIFICATION. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 424.] - -Organs in a rudimentary condition plainly show that an early progenitor -had the organ in a fully-developed condition; and this in some cases -implies an enormous amount of modification in the descendants. -Throughout whole classes various structures are formed on the same -pattern, and at a very early age the embryos closely resemble each -other. Therefore I can not doubt that the theory of descent with -modification embraces all the members of the same great class or -kingdom. I believe that animals are descended from at most only four -or five progenitors, and plants from an equal or lesser number. - -Analogy would lead me one step further, namely, to the belief that all -animals and plants are descended from some one prototype. But analogy -may be a deceitful guide. Nevertheless, all living things have much -in common, in their chemical composition, their cellular structure, -their laws of growth, and their liability to injurious influences. -We see this even in so trifling a fact as that the same poison often -similarly affects plants and animals; or that the poison secreted by -the gall-fly produces monstrous growths on the wild-rose or oak-tree. -With all organic beings, excepting, perhaps, some of the very lowest, -sexual reproduction seems to be essentially similar. With all, as far -as is at present known, the germinal vesicle is the same; so that -all organisms start from a common origin. If we look even to the two -main divisions--namely, to the animal and vegetable kingdoms--certain -low forms are so far intermediate in character that naturalists have -disputed to which kingdom they should be referred. As Professor Asa -Gray has remarked, “the spores and other reproductive bodies of many of -the lower algæ may claim to have first a characteristically animal, and -then an unequivocally vegetable existence.” Therefore, on the principle -of natural selection with divergence of character, it does not seem -incredible that, from some such low and intermediate form, both animals -and plants may have been developed; and, if we admit this, we must -likewise admit that all the organic beings which have ever lived on -this earth may be descended from some one primordial form. But this -inference is chiefly grounded on analogy, and it is immaterial whether -or not it be accepted. - - * * * * * - - [Page 420.] - -On the view of each organism with all its separate parts having been -specially created, how utterly inexplicable is it that organs bearing -the plain stamp of inutility, such as the teeth in the embryonic calf, -or the shriveled wings under the soldered wing-covers of many beetles, -should so frequently occur! Nature may be said to have taken pains to -reveal her scheme of modification, by means of rudimentary organs, -of embryological and homologous structures, but we are too blind to -understand her meaning. - - -LETTERS RETAINED IN THE SPELLING BUT USELESS IN PRONUNCIATION. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 401.] - -There remains, however, this difficulty. After an organ has ceased -being used, and has become in consequence much reduced, how can it be -still further reduced in size until the merest vestige is left; and -how can it be finally quite obliterated? It is scarcely possible that -disuse can go on producing any further effect after the organ has -once been rendered functionless. Some additional explanation is here -requisite which I can not give. If, for instance, it could be proved -that every part of the organization tends to vary in a greater degree -toward diminution than toward augmentation of size, then we should -be able to understand how an organ which has become useless would -be rendered, independently of the effects of disuse, rudimentary, -and would at last be wholly suppressed; for the variations toward -diminished size would no longer be checked by natural selection. The -principle of the economy of growth, explained in a former chapter, by -which the materials forming any part, if not useful to the possessor, -are saved as far as is possible, will perhaps come into play in -rendering a useless part rudimentary. But this principle will almost -necessarily be confined to the earlier stages of the process of -reduction; for we can not suppose that a minute papilla, for instance, -representing in a male flower the pistil of the female flower, and -formed merely of cellular tissue, could be further reduced or absorbed -for the sake of economizing nutriment. - -Finally, as rudimentary organs, by whatever steps they may have been -degraded into their present useless condition, are the record of a -former state of things, and have been retained solely through the -power of inheritance, we can understand, on the genealogical view of -classification, how it is that systematists, in placing organisms in -their proper places in the natural system, have often found rudimentary -parts as useful as, or even sometimes more useful than, parts of high -physiological importance. Rudimentary organs may be compared with the -letters in a word, still retained in the spelling, but become useless -in the pronunciation, but which serve as a clew for its derivation. -On the view of descent with modification, we may conclude that the -existence of organs in a rudimentary, imperfect, and useless condition, -or quite aborted, far from presenting a strange difficulty, as they -assuredly do on the old doctrine of creation, might even have been -anticipated in accordance with the views here explained. - - -MAN’S DEFICIENCY IN TAIL. - - [Descent of - Man, page 58.] - -According to a popular impression, the absence of a tail is eminently -distinctive of man; but, as those apes which come nearest to him are -destitute of this organ, its disappearance does not relate exclusively -to man. The tail often differs remarkably in length within the same -genus: thus in some species of _Macacus_ it is longer than the whole -body, and is formed of twenty-four vertebræ; in others it consists of -a scarcely visible stump, containing only three or four vertebræ. In -some kinds of baboons there are twenty-five, while in the mandrill -there are ten very small stunted caudal vertebræ, or, according to -Cuvier, sometimes only five. The tail, whether it be long or short, -almost always tapers toward the end; and this, I presume, results from -the atrophy of the terminal muscles, together with their arteries -and nerves, through disuse, leading to the atrophy of the terminal -bones. But no explanation can at present be given of the great -diversity which often occurs in its length. Here, however, we are -more specially concerned with the complete external disappearance of -the tail. Professor Broca has recently shown that the tail in all -quadrupeds consists of two portions, generally separated abruptly -from each other; the basal portion consists of vertebræ, more or -less perfectly channeled and furnished with apophyses like ordinary -vertebræ; whereas those of the terminal portion are not channeled, are -almost smooth, and scarcely resemble true vertebræ. A tail, though not -externally visible, is really present in man and the anthropomorphous -apes, and is constructed on exactly the same pattern in both. In the -terminal portion the vertebræ, constituting the _os coccyx_, are quite -rudimentary, being much reduced in size and number. In the basal -portion, the vertebræ are likewise few, are united firmly together, -and are arrested in development; but they have been rendered much -broader and flatter than the corresponding vertebræ in the tails of -other animals; they constitute what Broca calls the accessory sacral -vertebræ. These are of functional importance by supporting certain -internal parts and in other ways; and their modification is directly -connected with the erect or semi-erect attitude of man and the -anthropomorphous apes. This conclusion is the more trustworthy, as -Broca formerly held a different view, which he has now abandoned. The -modification, therefore, of the basal caudal vertebræ in man and the -higher apes may have been effected, directly or indirectly, through -natural selection. - -But what are we to say about the rudimentary and variable vertebræ of -the terminal portion of the tail, forming the _os coccyx_? A notion -which has often been, and will no doubt again be ridiculed, namely, -that friction has had something to do with the disappearance of the -external portion of the tail, is not so ridiculous as it at first -appears. Dr. Anderson states that the extremely short tail of _Macacus -brunneus_ is formed of eleven vertebræ, including the imbedded basal -ones. The extremity is tendinous and contains no vertebræ; this is -succeeded by five rudimentary ones, so minute that together they are -only one line and a half in length, and these are permanently bent to -one side in the shape of a hook. The free part of the tail, only a -little above an inch in length, includes only four more small vertebræ. -This short tail is carried erect; but about a quarter of its total -length is doubled on to itself to the left; and this terminal part, -which includes the hook-like portion, serves “to fill up the interspace -between the upper divergent portion of the callosities”; so that the -animal sits on it, and thus renders it rough and callous. - - -POINTS OF RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN MAN AND MONKEY. - - [Descent of - Man, page 150.] - -As small unimportant points of resemblance between man and the -_Quadrumana_ are not commonly noticed in systematic works, and as, -when numerous, they clearly reveal our relationship, I will specify a -few such points. The relative position of our features is manifestly -the same; and the various emotions are displayed by nearly similar -movements of the muscles and skin, chiefly above the eyebrows and round -the mouth. Some few expressions are, indeed, almost the same, as in -the weeping of certain kinds of monkeys and in the laughing noise made -by others, during which the corners of the mouth are drawn backward, -and the lower eyelids wrinkled. The external ears are curiously alike. -In man the nose is much more prominent than in most monkeys; but we -may trace the commencement of an aquiline curvature in the nose of the -Hoolock Gibbon; and this in the _Semnopithecus nasica_ is carried to a -ridiculous extreme. - -The faces of many monkeys are ornamented with beards, whiskers, or -mustaches. The hair on the head grows to a great length in some species -of Semnopithecus; and in the Bonnet monkey (_Macacus radiatus_) it -radiates from a point on the crown, with a parting down the middle. -It is commonly said that the forehead gives to man his noble and -intellectual appearance; but the thick hair on the head of the Bonnet -monkey terminates downward abruptly, and is succeeded by hair so short -and fine that at a little distance the forehead, with the exception of -the eyebrows, appears quite naked. It has been erroneously asserted -that eyebrows are not present in any monkey. In the species just -named the degree of nakedness of the forehead differs in different -individuals; and Eschricht states that in our children the limit -between the hairy scalp and the naked forehead is sometimes not well -defined; so that here we seem to have a trifling case of reversion to a -progenitor, in whom the forehead had not as yet become quite naked. - -It is well known that the hair on our arms tends to converge from -above and below to a point at the elbow. This curious arrangement, so -unlike that in most of the lower mammals, is common to the gorilla, -chimpanzee, orang, some species of Hylobates, and even to some few -American monkeys. But in _Hylobates agilis_ the hair on the fore-arm -is directed downward or toward the wrist in the ordinary manner; -and in _H. lar_ it is nearly erect, with only a very slight forward -inclination; so that in this latter species it is in a transitional -state. It can hardly be doubted that with most mammals the thickness -of the hair on the back and its direction are adapted to throw off the -rain; even the transverse hairs on the forelegs of a dog may serve for -this end when he is coiled up asleep. Mr. Wallace, who has carefully -studied the habits of the orang, remarks that the convergence of the -hair toward the elbow on the arms of the orang may be explained as -serving to throw off the rain, for this animal during rainy weather -sits with its arms bent, and with the hands clasped round a branch or -over its head. According to Livingstone, the gorilla also “sits in -pelting rain with his hands over his head.” If the above explanation -is correct, as seems probable, the direction of the hair on our own -arms offers a curious record of our former state; for no one supposes -that it is now of any use in throwing off the rain; nor, in our present -erect condition, is it properly directed for this purpose. - - * * * * * - - [Page 152.] - -It must not be supposed that the resemblances between man and certain -apes in the above and many other points--such as in having a naked -forehead, long tresses on the head, etc.--are all necessarily the -result of unbroken inheritance from a common progenitor, or of -subsequent reversion. Many of these resemblances are more probably due -to analogous variation, which follows, as I have elsewhere attempted -to show, from co-descended organisms having a similar constitution, and -having been acted on by like causes inducing similar modifications. -With respect to the similar direction of the hair on the fore-arms of -man and certain monkeys, as this character is common to almost all the -anthropomorphous apes, it may probably be attributed to inheritance; -but this is not certain, as some very distinct American monkeys are -thus characterized. - - -VARIABILITY OF MAN. - - [Descent of - Man, page 26.] - -It is manifest that man is now subject to much variability. No two -individuals of the same race are quite alike. We may compare millions -of faces, and each will be distinct. There is an equally great amount -of diversity in the proportions and dimensions of the various parts -of the body, the length of the legs being one of the most variable -points. Although in some quarters of the world an elongated skull, -and in other quarters a short skull prevails, yet there is great -diversity of shape even within the limits of the same race, as with the -aborigines of America and South Australia--the latter a race “probably -as pure and homogeneous in blood, customs, and language as any in -existence”--and even with the inhabitants of so confined an area as the -Sandwich Islands. An eminent dentist assures me that there is nearly -as much diversity in the teeth as in the features. The chief arteries -so frequently run in abnormal courses, that it has been found useful -for surgical purposes to calculate from 1,040 corpses how often each -course prevails. The muscles are eminently variable: thus those of the -foot were found by Professor Turner not to be strictly alike in any two -out of fifty bodies; and in some the deviations were considerable. -He adds that the power of performing the appropriate movements must -have been modified in accordance with the several deviations. Mr. -J. Wood has recorded the occurrence of 295 muscular variations in -thirty-six subjects, and in another set of the same number no less -than 558 variations, those occurring on both sides of the body being -only reckoned as one. In the last set, not one body out of the -thirty-six was “found totally wanting in departures from the standard -descriptions of the muscular system given in anatomical text-books.” A -single body presented the extraordinary number of twenty-five distinct -abnormalities. The same muscle sometimes varies in many ways: thus -Professor Macalister describes no less than twenty distinct variations -in the _palmaris accessorius_. - - -CAUSES OF VARIABILITY IN DOMESTICATED MAN. - - [Descent of - Man, page 28.] - -With respect to the causes of variability, we are in all cases very -ignorant; but we can see that in man, as in the lower animals, they -stand in some relation to the conditions to which each species has been -exposed during several generations. Domesticated animals vary more -than those in a state of nature; and this is apparently due to the -diversified and changing nature of the conditions to which they have -been subjected. In this respect the different races of man resemble -domesticated animals, and so do the individuals of the same race, -when inhabiting a very wide area, like that of America. We see the -influence of diversified conditions in the more civilized nations; -for the members belonging to different grades of rank, and following -different occupations, present a greater range of character than do -the members of barbarous nations. But the uniformity of savages has -often been exaggerated, and in some cases can hardly be said to exist. -It is, nevertheless, an error to speak of man, even if we look only to -the conditions to which he has been exposed, as “far more domesticated” -than any other animal. Some savage races, such as the Australians, are -not exposed to more diversified conditions than are many species which -have a wide range. In another and much more important respect, man -differs widely from any strictly domesticated animal; for his breeding -has never long been controlled, either by methodical or unconscious -selection. No race or body of men has been so completely subjugated -by other men as that certain individuals should be preserved, and -thus unconsciously selected, from somehow excelling in utility to -their masters. Nor have certain male and female individuals been -intentionally picked out and matched, except in the well-known case of -the Prussian grenadiers; and in this case man obeyed, as might have -been expected, the law of methodical selection; for it is asserted -that many tall men were reared in the villages inhabited by the -grenadiers and their tall wives. In Sparta, also, a form of selection -was followed, for it was enacted that all children should be examined -shortly after birth; the well-formed and vigorous being preserved, the -others left to perish. - -If we consider all the races of man as forming a single species, -his range is enormous; but some separate races, as the Americans -and Polynesians, have very wide ranges. It is a well-known law that -widely-ranging species are much more variable than species with -restricted ranges; and the variability of man may with more truth -be compared with that of widely-ranging species than with that of -domesticated animals. - -Not only does variability appear to be induced in man and the lower -animals by the same general causes, but in both the same parts of the -body are affected in a closely analogous manner. - - -ACTION OF CHANGED CONDITIONS. - - [Page 30.] - -This is a most perplexing subject. It can not be denied that changed -conditions produce some, and occasionally a considerable, effect -on organisms of all kinds; and it seems at first probable that if -sufficient time were allowed this would be the invariable result. But I -have failed to obtain clear evidence in favor of this conclusion; and -valid reasons may be urged on the other side, at least as far as the -innumerable structures are concerned, which are adapted for special -ends. There can, however, be no doubt that changed conditions induce an -almost indefinite amount of fluctuating variability, by which the whole -organization is rendered in some degree plastic. - -In the United States, above one million soldiers, who served in the -late war, were measured, and the States in which they were born and -reared were recorded. From this astonishing number of observations it -is proved that local influences of some kind act directly on stature; -and we further learn that “the State where the physical growth has in -great measure taken place, and the State of birth, which indicates -the ancestry, seem to exert a marked influence on the stature.” For -instance, it is established that “residence in the Western States, -during the years of growth, tends to produce increase of stature.” On -the other hand, it is certain that, with sailors, their life delays -growth, as shown “by the great difference between the statures of -soldiers and sailors at the ages of seventeen and eighteen years.” -Mr. B. A. Gould endeavored to ascertain the nature of the influences -which thus act on stature; but he arrived only at negative results, -namely, that they did not relate to climate, the elevation of the -land, soil, nor even “in any controlling degree” to the abundance or -the need of the comforts of life. This latter conclusion is directly -opposed to that arrived at by Villermé, from the statistics of the -height of the conscripts in different parts of France. When we compare -the differences in stature between the Polynesian chiefs and the lower -orders within the same islands, or between the inhabitants of the -fertile volcanic and low barren coral islands of the same ocean, or, -again, between the Fuegians on the eastern and western shores of their -country, where the means of subsistence are very different, it is -scarcely possible to avoid the conclusion that better food and greater -comfort do influence stature. But the preceding statements show how -difficult it is to arrive at any precise result. Dr. Beddoe has lately -proved that, with the inhabitants of Britain, residence in towns and -certain occupations have a deteriorating influence on height; and he -infers that the result is to a certain extent inherited, as is likewise -the case in the United States. Dr. Beddoe further believes that, -wherever a “race attains its maximum of physical development, it rises -highest in energy and moral vigor.” - - -THE INHERITED EFFECTS OF THE INCREASED AND DIMINISHED USE OF PARTS. - - [Descent of - Man, page 32.] - -It is well known that use strengthens the muscles in the individual, -and complete disuse, or the destruction of the proper nerve, weakens -them. When the eye is destroyed, the optic nerve often becomes -atrophied. When an artery is tied, the lateral channels increase not -only in diameter, but in the thickness and strength of their coats. -When one kidney ceases to act from disease, the other increases in -size, and does double work. Bones increase not only in thickness, but -in length, from carrying a greater weight. Different occupations, -habitually followed, lead to changed proportions in various parts of -the body. Thus it was ascertained by the United States commission that -the legs of the sailors employed in the late war were longer by O·217 -of an inch than those of the soldiers, though the sailors were on an -average shorter men; while their arms were shorter by 1·09 of an inch, -and therefore, out of proportion, shorter in relation to their lesser -height. This shortness of the arms is apparently due to their greater -use, and is an unexpected result; but sailors chiefly use their arms in -pulling, and not in supporting weights. With sailors, the girth of the -neck and the depth of the instep are greater, while the circumference -of the chest, waist, and hips is less, than in soldiers. - -Whether the several foregoing modifications would become hereditary, if -the same habits of life were followed during many generations, is not -known, but it is probable. - - * * * * * - - [Page 33.] - -In infants, long before birth, the skin on the soles of the feet is -thicker than on any other part of the body; and it can hardly be -doubted that this is due to the inherited effects of pressure during a -long series of generations. - -It is familiar to every one that watchmakers and engravers are liable -to be short-sighted, while men living much out-of-doors, and especially -savages, are generally long-sighted. Short-sight and long-sight -certainly tend to be inherited. The inferiority of Europeans, in -comparison with savages, in eye-sight and in the other senses, is no -doubt the accumulated and transmitted effect of lessened use during -many generations. - - * * * * * - - [Page 35.] - -Although man may not have been much modified during the latter stages -of his existence through the increased or decreased use of parts, the -facts now given show that his liability in this respect has not been -lost; and we positively know that the same law holds good with the -lower animals. Consequently we may infer that when at a remote epoch -the progenitors of man were in a transitional state, and were changing -from quadrupeds into bipeds, natural selection would probably have been -greatly aided by the inherited effects of the increased or diminished -use of the different parts of the body. - - -REVERSION AS A FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAN. - - [Descent of - Man, page 40.] - -In man, the canine teeth are perfectly efficient instruments for -mastication. But their true canine character, as Owen remarks, “is -indicated by the conical form of the crown, which terminates in an -obtuse point, is convex outward and flat or sub-concave within, at the -base of which surface there is a feeble prominence. The conical form -is best expressed in the Melanian races, especially the Australian. -The canine is more deeply implanted, and by a stronger fang than the -incisors.” Nevertheless, this tooth no longer serves man as a special -weapon for tearing his enemies or prey; it may, therefore, as far as -its proper function is concerned, be considered as rudimentary. In -every large collection of human skulls some may be found, as Häckel -observes, with the canine teeth projecting considerably beyond the -others in the same manner as in the anthropomorphous apes, but in a -less degree. In these cases, open spaces between the teeth in the one -jaw are left for the reception of the canines of the opposite jaw. -An interspace of this kind in a Caffre skull, figured by Wagner, is -surprisingly wide. Considering how few are the ancient skulls which -have been examined, compared to recent skulls, it is an interesting -fact that in at least three cases the canines project largely; and in -the Naulette jaw they are spoken of as enormous. - -Of the anthropomorphous apes the males alone have their canines fully -developed; but in the female gorilla, and in a less degree in the -female orang, these teeth project considerably beyond the others: -therefore the fact, of which I have been assured, that women sometimes -have considerably projecting canines, is no serious objection to the -belief that their occasional great development in man is a case of -reversion to an ape-like progenitor. He who rejects with scorn the -belief that the shape of his own canines and their occasional great -development in other men are due to our early forefathers having been -provided with these formidable weapons, will probably reveal, by -sneering, the line of his descent. For, though he no longer intends, -nor has the power, to use these teeth as weapons, he will unconsciously -retract his “snarling muscles” (thus named by Sir C. Bell), so as to -expose them ready for action, like a dog prepared to fight. - -Many muscles are occasionally developed in man, which are proper to -the _Quadrumana_ or other mammals. Professor Vlacovich examined forty -male subjects, and found a muscle, called by him the ischio-pubic, -in nineteen of them; in three others there was a ligament which -represented this muscle; and in the remaining eighteen no trace of it. -In only two out of thirty female subjects was this muscle developed on -both sides, but in three others the rudimentary ligament was present. -This muscle, therefore, appears to be much more common in the male -than in the female sex; and on the belief in the descent of man from -some lower form the fact is intelligible; for it has been detected in -several of the lower animals, and in all of these it serves exclusively -to aid the male in the act of reproduction. - - * * * * * - - [Page 43.] - -That this unknown factor is reversion to a former state of existence -may be admitted as in the highest degree probable. It is quite -incredible that a man should through mere accident abnormally resemble -certain apes in no less than seven of his muscles, if there had been -no genetic connection between them. On the other hand, if man is -descended from some ape-like creature, no valid reason can be assigned -why certain muscles should not suddenly reappear after an interval -of many thousand generations, in the same manner as with horses, -asses, and mules, dark-colored stripes suddenly reappear on the legs -and shoulders, after an interval of hundreds, or more probably of -thousands, of generations. - - -REVERSION IN THE HUMAN FAMILY. - - [Animals and - Plants, vol. - ii, page 1.] - -When the child resembles either grandparent more closely than its -immediate parents, our attention is not much arrested, though in truth -the fact is highly remarkable; but when the child resembles some remote -ancestor or some distant member in a collateral line--and in the last -case we must attribute this to the descent of all the members from a -common progenitor--we feel a just degree of astonishment. When one -parent alone displays some newly-acquired and generally inheritable -character, and the offspring do not inherit it, the cause may lie -in the other parent having the power of prepotent transmission. But -when both parents are similarly characterized, and the child does -not, whatever the cause may be, inherit the character in question, -but resembles its grandparents, we have one of the simplest cases of -reversion. We continually see another and even more simple case of -atavism, though not generally included under this head, namely, when -the son more closely resembles his maternal than his paternal grandsire -in some male attribute, as in any peculiarity in the beard of man, the -horns of the bull, the hackles or comb of the cock, or, as in certain -diseases necessarily confined to the male sex; for, as the mother can -not possess or exhibit such male attributes, the child must inherit -them, through her blood, from his maternal grandsire. - -The cases of reversion may be divided into two main classes, which, -however, in some instances, blend into one another; namely, first, -those occurring in a variety or race which has not been crossed, but -has lost by variation some character that it formerly possessed, and -which afterward reappears. The second class includes all cases in which -an individual with some distinguishable character, a race, or species, -has at some former period been crossed, and a character derived from -this cross, after having disappeared during one or several generations, -suddenly reappears. - - * * * * * - - [Page 21.] - -From these facts we may perhaps infer that the degraded state of so -many half-castes is in part due to reversion to a primitive and savage -condition, induced by the act of crossing, even if mainly due to the -unfavorable moral conditions under which they are generally reared. - - -PREPOTENCE IN THE TRANSMISSION OF CHARACTER. - - [Animals and - Plants, vol. - ii, page 40.] - -When individuals, belonging to the same family, but distinct enough -to be recognized, or when two well-marked races, or two species, are -crossed, the usual result, as stated in the previous chapter, is, that -the offspring in the first generation are intermediate between their -parents, or resemble one parent in one part and the other parent in -another part. But this is by no means the invariable rule, for in -many cases it is found that certain individuals, races, and species, -are prepotent in transmitting their likeness. This subject has been -ably discussed by Prosper Lucas, but is rendered extremely complex by -the prepotency sometimes running equally in both sexes, and sometimes -more strongly in one sex than in the other; it is likewise complicated -by the presence of secondary sexual characters, which render the -comparison of crossed breeds with their parents difficult. - -It would appear that in certain families some one ancestor, and after -him others in the same family, have had great power in transmitting -their likeness through the male line; for we can not otherwise -understand how the same features should so often be transmitted after -marriages with many females, as in the case of the Austrian emperors; -and so it was, according to Niebuhr, with the mental qualities of -certain Roman families. The famous bull Favorite is believed to have -had a prepotent influence on the short-horn race. It has also been -observed with English race-horses that certain mares have generally -transmitted their own character, while other mares of equally pure -blood have allowed the character of the sire to prevail. A famous black -greyhound, Bedlamite, as I hear from Mr. C. M. Brown, “invariably got -all his puppies black, no matter what was the color of the bitch”; but -then Bedlamite “had a preponderance of black in his blood, both on the -sire and dam side.” - - -NATURAL SELECTION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAN. - - [Descent of - Man, page 48.] - -Man in the rudest state in which he now exists is the most dominant -animal that has ever appeared on this earth. He has spread more -widely than any other highly organized form; and all others have -yielded before him. He manifestly owes this immense superiority to -his intellectual faculties, to his social habits, which lead him -to aid and defend his fellows, and to his corporeal structure. The -supreme importance of these characters has been proved by the final -arbitrament of the battle for life. Through his powers of intellect, -articulate language has been evolved; and on this his wonderful -advancement has mainly depended. As Mr. Chauncey Wright remarks: “A -psychological analysis of the faculty of language shows that even the -smallest proficiency in it might require more brain-power than the -greatest proficiency in any other direction.” He has invented and is -able to use various weapons, tools, traps, etc., with which he defends -himself, kills or catches prey, and otherwise obtains food. He has made -rafts or canoes for fishing or crossing over to neighboring fertile -islands. He has discovered the art of making fire, by which hard and -stringy roots can be rendered digestible, and poisonous roots or herbs -innocuous. This discovery of fire, probably the greatest ever made by -man, excepting language, dates from before the dawn of history. These -several inventions, by which man in the rudest state has become so -pre-eminent, are the direct results of the development of his powers of -observation, memory, curiosity, imagination, and reason. - - * * * * * - - [Page 50.] - -Archæologists are convinced that an enormous interval of time elapsed -before our ancestors thought of grinding chipped flints into smooth -tools. One can hardly doubt that a man-like animal who possessed a -hand and arm sufficiently perfect to throw a stone with precision, or -to form a flint into a rude tool, could, with sufficient practice, as -far as mechanical skill alone is concerned, make almost anything which -a civilized man can make. The structure of the hand in this respect -may be compared with that of the vocal organs, which in the apes are -used for uttering various signal-cries, or, as in one genus, musical -cadences; but in man the closely similar vocal organs have become -adapted through the inherited effects of use for the utterance of -articulate language. - -Turning now to the nearest allies of men, and therefore to the best -representatives of our early progenitors, we find that the hands of the -_Quadrumana_ are constructed on the same general pattern as our own, -but are far less perfectly adapted for diversified uses. Their hands -do not serve for locomotion so well as the feet of a dog; as may be -seen in such monkeys as the chimpanzee and orang, which walk on the -outer margins of the palms, or on the knuckles. Their hands, however, -are admirably adapted for climbing trees. Monkeys seize thin branches -or ropes, with the thumb on one side and the fingers and palm on the -other, in the same manner as we do. They can thus also lift rather -large objects, such as the neck of a bottle, to their mouths. Baboons -turn over stones and scratch up roots with their hands. They seize -nuts, insects, or other small objects with the thumb in opposition -to the fingers, and no doubt they thus extract eggs and the young -from the nests of birds. American monkeys beat the wild oranges on -the branches until the rind is cracked, and then tear it off with the -fingers of the two hands. In a wild state they break open hard fruits -with stones. Other monkeys open mussel-shells with the two thumbs. With -their fingers they pull out thorns and burs, and hunt for each other’s -parasites. They roll down stones, or throw them at their enemies; -nevertheless, they are clumsy in these various actions, and, as I have -myself seen, are quite unable to throw a stone with precision. - - -HOW MAN BECAME UPRIGHT. - - [Descent of - Man, page 52.] - -If it be an advantage to man to stand firmly on his feet and to have -his hands and arms free, of which, from his pre-eminent success in the -battle of life, there can be no doubt, then I can see no reason why it -should not have been advantageous to the progenitors of man to have -become more and more erect or bipedal. They would thus have been better -able to defend themselves with stones or clubs, to attack their prey, -or otherwise to obtain food. The best built individuals would in the -long run have succeeded best, and have survived in larger numbers. If -the gorilla and a few allied forms had become extinct, it might have -been argued, with great force and apparent truth, that an animal could -not have been gradually converted from a quadruped into a biped, as all -the individuals in an intermediate condition would have been miserably -ill-fitted for progression. But we know (and this is well worthy of -reflection) that the anthropomorphous apes are now actually in an -intermediate condition; and no one doubts that they are on the whole -well adapted for their conditions of life. Thus the gorilla runs with -a sidelong, shambling gait, but more commonly progresses by resting on -its bent hands. The long-armed apes occasionally use their arms like -crutches, swinging their bodies forward between them, and some kinds -of Hylobates, without having been taught, can walk or run upright with -tolerable quickness; yet they move awkwardly, and much less securely -than man. We see, in short, in existing monkeys a manner of progression -intermediate between that of a quadruped and a biped; but, as an -unprejudiced judge insists, the anthropomorphous apes approach in -structure more nearly to the bipedal than to the quadrupedal type. - -As the progenitors of man became more and more erect, with their hands -and arms more and more modified for prehension and other purposes, -with their feet and legs at the same time transformed for firm support -and progression, endless other changes of structure would have become -necessary. The pelvis would have to be broadened, the spine peculiarly -curved, and the head fixed in an altered position, all which changes -have been attained by man. - - * * * * * - - [Page 53.] - -The free use of the arms and hands, partly the cause and partly the -result of man’s erect position, appears to have led in an indirect -manner to other modifications of structure. The early male forefathers -of man were, as previously stated, probably furnished with great canine -teeth; but, as they gradually acquired the habit of using stones, -clubs, or other weapons, for fighting with their enemies or rivals, -they would use their jaws and teeth less and less. In this case, the -jaws, together with the teeth, would become reduced in size, as we may -feel almost sure from innumerable analogous cases. - - -THE BRAIN ENLARGES AS THE MENTAL FACULTIES DEVELOP. - - [Descent of - Man, page 54.] - -As the various mental faculties gradually developed themselves the -brain would almost certainly become larger. No one, I presume, doubts -that the large proportion which the size of man’s brain bears to his -body, compared to the same proportion in the gorilla or orang, is -closely connected with his higher mental powers. We meet with closely -analogous facts with insects, for in ants the cerebral ganglia are of -extraordinary dimensions, and in all the _Hymenoptera_ these ganglia -are many times larger than in the less intelligent orders, such as -beetles. On the other hand, no one supposes that the intellect of any -two animals or of any two men can be accurately gauged by the cubic -contents of their skulls. It is certain that there may be extraordinary -mental activity with an extremely small absolute mass of nervous -matter: thus the wonderfully diversified instincts, mental powers, and -affections of ants are notorious, yet their cerebral ganglia are not so -large as the quarter of a small pin’s head. Under this point of view, -the brain of an ant is one of the most marvelous atoms of matter in the -world, perhaps more so than the brain of a man. - - * * * * * - - [Page 55.] - -The gradually increasing weight of the brain and skull in man must -have influenced the development of the supporting spinal column, more -especially while he was becoming erect. As this change of position was -being brought about, the internal pressure of the brain will also have -influenced the form of the skull; for many facts show how easily the -skull is thus affected. Ethnologists believe that it is modified by the -kind of cradle in which infants sleep. Habitual spasms of the muscles -and a cicatrix from a severe burn have permanently modified the facial -bones. In young persons whose heads have become fixed either sideways -or backward, owing to disease, one of the two eyes has changed its -position, and the shape of the skull has been altered apparently by -the pressure of the brain in a new direction. I have shown that with -long-eared rabbits even so trifling a cause as the lopping forward of -one ear drags forward almost every bone of the skull on that side; so -that the bones on the opposite side no longer strictly correspond. -Lastly, if any animal were to increase or diminish much in general -size, without any change in its mental powers, or if the mental powers -were to be much increased or diminished, without any great change in -the size of the body, the shape of the skull would almost certainly be -altered. I infer this from my observations on domestic rabbits, some -kinds of which have become very much larger than the wild animal, while -others have retained nearly the same size, but in both cases the brain -has been much reduced relatively to the size of the body. Now, I was -at first much surprised on finding that in all these rabbits the skull -had become elongated or dolichocephalic; for instance, of two skulls -of nearly equal breadth, the one from a wild rabbit and the other from -a large domestic kind, the former was 3·15 and the latter 4·3 inches -in length. One of the most marked distinctions in different races of -men is that the skull in some is elongated, and in others rounded; and -here the explanation suggested by the case of the rabbits may hold -good; for Welcker finds that short “men incline more to brachycephaly, -and tall men to dolichocephaly”; and tall men may be compared with the -larger and longer-bodied rabbits, all of which have elongated skulls, -or are dolichocephalic. - -From these several facts we can understand, to a certain extent, the -means by which the great size and more or less rounded form of the -skull have been acquired by man; and these are characters eminently -distinctive of him in comparison with the lower animals. - - -NAKEDNESS OF THE SKIN. - - [Descent of - Man, page 56.] - -Another most conspicuous difference between man and the lower animals -is the nakedness of the skin. Whales and porpoises (_Cetacea_), -dugongs (_Sirenia_), and the hippopotamus are naked; and this may -be advantageous to them for gliding through the water; nor would -it be injurious to them from the loss of warmth, as the species, -which inhabit the colder regions, are protected by a thick layer of -blubber, serving the same purpose as the fur of seals and otters. -Elephants and rhinoceroses are almost hairless; and, as certain extinct -species, which formerly lived under an Arctic climate, were covered -with long wool or hair, it would almost appear as if the existing -species of both genera had lost their hairy covering from exposure -to heat. This appears the more probable, as the elephants in India, -which live on elevated and cool districts, are more hairy than those -on the lowlands. May we then infer that man became divested of hair -from having aboriginally inhabited some tropical land? That the hair -is chiefly retained in the male sex on the chest and face, and in -both sexes at the junction of all four limbs with the trunk, favors -this inference--on the assumption that the hair was lost before man -became erect; for the parts which now retain most hair would then have -been most protected from the heat of the sun. The crown of the head, -however, offers a curious exception, for at all times it must have been -one of the most exposed parts, yet it is thickly clothed with hair. The -fact, however, that the other members of the order of _Primates_, to -which man belongs, although inhabiting various hot regions, are well -clothed with hair, generally thickest on the upper surface, is opposed -to the supposition that man became naked through the action of the sun. - - * * * * * - - [Descent of - Man, page 18.] - -The different races differ much in hairiness; and in the individuals -of the same race the hairs are highly variable, not only in abundance, -but likewise in position: thus in some Europeans the shoulders are -quite naked, while in others they bear thick tufts of hair. There -can be little doubt that the hairs thus scattered over the body are -the rudiments of the uniform hairy coat of the lower animals. This -view is rendered all the more probable, as it is known that the fine, -short, and pale-colored hairs on the limbs and other parts of the body -occasionally become developed into “thick-set, long, and rather coarse -dark hairs,” when abnormally nourished near old-standing inflamed -surfaces. - -I am informed by Sir James Paget that often several members of a family -have a few hairs in their eyebrows much longer than the others; so -that even this slight peculiarity seems to be inherited. These hairs, -too, seem to have their representatives; for in the chimpanzee, and in -certain species of Macacus, there are scattered hairs of considerable -length rising from the naked skin above the eyes, and corresponding to -our eyebrows; similar long hairs project from the hairy covering of the -superciliary ridges in some baboons. - - -IS MAN THE MOST HELPLESS OF THE ANIMALS? - - [Descent of - Man, page 63.] - -It has often been objected to such views as the foregoing, that man is -one of the most helpless and defenseless creatures in the world; and -that during his early and less well-developed condition he would have -been still more helpless. The Duke of Argyll, for instance, insists -that “the human frame has diverged from the structure of brutes, in -the direction of greater physical helplessness and weakness. That is -to say, it is a divergence which of all others it is most impossible -to ascribe to mere natural selection.” He adduces the naked and -unprotected state of the body, the absence of great teeth or claws for -defense, the small strength and speed of man, and his slight power of -discovering food or of avoiding danger by smell. To these deficiencies -there might be added one still more serious, namely, that he can not -climb quickly, and so escape from enemies. The loss of hair would not -have been a great injury to the inhabitants of a warm country. For we -know that the unclothed Fuegians can exist under a wretched climate. -When we compare the defenseless state of man with that of apes, we must -remember that the great canine teeth with which the latter are provided -are possessed in their full development by the males alone, and are -chiefly used by them for fighting with their rivals; yet the females, -which are not thus provided, manage to survive. - -In regard to bodily size or strength, we do not know whether man is -descended from some small species, like the chimpanzee, or from one as -powerful as the gorilla; and, therefore, we can not say whether man has -become larger and stronger, or smaller and weaker, than his ancestors. -We should, however, bear in mind that an animal possessing great size, -strength, and ferocity, and which, like the gorilla, could defend -itself from all enemies, would not perhaps have become social; and -this would most effectually have checked the acquirement of the higher -mental qualities--such as sympathy and the love of his fellows. Hence -it might have been an immense advantage to man to have sprung from some -comparatively weak creature. - -The small strength and speed of man, his want of natural weapons, etc., -are more than counterbalanced, firstly, by his intellectual powers, -through which he has formed for himself weapons, tools, etc., though -still remaining in a barbarous state, and, secondly, by his social -qualities, which lead him to give and receive aid from his fellow-men. -No country in the world abounds in a greater degree with dangerous -beasts than Southern Africa; no country presents more fearful physical -hardships than the Arctic regions; yet one of the puniest of races, -that of the Bushmen, maintains itself in Southern Africa, as do the -dwarfed Esquimaux in the Arctic regions. The ancestors of man were, -no doubt, inferior in intellect, and probably in social disposition, -to the lowest existing savages; but it is quite conceivable that -they might have existed, or even flourished, if they had advanced in -intellect, while gradually losing their brute-like powers, such as that -of climbing trees, etc. But these ancestors would not have been exposed -to any special danger, even if far more helpless and defenseless than -any existing savages, had they inhabited some warm continent or large -island, such as Australia, New Guinea, or Borneo, which is now the -home of the orang. And natural selection arising from the competition -of tribe with tribe, in some such large area as one of these, together -with the inherited effects of habit, would, under favorable conditions, -have sufficed to raise man to his present high position in the organic -scale. - - - - -VIII. - -MENTAL POWERS OF MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS COMPARED. - - - [Descent of - Man, page 65.] - -No doubt the difference in this respect is enormous, even if we compare -the mind of one of the lowest savages, who has no words to express any -number higher than four, and who uses hardly any abstract terms for -common objects or for the affections, with that of the most highly -organized ape. The difference would, no doubt, still remain immense, -even if one of the higher apes had been improved or civilized as -much as a dog has been in comparison with its parent-form, the wolf -or jackal. The Fuegians rank among the lowest barbarians; but I was -continually struck with surprise how closely the three natives on -board H. M. S. Beagle, who had lived some years in England, and could -talk a little English, resembled us in disposition and in most of our -mental faculties. If no organic being excepting man had possessed any -mental power, or if his powers had been of a wholly different nature -from those of the lower animals, then we should never have been able -to convince ourselves that our high faculties had been gradually -developed. But it can be shown that there is no fundamental difference -of this kind. We must also admit that there is a much wider interval -in mental power between one of the lowest fishes, as a lamprey or -lancelet, and one of the higher apes than between an ape and man; yet -this interval is filled up by numberless gradations. - -Nor is the difference slight in moral disposition between a barbarian, -such as the man described by the old navigator Byron, who dashed his -child on the rocks for dropping a basket of sea-urchins, and a Howard -or Clarkson; and in intellect between a savage, who uses hardly any -abstract terms, and a Newton or Shakespeare. Differences of this kind -between the highest men of the highest races and the lowest savages, -are connected by the finest gradations. Therefore it is possible that -they might pass and be developed into each other. - - * * * * * - - [Page 66.] - -In what manner the mental powers were first developed in the lowest -organisms is as hopeless an inquiry as how life itself first -originated. These are problems for the distant future, if they are ever -to be solved by man. - - -FUNDAMENTAL INTUITIONS THE SAME IN MAN AND THE OTHER ANIMALS. - - [Page 66.] - -As man possesses the same senses as the lower animals, his fundamental -intuitions must be the same. Man has also some few instincts in common, -as that of self-preservation, sexual love, the love of the mother for -her new-born offspring, the desire possessed by the latter to suck, -and so forth. But man, perhaps, has somewhat fewer instincts than -those possessed by the animals which come next to him in the series. -The orang in the Eastern islands and the chimpanzee in Africa build -platforms on which they sleep; and, as both species follow the same -habit, it might be argued that this was due to instinct, but we can -not feel sure that it is not the result of both animals having similar -wants, and possessing similar powers of reasoning. These apes, as we -may assume, avoid the many poisonous fruits of the tropics, and man has -no such knowledge: but, as our domestic animals, when taken to foreign -lands, and when first turned out in the spring, often eat poisonous -herbs, which they afterward avoid, we can not feel sure that the apes -do not learn from their own experience or from that of their parents -what fruits to select. It is, however, certain, as we shall presently -see, that apes have an instinctive dread of serpents, and probably of -other dangerous animals. - -The fewness and the comparative simplicity of the instincts in the -higher animals are remarkable in contrast with those of the lower -animals. Cuvier maintained that instinct and intelligence stand -in an adverse ratio to each other; and some have thought that the -intellectual faculties of the higher animals have been gradually -developed from their instincts. But Pouchet, in an interesting essay, -has shown that no such inverse ratio really exists. Those insects -which possess the most wonderful instincts are certainly the most -intelligent. In the vertebrate series, the least intelligent members, -namely, fishes and amphibians, do not possess complex instincts; and -among mammals the animal most remarkable for its instincts, namely, the -beaver, is highly intelligent, as will be admitted by every one who has -read Mr. Morgan’s excellent work. - - -MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS EXCITED BY THE SAME EMOTIONS. - - [Page 69.] - -The fact that the lower animals are excited by the same emotions as -ourselves is so well established that it will not be necessary to weary -the reader by many details. Terror acts in the same manner on them as -on us, causing the muscles to tremble, the heart to palpitate, the -sphincters to be relaxed, and the hair to stand on end. Suspicion, the -offspring of fear, is eminently characteristic of most wild animals. It -is, I think, impossible to read the account given by Sir E. Tennent, of -the behavior of the female elephants, used as decoys, without admitting -that they intentionally practice deceit, and well know what they are -about. Courage and timidity are extremely variable qualities in the -individuals of the same species, as is plainly seen in our dogs. Some -dogs and horses are ill-tempered, and easily turn sulky; others are -good-tempered; and these qualities are certainly inherited. Every one -knows how liable animals are to furious rage, and how plainly they -show it. Many, and probably true, anecdotes have been published on -the long-delayed and artful revenge of various animals. The accurate -Rengger and Brehm state that the American and African monkeys which -they kept tame certainly revenged themselves. Sir Andrew Smith, a -zoölogist whose scrupulous accuracy was known to many persons, told me -the following story of which he was himself an eye-witness: At the Cape -of Good Hope an officer had often plagued a certain baboon, and the -animal, seeing him approaching one Sunday for parade, poured water into -a hole and hastily made some thick mud, which he skillfully dashed over -the officer as he passed by, to the amusement of many by-standers. For -long afterward the baboon rejoiced and triumphed whenever he saw his -victim. - - * * * * * - - [Page 70.] - -The love of a dog for his master is notorious; as an old writer -quaintly says, “A dog is the only thing on this earth that luvs you -more than he luvs himself.” - -In the agony of death a dog has been known to caress his master, and -every one has heard of the dog suffering under vivisection, who licked -the hand of the operator; this man, unless the operation was fully -justified by an increase of our knowledge, or unless he had a heart of -stone, must have felt remorse to the last hour of his life. - - * * * * * - - [Page 71.] - -Most of the more complex emotions are common to the higher animals and -ourselves. Every one has seen how jealous a dog is of his master’s -affection, if lavished on any other creature; and I have observed the -same fact with monkeys. This shows that animals not only love, but -have desire to be loved. Animals manifestly feel emulation. They love -approbation or praise; and a dog carrying a basket for his master -exhibits in a high degree self-complacency or pride. There can, I -think, be no doubt that a dog feels shame, as distinct from fear, -and something very like modesty when begging too often for food. A -great dog scorns the snarling of a little dog, and this may be called -magnanimity. Several observers have stated that monkeys certainly -dislike being laughed at; and they sometimes invent imaginary offenses. -In the Zoölogical Gardens I saw a baboon who always got into a furious -rage when his keeper took out a letter or book and read it aloud to -him; and his rage was so violent that, as I witnessed on one occasion, -he bit his own leg till the blood flowed. - -All animals feel _wonder_, and many exhibit _curiosity_. They sometimes -suffer from this latter quality, as when the hunter plays antics and -thus attracts them; I have witnessed this with deer, and so it is with -the wary chamois, and with some kinds of wild-ducks. Brehm gives a -curious account of the instinctive dread which his monkeys exhibited -for snakes; but their curiosity was so great that they could not desist -from occasionally satiating their horror in a most human fashion, by -lifting up the lid of the box in which the snakes were kept. I was so -much surprised at his account, that I took a stuffed and coiled-up -snake into the monkey-house at the Zoölogical Gardens, and the -excitement thus caused was one of the most curious spectacles which I -ever beheld. - - -ALL ANIMALS POSSESS SOME POWER OF REASONING. - - [Page 75.] - -Of all the faculties of the human mind, it will, I presume, be admitted -that _reason_ stands at the summit. Only a few persons now dispute that -animals possess some power of reasoning. Animals may constantly be seen -to pause, deliberate, and resolve. It is a significant fact that the -more the habits of any particular animal are studied by a naturalist, -the more he attributes to reason and the less to unlearned instincts. -In future chapters we shall see that some animals extremely low in the -scale apparently display a certain amount of reason. No doubt it is -often difficult to distinguish between the power of reason and that -of instinct. For instance, Dr. Hayes, in his work on “The Open Polar -Sea,” repeatedly remarks that his dogs, instead of continuing to draw -the sledges in a compact body, diverged and separated when they came to -thin ice, so that their weight might be more evenly distributed. This -was often the first warning which the travelers received that the ice -was becoming thin and dangerous. Now, did the dogs act thus from the -experience of each individual, or from the example of the older and -wiser dogs, or from an inherited habit, that is, from instinct? This -instinct may possibly have arisen since the time, long ago, when dogs -were first employed by the natives in drawing their sledges; or the -Arctic wolves, the parent-stock of the Esquimaux dog, may have acquired -an instinct, impelling them not to attack their prey in a close pack, -when on thin ice. - - * * * * * - - [Page 79.] - -Archbishop Sumner formerly maintained that man alone is capable of -progressive improvement. That he is capable of incomparably greater and -more rapid improvement than is any other animal, admits of no dispute; -and this is mainly due to his power of speaking and handing down his -acquired knowledge. With animals, looking first to the individual, -every one who has had any experience in setting traps knows that young -animals can be caught much more easily than old ones; and they can -be much more easily approached by an enemy. Even with respect to old -animals, it is impossible to catch many in the same place and in the -same kind of trap, or to destroy them by the same kind of poison; yet -it is improbable that all should have partaken of the poison, and -impossible that all should have been caught in a trap. They must learn -caution by seeing their brethren caught or poisoned. - - * * * * * - - [Page 80.] - -Our domestic dogs are descended from wolves and jackals, and though -they may not have gained in cunning, and may have lost in wariness -and suspicion, yet they have progressed in certain moral qualities, -such as in affection, trustworthiness, temper, and probably in general -intelligence. - - -THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION IN DOG AND SAVAGE. - - [Descent of - Man, page 77.] - -The savage and the dog have often found water at a low level, and the -coincidence under such circumstances has become associated in their -minds. A cultivated man would perhaps make some general proposition -on the subject; but from all that we know of savages it is extremely -doubtful whether they would do so, and a dog certainly would not. -But a savage, as well as a dog, would search in the same way, though -frequently disappointed; and in both it seems to be equally an act -of reason, whether or not any general proposition on the subject -is consciously placed before the mind. The same would apply to the -elephant and the bear making currents in the air or water. The savage -would certainly neither know nor care by what law the desired movements -were effected; yet his act would be guided by a rude process of -reasoning, as surely as would a philosopher in his longest chain of -deductions. There would no doubt be this difference between him and -one of the higher animals, that he would take notice of much slighter -circumstances and conditions, and would observe any connection between -them after much less experience, and this would be of paramount -importance. I kept a daily record of the actions of one of my infants, -and when he was about eleven months old, and before he could speak a -single word, I was continually struck with the greater quickness with -which all sorts of objects and sounds were associated together in his -mind, compared with that of the most intelligent dogs I ever knew. But -the higher animals differ in exactly the same way in this power of -association from those low in the scale, such as the pike, as well as -in that of drawing inferences and of observation. - - -THE LOWER ANIMALS PROGRESS IN INTELLIGENCE. - - [Page 81.] - -To maintain, independently of any direct evidence, that no animal -during the course of ages has progressed in intellect or other mental -faculties, is to beg the question of the evolution of species. We have -seen that, according to Lartet, existing mammals belonging to several -orders have larger brains than their ancient tertiary prototypes. - -It has often been said that no animal uses any tool; but the -chimpanzee, in a state of nature, cracks a native fruit, somewhat like -a walnut, with a stone. Rengger easily taught an American monkey thus -to break open hard palm-nuts; and afterward, of its own accord, it used -stones to open other kinds of nuts, as well as boxes. It thus also -removed the soft rind of fruit that had a disagreeable flavor. Another -monkey was taught to open the lid of a large box with a stick, and -afterward it used the stick as a lever to move heavy bodies; and I have -myself seen a young orang put a stick into a crevice, slip his hand to -the other end, and use it in the proper manner as a lever. The tamed -elephants in India are well known to break off branches of trees and -use them to drive away the flies; and this same act has been observed -in an elephant in a state of nature. - - * * * * * - - [Page 82.] - -The Duke of Argyll remarks that the fashioning of an implement for a -special purpose is absolutely peculiar to man; and he considers that -this forms an immeasurable gulf between him and the brutes. This is -no doubt a very important distinction; but there appears to me much -truth in Sir J. Lubbock’s suggestion that, when primeval man first used -flint-stones for any purpose, he would have accidentally splintered -them, and would then have used the sharp fragments. From this step it -would be a small one to break the flints on purpose, and not a very -wide step to fashion them rudely. This latter advance, however, may -have taken long ages, if we may judge by the immense interval of time -which elapsed before the men of the neolithic period took to grinding -and polishing their stone tools. In breaking the flints, as Sir J. -Lubbock likewise remarks, sparks would have been emitted, and in -grinding them heat would have been evolved; thus the two usual methods -of “obtaining fire may have originated.” The nature of fire would have -been known in the many volcanic regions where lava occasionally flows -through forests. - - -THE POWER OF ABSTRACTION. - - [Page 83.] - -If one may judge from various articles which have been published -lately, the greatest stress seems to be laid on the supposed entire -absence in animals of the power of abstraction, or of forming general -concepts. But when a dog sees another dog at a distance, it is often -clear that he perceives that it is a dog in the abstract; for when he -gets nearer his whole manner suddenly changes, if the other dog be a -friend. A recent writer remarks that in all such cases it is a pure -assumption to assert that the mental act is not essentially of the same -nature in the animal as in man. If either refers what he perceives -with his senses to a mental concept, then so do both. When I say to -my terrier, in an eager voice (and I have made the trial many times), -“Hi, hi, where is it?” she at once takes it as a sign that something -is to be hunted, and generally first looks quickly all around, and then -rushes into the nearest thicket, to scent for any game, but, finding -nothing, she looks up into any neighboring tree for a squirrel. Now, do -not these actions clearly show that she had in her mind a general idea -or concept that some animal is to be discovered and hunted? - -It may be freely admitted that no animal is self-conscious, if by -this term it is implied that he reflects on such points as whence -he comes or whither he will go, or what is life and death, and so -forth. But how can we feel sure that an old dog with an excellent -memory and some power of imagination, as shown by his dreams, never -reflects on his past pleasures or pains in the chase? And this would -be a form of self-consciousness. On the other hand, as Büchner has -remarked, how little can the hard-worked wife of a degraded Australian -savage, who uses very few abstract words, and can not count above -four, exert her self-consciousness, or reflect on the nature of her -own existence! It is generally admitted that the higher animals -possess memory, attention, association, and even some imagination -and reason. If these powers, which differ much in different animals, -are capable of improvement, there seems no great improbability in -more complex faculties, such as the higher forms of abstraction, and -self-consciousness, etc., having been evolved through the development -and combination of the simpler ones. It has been urged against the -views here maintained that it is impossible to say at what point in the -ascending scale animals become capable of abstraction, etc.; but who -can say at what age this occurs in our young children? We see at least -that such powers are developed in children by imperceptible degrees. - - -THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE. - - [Page 84.] - -This faculty (language) has justly been considered as one of the chief -distinctions between man and the lower animals. But man, as a highly -competent judge, Archbishop Whately, remarks, “is not the only animal -that can make use of language to express what is passing in his mind, -and can understand, more or less, what is so expressed by another.” In -Paraguay the _Cebus azaræ_ when excited utters at least six distinct -sounds, which excite in other monkeys similar emotions. The movements -of the features and gestures of monkeys are understood by us, and they -partly understand ours, as Rengger and others declare. It is a more -remarkable fact that the dog, since being domesticated, has learned to -bark in at least four or five distinct tones. Although barking is a -new art, no doubt the wild parent-species of the dog expressed their -feelings by cries of various kinds. With the domesticated dog we have -the bark of eagerness, as in the chase; that of anger, as well as -growling; the yelp or howl of despair, as when shut up; the baying at -night; the bark of joy, as when starting on a walk with his master; and -the very distinct one of demand or supplication, as when wishing for a -door or window to be opened. According to Houzeau, who paid particular -attention to the subject, the domestic fowl utters at least a dozen -significant sounds. - -The habitual use of articulate language is, however, peculiar to man; -but he uses, in common with the lower animals, inarticulate cries -to express his meaning, aided by gestures and the movements of the -muscles of the face. This especially holds good with the more simple -and vivid feelings, which are but little connected with our higher -intelligence. Our cries of pain, fear, surprise, anger, together with -their appropriate actions, and the murmur of a mother to her beloved -child, are more expressive than any words. That which distinguishes man -from the lower animals is not the understanding of articulate sounds, -for, as every one knows, dogs understand many words and sentences. In -this respect they are at the same stage of development as infants, -between the ages of ten and twelve months, who understand many words -and short sentences, but can not yet utter a single word. It is not the -mere articulation which is our distinguishing character, for parrots -and other birds possess this power. Nor is it the mere capacity of -connecting definite sounds with definite ideas; for it is certain that -some parrots, which have been taught to speak, connect unerringly words -with things, and persons with events. The lower animals differ from man -solely in his almost infinitely larger power of associating together -the most diversified sounds and ideas; and this obviously depends on -the high development of his mental powers. - -As Horne Tooke, one of the founders of the noble science of philology, -observes, language is an art, like brewing or baking; but writing would -have been a better simile. It certainly is not a true instinct, for -every language has to be learned. It differs, however, widely from all -ordinary arts, for man has an instinctive tendency to speak, as we see -in the babble of our young children; while no child has an instinctive -tendency to brew, bake, or write. Moreover, no philologist now supposes -that any language has been deliberately invented; it has been slowly -and unconsciously developed by many steps. The sounds uttered by -birds offer in several respects the nearest analogy to language, for -all the members of the same species utter the same instinctive cries -expressive of their emotions; and all the kinds which sing exert their -power instinctively; but the actual song, and even the call-notes, are -learned from their parents or foster-parents. These sounds, as Daines -Barrington has proved, “are no more innate than language is in man.” -The first attempts to sing “may be compared to the imperfect endeavor -in a child to babble.” The young males continue practicing, or, as -the bird-catchers say, “recording,” for ten or eleven months. Their -first essays show hardly a rudiment of the future song; but as they -grow older we can perceive what they are aiming at; and at last they -are said “to sing their song round.” Nestlings which have learned the -song of a distinct species, as with the canary-birds educated in the -Tyrol, teach and transmit their new song to their offspring. The slight -natural differences of song in the same species inhabiting different -districts may be appositely compared, as Barrington remarks, “to -provincial dialects”; and the songs of allied though distinct species -may be compared with the languages of distinct races of man. I have -given the foregoing details to show that an instinctive tendency to -acquire an art is not peculiar to man. - -With respect to the origin of articulate language, after having read on -the one side the highly interesting works of Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood, -the Rev. F. Farrar, and Professor Schleicher, and the celebrated -lectures of Professor Max Müller on the other side, I can not doubt -that language owes its origin to the imitation and modification of -various natural sounds, the voices of other animals, and man’s own -instinctive cries, aided by signs and gestures. - - * * * * * - - [Page 87.] - -It is, therefore, probable that the imitation of musical cries by -articulate sounds may have given rise to words expressive of various -complex emotions. The strong tendency in our nearest allies, the -monkeys, in microcephalous idiots, and in the barbarous races of -mankind, to imitate whatever they hear, deserves notice, as bearing on -the subject of imitation. Since monkeys certainly understand much that -is said to them by man, and, when wild, utter signal-cries of danger -to their fellows; and since fowls give distinct warnings for danger on -the ground, or in the sky from hawks (both, as well as a third cry, -intelligible to dogs), may not some unusually wise ape-like animal have -imitated the growl of a beast of prey, and thus told his fellow-monkeys -the nature of the expected danger? This would have been a first step in -the formation of a language. - -As the voice was used more and more, the vocal organs would have been -strengthened and perfected through the principle of the inherited -effects of use; and this would have reacted on the power of speech. - - * * * * * - - [Page 89.] - -The fact of the higher apes not using their vocal organs for speech -no doubt depends on their intelligence not having been sufficiently -advanced. The possession by them of organs, which with long-continued -practice might have been used for speech, although not thus used, is -paralleled by the case of many birds which possess organs fitted for -singing, though they never sing. Thus, the nightingale and crow have -vocal organs similarly constructed, these being used by the former for -diversified song, and by the latter only for croaking. - - -DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGES AND SPECIES COMPARED. - - [Descent of - Man, page 90.] - -The formation of different languages and of distinct species and -the proofs that both have been developed through a gradual process -are curiously parallel. But we can trace the formation of many -words further back than that of species, for we can perceive how -they actually arose from the imitation of various sounds. We find in -distinct languages striking homologies due to community of descent, -and analogies due to a similar process of formation. The manner in -which certain letters or sounds change when others change is very -like correlated growth. We have in both cases the reduplication of -parts, the effects of long-continued use, and so forth. The frequent -presence of rudiments, both in languages and in species, is still -more remarkable. The letter _m_ in the word _am_ means _I_; so that, -in the expression _I am_, a superfluous and useless rudiment has -been retained. In the spelling also of words, letters often remain -as the rudiments of ancient forms of pronunciation. Languages, like -organic beings, can be classed in groups under groups; and they can -be classed either naturally according to descent, or artificially by -other characters. Dominant languages and dialects spread widely, and -lead to the gradual extinction of other tongues. A language, like a -species, when once extinct, never, as Sir C. Lyell remarks, reappears. -The same language never has two birthplaces. Distinct languages may be -crossed or blended together. We see variability in every tongue, and -new words are continually cropping up; but, as there is a limit to the -powers of the memory, single words, like whole languages, gradually -become extinct. As Max Müller has well remarked: “A struggle for life -is constantly going on among the words and grammatical forms in each -language. The better, the shorter, the easier forms are constantly -gaining the upper hand, and they owe their success to their own -inherent virtue.” To these more important causes of the survival of -certain words, mere novelty and fashion may be added; for there is in -the mind of man a strong love for slight changes in all things. The -survival or preservation of certain favored words in the struggle for -existence is natural selection. - -The perfectly regular and wonderfully complex construction of the -languages of many barbarous nations has often been advanced as a proof, -either of the divine origin of these languages, or of the high art and -former civilization of their founders. Thus F. von Schlegel writes: “In -those languages which appear to be at the lowest grade of intellectual -culture, we frequently observe a very high and elaborate degree of art -in their grammatical structure. This is especially the case with the -Basque and the Lapponian, and many of the American languages.” But it -is assuredly an error to speak of any language as an art, in the sense -of its having been elaborately and methodically formed. Philologists -now admit that conjugations, declensions, etc., originally existed -as distinct words, since joined together; and, as such words express -the most obvious relations between objects and persons, it is not -surprising that they should have been used by the men of most races -during the earliest ages. With respect to perfection, the following -illustration will best show how easily we may err: a crinoid sometimes -consists of no less than one hundred and fifty thousand pieces of -shell, all arranged with perfect symmetry in radiating lines; but a -naturalist does not consider an animal of this kind as more perfect -than a bilateral one with comparatively few parts, and with none of -these parts alike, excepting on the opposite sides of the body. He -justly considers the differentiation and specialization of organs -as the test of perfection. So with languages; the most symmetrical -and complex ought not to be ranked above irregular, abbreviated, and -bastardized languages. - - -THE SENSE OF BEAUTY. - - [Descent of - Man, page 92.] - -This sense has been declared to be peculiar to man. I refer here only -to the pleasure given by certain colors, forms, and sounds, and which -may fairly be called a sense of the beautiful; with cultivated men -such sensations are, however, intimately associated with complex -ideas and trains of thought. When we behold a male bird elaborately -displaying his graceful plumes or splendid colors before the female, -while other birds, not thus decorated, make no such display, it is -impossible to doubt that she admires the beauty of her male partner. -As women everywhere deck themselves with these plumes, the beauty of -such ornaments can not be disputed. As we shall see later, the nests of -humming-birds and the playing passages of bower-birds are tastefully -ornamented with gayly-colored objects; and this shows that they must -receive some kind of pleasure from the sight of such things. With the -great majority of animals, however, the taste for the beautiful is -confined, as far as we can judge, to the attractions of the opposite -sex. The sweet strains poured forth by many male birds during the -season of love are certainly admired by the females, of which fact -evidence will hereafter be given. If female birds had been incapable of -appreciating the beautiful colors, the ornaments, and voices of their -male partners, all the labor and anxiety exhibited by the latter in -displaying their charms before the females would have been thrown away; -and this it is impossible to admit. Why certain bright colors should -excite pleasure can not, I presume, be explained, any more than why -certain flavors and scents are agreeable; but habit has something to do -with the result, for that which is at first unpleasant to our senses, -ultimately becomes pleasant, and habits are inherited. - - -DEVELOPMENT OF THE EAR FOR MUSIC. - - [Descent of - Man, page 568.] - -A critic has asked how the ears of man, and he ought to have added -of other animals, could have been adapted by selection so as to -distinguish musical notes. But this question shows some confusion on -the subject; a noise is the sensation resulting from the co-existence -of several aërial “simple vibrations” of various periods, each of -which intermits so frequently that its separate existence can not be -perceived. It is only in the want of continuity of such vibrations, -and in their want of harmony _inter se_, that a noise differs from a -musical note. Thus an ear to be capable of discriminating noises--and -the high importance of this power to all animals is admitted by every -one--must be sensitive to musical notes. We have evidence of this -capacity even low down in the animal scale; thus crustaceans are -provided with auditory hairs of different lengths, which have been seen -to vibrate when the proper musical notes are struck. As stated in a -previous chapter, similar observations have been made on the hairs of -the antennæ of gnats. It has been positively asserted by good observers -that spiders are attracted by music. It is also well known that some -dogs howl when hearing particular tones. Seals apparently appreciate -music, and their fondness for it “was well known to the ancients, and -is often taken advantage of by the hunters at the present day.” - -Therefore, as far as the mere perception of musical notes is concerned, -there seems no special difficulty in the case of man or of any other -animal. - -But if it be further asked why musical tones in a certain order and -rhythm give man and other animals pleasure, we can no more give the -reason than for the pleasantness of certain tastes and smells. That -they do give pleasure of some kind to animals we may infer from -their being produced during the season of courtship by many insects, -spiders, fishes, amphibians, and birds; for, unless the females were -able to appreciate such sounds and were excited or charmed by them, -the persevering efforts of the males and the complex structures often -possessed by them alone would be useless; and this it is impossible to -believe. - - - - -IX. - -DEVELOPMENT OF THE MORAL SENSE. - - - [Descent of - Man, page 97.] - -I fully subscribe to the judgment of those writers who maintain -that, of all the differences between man and the lower animals, the -moral sense or conscience is by far the most important. This sense, -as Mackintosh remarks, “has a rightful supremacy over every other -principle of human action”; it is summed up in that short but imperious -word _ought_, so full of high significance. It is the most noble of -all the attributes of man, leading him without a moment’s hesitation -to risk his life for that of a fellow-creature; or, after due -deliberation, impelled simply by the deep feeling of right or duty, to -sacrifice it in some great cause. - - * * * * * - - [Page 111.] - -A moral being is one who is capable of comparing his past and future -actions or motives, and of approving or disapproving of them. We have -no reason to suppose that any of the lower animals have this capacity; -therefore, when a Newfoundland dog drags a child out of the water, or a -monkey faces danger to rescue its comrade, or takes charge of an orphan -monkey, we do not call its conduct moral. But in the case of man, who -alone can with certainty be ranked as a moral being, actions of a -certain class are called moral. - - -FROM THE SOCIAL INSTINCTS TO THE MORAL SENSE. - - [Page 98.] - -The following proposition seems to me in a high degree -probable--namely, that any animal whatever, endowed with well-marked -social instincts, the parental and filial affections being here -included, would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience, as -soon as its intellectual powers had become as well, or nearly as -well, developed as in man. For, _firstly_, the social instincts lead -an animal to take pleasure in the society of its fellows, to feel a -certain amount of sympathy with them, and to perform various services -for them. The services may be of a definite and evidently instinctive -nature; or there may be only a wish and readiness, as with most of the -higher social animals, to aid their fellows in certain general ways. -But these feelings and services are by no means extended to all the -individuals of the same species, only to those of the same association. -_Secondly_, as soon as the mental faculties had become highly -developed, images of all past actions and motives would be incessantly -passing through the brain of each individual; and that feeling of -dissatisfaction, or even misery, which invariably results, as we shall -hereafter see, from any unsatisfied instinct, would arise, as often as -it was perceived that the enduring and always present social instinct -had yielded to some other instinct, at the time stronger, but neither -enduring in its nature, nor leaving behind it a very vivid impression. -It is clear that many instinctive desires, such as that of hunger, -are in their nature of short duration; and, after being satisfied, -are not readily or vividly recalled. _Thirdly_, after the power of -language had been acquired, and the wishes of the community could be -expressed, the common opinion how each member ought to act for the -public good would naturally become in a paramount degree the guide -to action. But it should be borne in mind that, however great weight -we may attribute to public opinion, our regard for the approbation -and disapprobation of our fellows depends on sympathy, which, as we -shall see, forms an essential part of the social instinct, and is, -indeed, its foundation-stone. _Lastly_, habit in the individual would -ultimately play a very important part in guiding the conduct of each -member; for the social instinct, together with sympathy, is, like any -other instinct, greatly strengthened by habit, and so consequently -would be obedience to the wishes and judgment of the community. These -several subordinate propositions must now be discussed, and some of -them at considerable length. - -It may be well first to premise that I do not wish to maintain that any -strictly social animal, if its intellectual faculties were to become -as active and as highly developed as in man, would acquire exactly the -same moral sense as ours. In the same manner as various animals have -some sense of beauty, though they admire widely different objects, so -they might have a sense of right and wrong, though led by it to follow -widely different lines of conduct. If, for instance, to take an extreme -case, men were reared under precisely the same conditions as hive-bees, -there can hardly be a doubt that our unmarried females would, like the -worker-bees, think it a sacred duty to kill their brothers, and mothers -would strive to kill their fertile daughters; and no one would think -of interfering. Nevertheless, the bee, or any other social animal, -would gain in our supposed case, as it appears to me, some feeling of -right or wrong, or a conscience. For each individual would have an -inward sense of possessing certain stronger or more enduring instincts, -and others less strong or enduring; so that there would often be a -struggle as to which impulse should be followed; and satisfaction, -dissatisfaction, or even misery would be felt, as past impressions were -compared during their incessant passage through the mind. In this case -an inward monitor would tell the animal that it would have been better -to have followed the one impulse rather than the other. The one course -ought to have been followed, and the other ought not; the one would -have been right and the other wrong. - - -HUMAN SYMPATHY AMONG ANIMALS. - - [Page 102.] - -Who can say what cows feel when they surround and stare intently on a -dying or dead companion? Apparently, however, as Houzeau remarks, they -feel no pity. That animals sometimes are far from feeling any sympathy -is too certain; for they will expel a wounded animal from the herd, or -gore or worry it to death. This is almost the blackest fact in natural -history, unless, indeed, the explanation which has been suggested is -true, that their instinct or reason leads them to expel an injured -companion, lest beasts of prey, including man, should be tempted to -follow the troop. In this case their conduct is not much worse than -that of the North American Indians, who leave their feeble comrades to -perish on the plains; or the Feejeeans, who, when their parents get -old, or fall ill, bury them alive. - - * * * * * - - [Page 103.] - -Several years ago a keeper at the Zoölogical Gardens showed me some -deep and scarcely healed wounds on the nape of his own neck, inflicted -on him, while kneeling on the floor, by a fierce baboon. The little -American monkey, who was a warm friend of this keeper, lived in the -same large compartment, and was dreadfully afraid of the great baboon. -Nevertheless, as soon as he saw his friend in peril, he rushed to the -rescue, and by screams and bites so distracted the baboon that the man -was able to escape, after, as the surgeon thought, running great risk -of his life. - -Besides love and sympathy, animals exhibit other qualities connected -with the social instincts, which in us would be called moral; and I -agree with Agassiz that dogs possess something very like a conscience. - - * * * * * - - [Page 107.] - -With mankind, selfishness, experience, and imitation, probably add, -as Mr. Bain has shown, to the power of sympathy; for we are led by -the hope of receiving good in return to perform acts of sympathetic -kindness to others; and sympathy is much strengthened by habit. In -however complex a manner this feeling may have originated, as it is -one of high importance to all those animals which aid and defend one -another, it will have been increased through natural selection; for -those communities which included the greatest number of the most -sympathetic members would flourish best and rear the greatest number of -offspring. - -It is, however, impossible to decide in many cases whether certain -social instincts have been acquired through natural selection, or are -the indirect result of other instincts and faculties, such as sympathy, -reason, experience, and a tendency to imitation; or, again, whether -they are simply the result of long-continued habit. So remarkable an -instinct as the placing of sentinels to warn the community of danger -can hardly have been the indirect result of any of these faculties; it -must, therefore, have been directly acquired. On the other hand, the -habit followed by the males of some social animals of defending the -community, and of attacking their enemies or their prey in concert, may -perhaps have originated from mutual sympathy; but courage, and in most -cases strength, must have been previously acquired, probably through -natural selection. - - -THE LOVE OF APPROBATION. - - [Page 109.] - -Although man has no special instincts to tell him how to aid -his fellow-men, he still has the impulse, and with his improved -intellectual faculties would naturally be much guided in this respect -by reason and experience. Instinctive sympathy would also cause him -to value highly the approbation of his fellows; for, as Mr. Bain has -clearly shown, the love of praise and the strong feeling of glory, and -the still stronger horror of scorn and infamy, “are due to the workings -of sympathy.” Consequently, man would be influenced in the highest -degree by the wishes, approbation, and blame of his fellow-men, as -expressed by their gestures and language. Thus the social instincts, -which must have been acquired by man in a very rude state, and probably -even by his early ape-like progenitors, still give the impulse to -some of his best actions; but his actions are in a higher degree -determined by the expressed wishes and judgment of his fellow-men, and -unfortunately very often by his own strong selfish desires. But as -love, sympathy, and self-command become strengthened by habit, and as -the power of reasoning becomes clearer, so that man can value justly -the judgments of his fellows, he will feel himself impelled, apart from -any transitory pleasure or pain, to certain lines of conduct. He might -then declare--not that any barbarian or uncultivated man could thus -think--I am the supreme judge of my own conduct, and, in the words of -Kant, I will not in my own person violate the dignity of humanity. - - -FELLOW-FEELING FOR OUR FELLOW-ANIMALS. - - [Page 123.] - -Sympathy beyond the confines of man, that is, humanity to the lower -animals, seems to be one of the latest moral acquisitions. It is -apparently unfelt by savages, except toward their pets. How little -the old Romans knew of it is shown by their abhorrent gladiatorial -exhibitions. The very idea of humanity, as far as I could observe, -was new to most of the Gauchos of the Pampas. This virtue, one of the -noblest with which man is endowed, seems to arise incidentally from -our sympathies becoming more tender and more widely diffused, until -they are extended to all sentient beings. As soon as this virtue is -honored and practiced by some few men, it spreads through instruction -and example to the young, and eventually becomes incorporated in public -opinion. - -The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognize that -we ought to control our thoughts, and “not even in inmost thought to -think again the sins that made the past so pleasant to us.” Whatever -makes any bad action familiar to the mind renders its performance by -so much the easier. As Marcus Aurelius long ago said: “Such as are thy -habitual thoughts, such also will be the character of thy mind; for the -soul is dyed by the thoughts.” - - * * * * * - - [Page 125.] - -Looking to future generations, there is no cause to fear that the -social instincts will grow weaker, and we may expect that virtuous -habits will grow stronger, becoming perhaps fixed by inheritance. In -this case the struggle between our higher and lower impulses will be -less severe, and virtue will be triumphant. - - -DEVELOPMENT OF THE GOLDEN RULE. - - [Page 125.] - -There can be no doubt that the difference between the mind of -the lowest man and that of the highest animal is immense. An -anthropomorphous ape, if he could take a dispassionate view of his own -case, would admit that though he could form an artful plan to plunder -a garden, though he could use stones for fighting or for breaking open -nuts, yet that the thought of fashioning a stone into a tool was quite -beyond his scope. Still less, as he would admit, could he follow out a -train of metaphysical reasoning, or solve a mathematical problem, or -reflect on God, or admire a grand natural scene. Some apes, however, -would probably declare that they could and did admire the beauty of the -colored skin and fur of their partners in marriage. They would admit -that, though they could make other apes understand by cries some of -their perceptions and simpler wants, the notion of expressing definite -ideas by definite sounds had never crossed their minds. They might -insist that they were ready to aid their fellow-apes of the same troop -in many ways, to risk their lives for them, and to take charge of their -orphans; but they would be forced to acknowledge that disinterested -love for all living creatures, the most noble attribute of man, was -quite beyond their comprehension. - -Nevertheless, the difference in mind between man and the higher -animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree and not of kind. -We have seen that the senses and intuitions, the various emotions and -faculties, such as love, memory, attention, curiosity, imitation, -reason, etc., of which man boasts, may be found in an incipient, or -even sometimes in a well-developed condition, in the lower animals. -They are also capable of some inherited improvement, as we see in the -domestic dog compared with the wolf or jackal. If it could be proved -that certain high mental powers, such as the formation of general -concepts, self-consciousness, etc., were absolutely peculiar to man, -which seems extremely doubtful, it is not improbable that these -qualities are merely the incidental results of other highly-advanced -intellectual faculties; and these again mainly the result of the -continued use of a perfect language. At what age does the new-born -infant possess the power of abstraction, or become self-conscious, and -reflect on its own existence? We can not answer; nor can we answer in -regard to the ascending organic scale. The half-art, half-instinct of -language still bears the stamp of its gradual evolution. The ennobling -belief in God is not universal with man; and the belief in spiritual -agencies naturally follows from other mental powers. The moral sense -perhaps affords the best and highest distinction between man and the -lower animals; but I need say nothing on this head, as I have so lately -endeavored to show that the social instincts--the prime principle of -man’s moral constitution--with the aid of active intellectual powers -and the effects of habit, naturally lead to the golden rule, “As ye -would that men should do to you, do ye to them likewise”; and this lies -at the foundation of morality. - - -REGRET PECULIAR TO MAN, AND WHY. - - [Descent of - Man, page 112.] - -Why does man regret, even though trying to banish such regret, that -he has followed the one natural impulse rather than the other? and -why does he further feel that he ought to regret his conduct? Man in -this respect differs profoundly from the lower animals. Nevertheless -we can, I think, see with some degree of clearness the reason of this -difference. - -Man, from the activity of his mental faculties, can not avoid -reflection: past impressions and images are incessantly and clearly -passing through his mind. Now, with those animals which live -permanently in a body, the social instincts are ever present and -persistent. Such animals are always ready to utter the danger-signal, -to defend the community, and to give aid to their fellows in accordance -with their habits; they feel at all times, without the stimulus of any -special passion or desire, some degree of love and sympathy for them; -they are unhappy if long separated from them, and always happy to be -again in their company. So it is with ourselves. Even when we are quite -alone, how often do we think with pleasure or pain of what others think -of us--of their imagined approbation or disapprobation!--and this all -follows from sympathy, a fundamental element of the social instincts. -A man who possessed no trace of such instincts would be an unnatural -monster. On the other hand, the desire to satisfy hunger, or any -passion such as vengeance, is in its nature temporary, and can for a -time be fully satisfied. Nor is it easy, perhaps hardly possible, to -call up with complete vividness the feeling, for instance, of hunger; -nor, indeed, as has often been remarked, of any suffering. The instinct -of self-preservation is not felt except in the presence of danger; and -many a coward has thought himself brave until he has met his enemy face -to face. The wish for another man’s property is perhaps as persistent a -desire as any that can be named; but even in this case the satisfaction -of actual possession is generally a weaker feeling than the desire: -many a thief, if not an habitual one, after success has wondered why he -stole some article. - - -REMORSE EXPLAINED. - - [Page 114.] - -Several critics have objected that though some slight regret or -repentance may be explained by the view advocated in this chapter, it -is impossible thus to account for the soul-shaking feeling of remorse. -But I can see little force in this objection. My critics do not define -what they mean by remorse, and I can find no definition implying more -than an overwhelming sense of repentance. Remorse seems to bear the -same relation to repentance as rage does to anger, or agony to pain. It -is far from strange that an instinct so strong and so generally admired -as maternal love should, if disobeyed, lead to the deepest misery, as -soon as the impression of the past cause of disobedience is weakened. -Even when an action is opposed to no special instinct, merely to know -that our friends and equals despise us for it is enough to cause great -misery. Who can doubt that the refusal to fight a duel through fear -has caused many men an agony of shame? Many a Hindoo, it is said, has -been stirred to the bottom of his soul by having partaken of unclean -food. Here is another case of what must, I think, be called remorse. -Dr. Landor acted as a magistrate in West Australia, and relates that a -native on his farm, after losing one of his wives from disease, came -and said that “he was going to a distant tribe to spear a woman, to -satisfy his sense of duty to his wife.” I told him that if he did so -I would send him to prison for life. He remained about the farm for -some months, but got exceedingly thin, and complained that he could -not rest or eat, that his wife’s spirit was haunting him because he -had not taken a life for hers. I was inexorable, and assured him that -nothing should save him if he did. Nevertheless, the man disappeared -for more than a year, and then returned in high condition; and his -other wife told Dr. Landor that her husband had taken the life of a -woman belonging to a distant tribe; but it was impossible to obtain -legal evidence of the act. The breach of a rule held sacred by the -tribe will thus, as it seems, give rise to the deepest feelings, and -this quite apart from the social instincts, excepting in so far as the -rule is grounded on the judgment of the community. How so many strange -superstitions have arisen throughout the world we know not; nor can we -tell how some real and great crimes, such as incest, have come to be -held in an abhorrence (which is not, however, quite universal) by the -lowest savages. It is even doubtful whether in some tribes incest would -be looked on with greater horror than would the marriage of a man with -a woman bearing the same name, though not a relation. “To violate this -law is a crime which the Australians hold in the greatest abhorrence, -in this agreeing exactly with certain tribes of North America. When the -question is put in either district, is it worse to kill a girl of a -foreign tribe, or to marry a girl of one’s own, an answer just opposite -to ours would be given without hesitation.” We may, therefore, reject -the belief, lately insisted on by some writers, that the abhorrence of -incest is due to our possessing a special God-implanted conscience. - - -DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-CONTROL. - - [Page 115.] - -Man, prompted by his conscience, will through long habit acquire such -perfect self-command, that his desires and passions will at last -yield instantly and without a struggle to his social sympathies and -instincts, including his feeling for the judgment of his fellows. The -still hungry or the still revengeful man will not think of stealing -food, or of wreaking his vengeance. It is possible, or, as we shall -hereafter see, even probable, that the habit of self-command may, like -other habits, be inherited. Thus at last man comes to feel, through -acquired and perhaps inherited habit, that it is best for him to obey -his more persistent impulses. The imperious word _ought_ seems merely -to imply the consciousness of the existence of a rule of conduct, -however it may have originated. Formerly it must have been often -vehemently urged that an insulted gentleman _ought_ to fight a duel. We -even say that a pointer _ought_ to point, and a retriever to retrieve -game. If they fail to do so, they fail in their duty and act wrongly. - -If any desire or instinct leading to an action opposed to the good of -others still appears, when recalled to mind, as strong as, or stronger -than, the social instinct, a man will feel no keen regret at having -followed it; but he will be conscious that, if his conduct were known -to his fellows, it would meet with their disapprobation; and few are so -destitute of sympathy as not to feel discomfort when this is realized. -If he has no such sympathy, and if his desires leading to bad actions -are at the time strong, and when recalled are not overmastered by the -persistent social instincts and the judgment of others, then he is -essentially a bad man; and the sole restraining motive left is the fear -of punishment, and the conviction that in the long run it would be best -for his own selfish interests to regard the good of others rather than -his own. - -It is obvious that every one may with an easy conscience gratify his -own desires, if they do not interfere with his social instincts, -that is, with the good of others; but in order to be quite free -from self-reproach, or at least of anxiety, it is almost necessary -for him to avoid the disapprobation, whether reasonable or not, of -his fellow-men. Nor must he break through the fixed habits of his -life, especially if these are supported by reason; for, if he does, -he will assuredly feel dissatisfaction. He must likewise avoid the -reprobation of the one God or gods in whom, according to his knowledge -or superstition, he may believe; but in this case the additional fear -of divine punishment often supervenes. - - -VARIABILITY OF CONSCIENCE. - - [Page 117.] - -Suicide during former times was not generally considered as a crime, -but rather, from the courage displayed, as an honorable act; and it -is still practiced by some semi-civilized and savage nations without -reproach, for it does not obviously concern others of the tribe. It -has been recorded that an Indian thug conscientiously regretted that -he had not robbed and strangled as many travelers as did his father -before him. In a rude state of civilization the robbery of strangers -is, indeed, generally considered as honorable. - -Slavery, although in some way beneficial during ancient times, is a -great crime; yet it was not so regarded until quite recently, even by -the most civilized nations. And this was especially the case because -the slaves belonged in general to a race different from that of their -masters. As barbarians do not regard the opinion of their women, wives -are commonly treated like slaves. - - * * * * * - - [Page 122.] - -How so many absurd rules of conduct, as well as so many absurd -religious beliefs, have originated, we do not know; nor how it is that -they have become, in all quarters of the world, so deeply impressed on -the minds of men; but it is worthy of remark that a belief constantly -inculcated during the early years of life, while the brain is -impressible, appears to acquire almost the nature of an instinct; and -the very essence of an instinct is that it is followed independently -of reason. Neither can we say why certain admirable virtues, such as -the love of truth, are much more highly appreciated by some savage -tribes than by others; nor, again, why similar differences prevail even -among highly civilized nations. Knowing how firmly fixed many strange -customs and superstitions have become, we need feel no surprise that -the self-regarding virtues, supported as they are by reason, should now -appear to us so natural as to be thought innate, although they were not -valued by man in his early condition. - - * * * * * - - [Page 121.] - -The wishes and opinions of the members of the same community, expressed -at first orally, but later by writing also, either form the sole guides -of our conduct, or greatly re-enforce the social instincts; such -opinions, however, have sometimes a tendency directly opposed to these -instincts. This latter fact is well exemplified by the _law of honor_, -that is, the law of the opinion of our equals, and not of all our -countrymen. The breach of this law, even when the breach is known to be -strictly accordant with true morality, has caused many a man more agony -than a real crime. We recognize the same influence in the burning sense -of shame which most of us have felt, even after the interval of years, -when calling to mind some accidental breach of a trifling, though -fixed, rule of etiquette. - - -PROGRESS NOT AN INVARIABLE RULE. - - [Descent of - Man, page 140.] - -We must remember that progress is no invariable rule. It is very -difficult to say why one civilized nation rises, becomes more -powerful, and spreads more widely, than another; or why the same -nation progresses more quickly at one time than at another. We can -only say that it depends on an increase in the actual number of the -population, on the number of the men endowed with high intellectual and -moral faculties, as well as on their standard of excellence. Corporeal -structure appears to have little influence, except so far as vigor of -body leads to vigor of mind. - -It has been urged by several writers that, as high intellectual powers -are advantageous to a nation, the old Greeks, who stood some grades -higher in intellect than any race that has ever existed, ought, if the -power of natural selection were real, to have risen still higher in -the scale, increased in number, and stocked the whole of Europe. Here -we have the tacit assumption, so often made with respect to corporeal -structures, that there is some innate tendency toward continued -development in mind and body. But development of all kinds depends -on many concurrent favorable circumstances. Natural selection acts -only tentatively. Individuals and races may have acquired certain -indisputable advantages, and yet have perished from failing in other -characters. The Greeks may have retrograded from a want of coherence -between the many small states, from the small size of their whole -country, from the practice of slavery, or from extreme sensuality; for -they did not succumb until “they were enervated and corrupt to the -very core.” The Western nations of Europe, who now so immeasurably -surpass their former savage progenitors, and stand at the summit -of civilization, owe little or none of their superiority to direct -inheritance from the old Greeks, though they owe much to the written -works of that wonderful people. - - * * * * * - - [Page 142.] - -The remarkable success of the English as colonists, compared to other -European nations, has been ascribed to their “daring and persistent -energy”; a result which is well illustrated by comparing the progress -of the Canadians of English and French extraction; but who can say how -the English gained their energy? There is apparently much truth in the -belief that the wonderful progress of the United States, as well as the -character of the people, is the result of natural selection; for the -more energetic, restless, and courageous men from all parts of Europe -have emigrated during the last ten or twelve generations to that great -country, and have there succeeded best. - - -ALL CIVILIZED NATIONS ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF BARBARIANS. - - [Page 144.] - -The evidence that all civilized nations are the descendants of -barbarians consists, on the one side, of clear traces of their former -low condition in still-existing customs, beliefs, language, etc.; -and, on the other side, of proofs that savages are independently able -to raise themselves a few steps in the scale of civilization, and -have actually thus risen. The evidence on the first head is extremely -curious, but can not be here given: I refer to such cases as that of -the art of enumeration, which, as Mr. Tylor clearly shows by reference -to the words still used in some places, originated in counting the -fingers, first of one hand and then of the other, and lastly of -the toes. We have traces of this in our own decimal system, and in -the Roman numerals, where, after the V, which is supposed to be an -abbreviated picture of a human hand, we pass on to VI, etc., when the -other hand no doubt was used. So again, “when we speak of threescore -and ten, we are counting by the vigesimal system, each score thus -ideally made standing for 20--for ‘one man’ as a Mexican or Carib would -put it.” According to a large and increasing school of philologists, -every language bears the marks of its slow and gradual evolution. So -it is with the art of writing, for letters are rudiments of pictorial -representations. It is hardly possible to read Mr. McLennan’s work and -not admit that almost all civilized nations still retain traces of such -rude habits as the forcible capture of wives. What ancient nation, as -the same author asks, can be named that was originally monogamous? The -primitive idea of justice, as shown by the law of battle and other -customs of which vestiges still remain, was likewise most rude. Many -existing superstitions are the remnants of former false religious -beliefs. The highest form of religion--the grand idea of God hating sin -and loving righteousness--was unknown during primeval times. - -Turning to the other kind of evidence: Sir J. Lubbock has shown that -some savages have recently improved a little in some of their simpler -arts. From the extremely curious account which he gives of the weapons, -tools, and arts in use among savages in various parts of the world, -it can not be doubted that these have nearly all been independent -discoveries, excepting perhaps the art of making fire. The Australian -boomerang is a good instance of one such independent discovery. The -Tahitians when first visited had advanced in many respects beyond -the inhabitants of most of the other Polynesian islands. There are -no just grounds for the belief that the high culture of the native -Peruvians and Mexicans was derived from abroad; many native plants -were there cultivated, and a few native animals domesticated. We -should bear in mind that, judging from the small influence of most -missionaries, a wandering crew from some semi-civilized land, if washed -to the shores of America, would not have produced any marked effect -on the natives, unless they had already become somewhat advanced. -Looking to a very remote period in the history of the world, we -find, to use Sir J. Lubbock’s well-known terms, a paleolithic and -neolithic period; and no one will pretend that the art of grinding -rough flint tools was a borrowed one. In all parts of Europe, as far -east as Greece, in Palestine, India, Japan, New Zealand, and Africa, -including Egypt, flint tools have been discovered in abundance; and -of their use the existing inhabitants retain no tradition. There is -also indirect evidence of their former use by the Chinese and ancient -Jews. Hence there can hardly be a doubt that the inhabitants of these -countries, which include nearly the whole civilized world, were -once in a barbarous condition. To believe that man was aboriginally -civilized and then suffered utter degradation in so many regions is -to take a pitiably low view of human nature. It is apparently a truer -and more cheerful view that progress has been much more general than -retrogression; that man has risen, though by slow and interrupted -steps, from a lowly condition to the highest standard as yet attained -by him in knowledge, morals, and religion. - - -“THE ENNOBLING BELIEF IN GOD.” - - [Descent of - Man, page 93.] - -There is no evidence that man was aboriginally endowed with the -ennobling belief in the existence of an Omnipotent God. On the -contrary, there is ample evidence, derived not from hasty travelers, -but from men who have long resided with savages, that numerous races -have existed, and still exist, who have no idea of one or more gods, -and who have no words in their languages to express such an idea. The -question is, of course, wholly distinct from that higher one, whether -there exists a Creator and Ruler of the universe; and this has been -answered in the affirmative by some of the highest intellects that have -ever existed. - -If, however, we include under the term “religion” the belief in -unseen or spiritual agencies, the case is wholly different; for this -belief seems to be universal with the less civilized races. Nor is -it difficult to comprehend how it arose. As soon as the important -faculties of the imagination--wonder and curiosity, together with some -power of reasoning--had become partially developed, man would naturally -crave to understand what was passing around him, and would have vaguely -speculated on his own existence. As Mr. McLennan has remarked: “Some -explanation of the phenomena of life a man must feign for himself; and, -to judge from the universality of it, the simplest hypothesis, and -the first to occur to men, seems to have been that natural phenomena -are ascribable to the presence in animals, plants, and things, and in -the forces of nature, of such spirits prompting to action as men are -conscious they themselves possess.” It is also probable, as Mr. Tylor -has shown, that dreams may have first given rise to the notion of -spirits; for savages do not readily distinguish between subjective and -objective impressions. When a savage dreams, the figures which appear -before him are believed to have come from a distance, and to stand over -him; or “the soul of the dreamer goes out on its travels, and comes -home with a remembrance of what it has seen.” But, until the faculties -of imagination, curiosity, reason, etc., had been fairly well developed -in the mind of man, his dreams would not have led him to believe in -spirits, any more than in the case of a dog. - -The tendency in savages to imagine that natural objects and agencies -are animated by spiritual or living essences is, perhaps, illustrated -by a little fact which I once noticed. My dog, a full-grown and very -sensible animal, was lying on the lawn during a hot and still day; -but at a little distance a slight breeze occasionally moved an open -parasol, which would have been wholly disregarded by the dog had any -one stood near it. As it was, every time that the parasol slightly -moved, the dog growled fiercely and barked. He must, I think, have -reasoned to himself, in a rapid and unconscious manner, that movement, -without any apparent cause, indicated the presence of some strange -living agent, and that no stranger had a right to be on his territory. - -The belief in spiritual agencies would easily pass into the belief -in the existence of one or more gods. For savages would naturally -attribute to spirits the same passions, the same love of vengeance, -or simplest form of justice, and the same affections, which they -themselves feel. The Fuegians appear to be in this respect in an -intermediate condition, for, when the surgeon on board the Beagle shot -some young ducklings as specimens, York Minster declared, in the most -solemn manner, “Oh, Mr. Bynoe, much rain, much snow, blow much”; and -this was evidently a retributive punishment for wasting human food. -So, again, he related how, when his brother killed a “wild man,” storms -long raged, much rain and snow fell. Yet we could never discover that -the Fuegians believed in what we should call a God, or practiced any -religious rites; and Jemmy Button, with justifiable pride, stoutly -maintained that there was no devil in his land. This latter assertion -is the more remarkable, as with savages the belief in bad spirits is -far more common than that in good ones. - -The feeling of religious devotion is a highly complex one, consisting -of love, complete submission to an exalted and mysterious superior, -a strong sense of dependence, fear, reverence, gratitude, hope for -the future, and perhaps other elements. No being could experience -so complex an emotion until advanced in his intellectual and moral -faculties to at least a moderately high level. Nevertheless, we see -some distant approach to this state of mind in the deep love of a dog -for his master, associated with complete submission, some fear, and -perhaps other feelings. The behavior of a dog, when returning to his -master after an absence, and, as I may add, of a monkey to his beloved -keeper, is widely different from that toward their fellows. In the -latter case, the transports of joy appear to be somewhat less, and the -sense of equality is shown in every action. Professor Braubach goes so -far as to maintain that a dog looks on his master as on a god. - -The same high mental faculties which first led man to believe in unseen -spiritual agencies, then in fetichism, polytheism, and ultimately -in monotheism, would infallibly lead him, as long as his reasoning -powers remained poorly developed, to various strange superstitions and -customs. Many of these are terrible to think of--such as the sacrifice -of human beings to a blood-loving god; the trial of innocent persons -by the ordeal of poison or fire; witchcraft, etc.--yet it is well -occasionally to reflect on these superstitions, for they show us what -an infinite debt of gratitude we owe to the improvement of our reason, -to science, and to our accumulated knowledge. As Sir J. Lubbock has -well observed, “It is not too much to say that the horrible dread of -unknown evil hangs like a thick cloud over savage life, and embitters -every pleasure.” These miserable and indirect consequences of our -highest faculties may be compared with the incidental and occasional -mistakes of the instincts of the lower animals. - - - - -X. - -THE GENEALOGY OF MAN. - - - [Descent of - Man, page 146.] - -Some naturalists, from being deeply impressed with the mental and -spiritual powers of man, have divided the whole organic world into -three kingdoms, the human, the animal, and the vegetable, thus giving -to man a separate kingdom. Spiritual powers can not be compared or -classed by the naturalist: but he may endeavor to show, as I have done, -that the mental faculties of man and the lower animals do not differ -in kind, although immensely in degree. A difference in degree, however -great, does not justify us in placing man in a distinct kingdom, -as will perhaps be best illustrated by comparing the mental powers -of two insects, namely, a coccus or scale-insect and an ant, which -undoubtedly belong to the same class. The difference is here greater -than, though of a somewhat different kind from, that between man and -the highest mammal. The female coccus, while young, attaches itself -by its proboscis to a plant; sucks the sap, but never moves again; is -fertilized and lays eggs; and this is its whole history. On the other -hand, to describe the habits and mental powers of worker-ants would -require, as Pierre Huber has shown, a large volume; I may, however, -briefly specify a few points. Ants certainly communicate information -to each other, and several unite for the same work, or for games of -play. They recognize their fellow-ants after months of absence, and -feel sympathy for each other. They build great edifices, keep them -clean, close the doors in the evening, and post sentries. They make -roads as well as tunnels under rivers, and temporary bridges over -them, by clinging together. They collect food for the community, and, -when an object, too large for entrance, is brought to the nest, they -enlarge the door, and afterward build it up again. They store up -seeds, of which they prevent the germination, and which, if damp, are -brought up to the surface to dry. They keep aphides and other insects -as milch-cows. They go out to battle in regular bands, and freely -sacrifice their lives for the common weal. They emigrate according to -a preconcerted plan. They capture slaves. They move the eggs of their -aphides, as well as their own eggs and cocoons, into warm parts of the -nest, in order that they may be quickly hatched; and endless similar -facts could be given. On the whole, the difference in mental power -between an ant and a coccus is immense; yet no one has ever dreamed -of placing these insects in distinct classes, much less in distinct -kingdoms. No doubt the difference is bridged over by other insects; and -this is not the case with man and the higher apes. But we have every -reason to believe that the breaks in the series are simply the results -of many forms having become extinct. - - -MAN A SUB-ORDER. - - [Page 149.] - -The greater number of naturalists who have taken into consideration the -whole structure of man, including his mental faculties, have followed -Blumenbach and Cuvier, and have placed man in a separate order, -under the title of the Bimana, and therefore on an equality with the -orders of the Quadrumana, Carnivora, etc. Recently many of our best -naturalists have recurred to the view first propounded by Linnæus, so -remarkable for his sagacity, and have placed man in the same order -with the Quadrumana, under the title of the Primates. The justice of -this conclusion will be admitted: for, in the first place, we must -bear in mind the comparative insignificance for classification of the -great development of the brain in man, and that the strongly-marked -differences between the skulls of man and the Quadrumana (lately -insisted upon by Bischoff, Aeby, and others) apparently follow from -their differently developed brains. In the second place, we must -remember that nearly all the other and more important differences -between man and the Quadrumana are manifestly adaptive in their nature, -and relate chiefly to the erect position of man; such as the structure -of his hand, foot, and pelvis, the curvature of his spine, and the -position of his head. The family of seals offers a good illustration of -the small importance of adaptive characters for classification. These -animals differ from all other Carnivora in the form of their bodies and -in the structure of their limbs, far more than does man from the higher -apes; yet in most systems, from that of Cuvier to the most recent one -by Mr. Flower, seals are ranked as a mere family in the order of the -Carnivora. If man had not been his own classifier, he would never have -thought of founding a separate order for his own reception. - - * * * * * - - [Page 152.] - -As far as differences in certain important points of structure are -concerned, man may no doubt rightly claim the rank of a sub-order; and -this rank is too low, if we look chiefly to his mental faculties. -Nevertheless, from a genealogical point of view, it appears that this -rank is too high, and that man ought to form merely a family, or -possibly even only a sub-family. If we imagine three lines of descent -proceeding from a common stock, it is quite conceivable that two of -them might after the lapse of ages be so slightly changed as still to -remain as species of the same genus, while the third line might become -so greatly modified as to deserve to rank as a distinct sub-family, -family, or even order. But in this case it is almost certain that -the third line would still retain through inheritance numerous small -points of resemblance with the other two. Here, then, would occur the -difficulty, at present insoluble, how much weight we ought to assign -in our classifications to strongly-marked differences in some few -points--that is, to the amount of modification undergone--and how much -to close resemblance in numerous unimportant points, as indicating the -lines of descent of genealogy. To attach much weight to the few but -strong differences is the most obvious and perhaps the safest course, -though it appears more correct to pay great attention to the many small -resemblances, as giving a truly natural classification. - -In forming a judgment on this head with reference to man, we must -glance at the classification of the _Simiadæ_. This family is divided -by almost all naturalists into the Catarrhine group, or Old World -monkeys, all of which are characterized (as their name expresses) -by the peculiar structure of their nostrils, and by having four -premolars in each jaw; and into the Platyrrhine group or New World -monkeys (including two very distinct sub-groups), all of which are -characterized by differently constructed nostrils, and by having -six premolars in each jaw. Some other small differences might be -mentioned. Now man unquestionably belongs in his dentition, in the -structure of his nostrils, and some other respects, to the Catarrhine -or Old World division; nor does he resemble the Platyrrhines more -closely than the Catarrhines in any characters, excepting in a few -of not much importance and apparently of an adaptive nature. It is, -therefore, against all probability that some New World species should -have formerly varied and produced a man-like creature, with all the -distinctive characters proper to the Old World division, losing at the -same time all its own distinctive characters. There can, consequently, -hardly be a doubt that man is an offshoot from the Old World Simian -stem, and that, under a genealogical point of view, he must be classed -with the Catarrhine division. - - * * * * * - - [Page 155.] - -And, as man from a genealogical point of view belongs to the Catarrhine -or Old World stock, we must conclude, however much the conclusion may -revolt our pride, that our early progenitors would have been properly -thus designated. But we must not fall into the error of supposing that -the early progenitor of the whole Simian stock, including man, was -identical with, or even closely resembled, any existing ape or monkey. - - -THE BIRTHPLACE OF MAN. - - [Page 155.] - -We are naturally led to inquire, where was the birthplace of man at -that stage of descent when our progenitors diverged from the Catarrhine -stock? The fact that they belonged to this stock clearly shows that -they inhabited the Old World; but not Australia nor any oceanic island, -as we may infer from the laws of geographical distribution. In each -great region of the world the living mammals are closely related to -the extinct species of the same region. It is, therefore, probable -that Africa was formerly inhabited by extinct apes closely allied to -the gorilla and chimpanzee; and, as these two species are now man’s -nearest allies, it is somewhat more probable that our early progenitors -lived on the African Continent than elsewhere. But it is useless to -speculate on this subject; for two or three anthropomorphous apes, -one the Dryopithecus of Lartet, nearly as large as a man, and closely -allied to Hylobates, existed in Europe during the Miocene age; and -since so remote a period the earth has certainly undergone many great -revolutions, and there has been ample time for migration on the largest -scale. - -At the period and place, whenever and wherever it was, when man -first lost his hairy covering, he probably inhabited a hot country; -a circumstance favorable for the frugiferous diet on which, judging -from analogy, he subsisted. We are far from knowing how long ago it -was when man first diverged from the Catarrhine stock; but it may have -occurred at an epoch as remote as the Eocene[A] period; for that the -higher apes have diverged from the lower apes as early as the Upper -Miocene period is shown by the existence of the Dryopithecus. We are -also quite ignorant at how rapid a rate organisms, whether high or low -in the scale, may be modified under favorable circumstances; we know, -however, that some have retained the same form during an enormous -lapse of time. From what we see going on under domestication, we learn -that some of the co-descendants of the same species may be not at all, -some a little, and some greatly changed, all within the same period. -Thus it may have been with man, who has undergone a great amount of -modification in certain characters in comparison with the higher apes. - - [A] EOCENE.--The earliest of the three divisions of the - Tertiary epoch of geologists. Rocks of this age contain - a small proportion of shells identical with species now - living. - -The great break in the organic chain between man and his nearest -allies, which can not be bridged over by any extinct or living species, -has often been advanced as a grave objection to the belief that man -is descended from some lower form; but this objection will not appear -of much weight to those who, from general reasons, believe in the -general principle of evolution. Breaks often occur in all parts of the -series, some being wide, sharp, and defined, others less so in various -degrees; as between the orang and its nearest allies--between the -Tarsius and the other _Lemuridæ_--between the elephant, and in a more -striking manner between the Ornithorhynchus or Echidna, and all other -mammals. But these breaks depend merely on the number of related forms -which have become extinct. At some future period, not very distant as -measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly -exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. At the -same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has -remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his -nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in -a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and -some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or -Australian and the gorilla. - -With respect to the absence of fossil remains, serving to connect man -with his ape-like progenitors, no one will lay much stress on this fact -who reads Sir C. Lyell’s discussion, where he shows that in all the -vertebrate classes the discovery of fossil remains has been a very slow -and fortuitous process. Nor should it be forgotten that those regions -which are the most likely to afford remains connecting man with some -extinct ape-like creature, have not as yet been searched by geologists. - -In attempting to trace the genealogy of the Mammalia, and therefore -of man, lower down in the series, we become involved in greater and -greater obscurity; but as a most capable judge, Mr. Parker, has -remarked, we have good reason to believe that no true bird or reptile -intervenes in the direct line of descent. - - -ORIGIN OF THE VERTEBRATA. - - [Page 158.] - -[The Vertebrata are defined as “the highest division of the animal -kingdom, so called from the presence in most cases of a backbone -composed of numerous joints or _vertebræ_, which constitutes the center -of the skeleton and at the same time supports and protects the central -parts of the nervous system.”] - -Every evolutionist will admit that the five great vertebrate classes, -namely, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fishes, are descended -from some one prototype; for they have much in common, especially -during their embryonic state. As the class of fishes is the most lowly -organized, and appeared before the others, we may conclude that all -the members of the vertebrate kingdom are derived from some fish-like -animal. The belief that animals so distinct as a monkey, an elephant, a -hummingbird, a snake, a frog, and a fish, etc., could all have sprung -from the same parents, will appear monstrous to those who have not -attended to the recent progress of natural history. For this belief -implies the former existence of links binding closely together all -these forms, now so utterly unlike. - -Nevertheless, it is certain that groups of animals have existed, or -do now exist, which serve to connect several of the great vertebrate -classes more or less closely. We have seen that the Ornithorhynchus -graduates toward reptiles; and Professor Huxley has discovered, and is -confirmed by Mr. Cope and others, that the Dinosaurians are in many -important characters intermediate between certain reptiles and certain -birds--the birds referred to being the ostrich-tribe (itself evidently -a widely-diffused remnant of a larger group) and the Archeopteryx, that -strange Secondary bird, with a long, lizard-like tail. Again, according -to Professor Owen, the Ichthyosaurians--great sea-lizards furnished -with paddles--present many affinities with fishes, or rather, according -to Huxley, with amphibians; a class which, including in its highest -division frogs and toads, is plainly allied to the Ganoid fishes. -These latter fishes swarmed during the earlier geological periods, and -were constructed on what is called a generalized type, that is, they -presented diversified affinities with other groups of organisms. The -Lepidosiren is also so closely allied to amphibians and fishes that -naturalists long disputed in which of these two classes to rank it; -it, and also some few Ganoid fishes have been preserved from utter -extinction by inhabiting rivers, which are harbors of refuge, and are -related to the great waters of the ocean in the same way that islands -are to continents. - -Lastly, one single member of the immense and diversified class of -fishes, namely, the lancelet or amphioxus, is so different from all -other fishes, that Häckel maintains that it ought to form a distinct -class in the vertebrate kingdom. This fish is remarkable for its -negative characters; it can hardly be said to possess a brain, -vertebral column, or heart, etc., so that it was classed by the older -naturalists among the worms. Many years ago Professor Goodsir perceived -that the lancelet presented some affinities with the Ascidians, which -are invertebrate, hermaphrodite, marine creatures permanently attached -to a support. They hardly appear like animals, and consist of a simple, -tough, leathery sack, with two small projecting orifices. They belong -to the Molluscoida of Huxley--a lower division of the great kingdom of -the Mollusca; but they have recently been placed by some naturalists -among the Vermes or worms. Their larvæ somewhat resemble tadpoles in -shape, and have the power of swimming freely about. M. Kovalevsky -has lately observed that the larvæ of Ascidians are related to the -Vertebrata, in their manner of development, in the relative position -of the nervous system, and in possessing a structure closely like the -_chorda dorsalis_ of vertebrate animals; and in this he has been since -confirmed by Professor Kupffer. - - * * * * * - - [Page 160.] - -Thus, if we may rely on embryology, ever the safest guide in -classification, it seems that we have at last gained a clew to -the source whence the Vertebrata were derived. We should then be -justified in believing that at an extremely remote period a group of -animals existed, resembling in many respects the larvæ of our present -Ascidians, which diverged into two great branches--the one retrograding -in development and producing the present class of Ascidians, the other -rising to the crown and summit of the animal kingdom by giving birth to -the Vertebrata. - - -FROM NO BONE TO BACKBONE. - - [Page 164.] - -The most ancient progenitors in the kingdom of the Vertebrata, at which -we are able to obtain an obscure glance, apparently consisted of a -group of marine animals, resembling the larvæ of existing Ascidians. -These animals probably gave rise to a group of fishes, as lowly -organized as the lancelet; and from these the Ganoids, and other fishes -like the Lepidosiren, must have been developed. From such fish a very -small advance would carry us on to the Amphibians. We have seen that -birds and reptiles were once intimately connected together; and the -Monotremata now connect mammals with reptiles in a slight degree. But -no one can at present say by what line of descent the three higher and -related classes, namely, mammals, birds, and reptiles, were derived -from the two lower vertebrate classes, namely, amphibians and fishes. -In the class of mammals the steps are not difficult to conceive which -led from the ancient Monotremata to the ancient Marsupials; and from -these to the early progenitors of the placental mammals. We may thus -ascend to the _Lemuridæ_; and the interval is not very wide from these -to the _Simiadæ_. The _Simiadæ_ then branched off into two great stems, -the New World and Old World monkeys; and from the latter, at a remote -period, Man, the wonder and glory of the universe, proceeded. - -Thus, we have given to man a pedigree of prodigious length, but -not, it may be said, of noble quality. The world, it has often been -remarked, appears as if it had long been preparing for the advent of -man: and this, in one sense, is strictly true, for he owes his birth -to a long line of progenitors. If any single link in this chain had -never existed, man would not have been exactly what he now is. Unless -we willfully close our eyes, we may, with our present knowledge, -approximately recognize our parentage; nor need we feel ashamed of it. -The most humble organism is something much higher than the inorganic -dust under our feet; and no one with an unbiased mind can study any -living creature, however humble, without being struck with enthusiasm -at its marvelous structure and properties. - - -DOES MANKIND CONSIST OF SEVERAL SPECIES? - - [Descent of - Man, page 176.] - -The question whether mankind consists of one or several species has of -late years been much discussed by anthropologists, who are divided into -the two schools of monogenists and polygenists. Those who do not admit -the principle of evolution must look at species as separate creations, -or as in some manner as distinct entities; and they must decide what -forms of man they will consider as species by the analogy of the method -commonly pursued in ranking other organic beings as species. But it -is a hopeless endeavor to decide this point, until some definition of -the term “species” is generally accepted; and the definition must not -include an indeterminate element such as an act of creation. We might -as well attempt without any definition to decide whether a certain -number of houses should be called a village, town, or city. We have a -practical illustration of the difficulty in the never-ending doubts -whether many closely-allied mammals, birds, insects, and plants, which -represent each other respectively in North America and Europe, should -be ranked as species or geographical races; and the like holds true of -the productions of many islands situated at some little distance from -the nearest continent. - -Those naturalists, on the other hand, who admit the principle of -evolution, and this is now admitted by the majority of rising men, will -feel no doubt that all the races of man are descended from a single -primitive stock; whether or not they may think fit to designate the -races as distinct species, for the sake of expressing their amount of -difference. With our domestic animals, the question whether the various -races have arisen from one or more species is somewhat different. -Although it may be admitted that all the races, as well as all the -natural species within the same genus, have sprung from the same -primitive stock, yet it is a fit subject for discussion whether all the -domestic races of the dog, for instance, have acquired their present -amount of difference since some one species was first domesticated by -man; or whether they owe some of their characters to inheritance from -distinct species which had already been differentiated in a state of -nature. With man no such question can arise, for he can not be said to -have been domesticated at any particular period. - -During an early stage in the divergence of the races of man from a -common stock, the differences between the races and their number -must have been small; consequently, as far as their distinguishing -characters are concerned, they then had less claim to rank as distinct -species than the existing so-called races. Nevertheless, so arbitrary -is the term of species, that such early races would, perhaps, have been -ranked by some naturalists as distinct species, if their differences, -although extremely slight, had been more constant than they are at -present, and had not graduated into each other. - - -THE RACES GRADUATE INTO EACH OTHER. - - [Page 174.] - -But the most weighty of all the arguments against treating the races -of man as distinct species is, that they graduate into each other, -independently, in many cases, as far as we can judge, of their having -intercrossed. Man has been studied more carefully than any other -animal, and yet there is the greatest possible diversity among capable -judges whether he should be classed as a single species or race, or as -two (Virey), as three (Jacqninot), as four (Kant), five (Blumenbach), -six (Buffon), seven (Hunter), eight (Agassiz), eleven (Pickering), -fifteen (Bory St. Vincent), sixteen (Desmoulins), twenty-two (Morton), -sixty (Crawfurd), or as sixty-three, according to Burke. This diversity -of judgment does not prove that the races ought not to be ranked as -species, but it shows that they graduate into each other, and that it -is hardly possible to discover clear, distinctive characters between -them. - -Every naturalist who has had the misfortune to undertake the -description of a group of highly-varying organisms, has encountered -cases (I speak after experience) precisely like that of man; and, if -of a cautious disposition, he will end by uniting all the forms which -graduate into each other under a single species; for he will say to -himself that he has no right to give names to objects which he can -not define. Cases of this kind occur in the order which includes man, -namely, in certain genera of monkeys; while in other genera, as in -_Cercopithecus_, most of the species can be determined with certainty. -In the American genus _Cebus_, the various forms are ranked by some -naturalists as species, by others as mere geographical races. Now, if -numerous specimens of _Cebus_ were collected from all parts of South -America, and those forms which at present appear to be specifically -distinct were found to graduate into each other by close steps, they -would usually be ranked as mere varieties or races; and this course has -been followed by most naturalists with respect to the races of man. - - -WAS THE FIRST MAN A SPEAKING ANIMAL? - - [Page 180.] - -From the fundamental differences between certain languages, some -philologists have inferred that when man first became widely diffused, -he was not a speaking animal; but it may be suspected that languages, -far less perfect than any now spoken, aided by gestures, might -have been used, and yet have left no traces on subsequent and more -highly-developed tongues. Without the use of some language, however -imperfect, it appears doubtful whether man’s intellect could have risen -to the standard implied by his dominant position at an early period. - -Whether primeval man, when he possessed but few arts, and those of the -rudest kind, and when his power of language was extremely imperfect, -would have deserved to be called man, must depend on the definition -which we employ. In a series of forms graduating insensibly from some -ape-like creature to man as he now exists, it would be impossible to -fix on any definite point when the term “man” ought to be used. But -this is a matter of very little importance. So, again, it is almost -a matter of indifference whether the so-called races of man are thus -designated, or are ranked as species or sub-species; but the latter -term appears the more appropriate. Finally, we may conclude that, when -the principle of evolution is generally accepted, as it surely will be -before long, the dispute between the monogenists and the polygenists -will die a silent and unobserved death. - - -THE THEORY OF A SINGLE PAIR. - -One other question ought not to be passed over without notice, namely, -whether, as is sometimes assumed, each sub-species or race of man -has sprung from a single pair of progenitors. With our domestic -animals a new race can readily be formed by carefully matching the -varying offspring from a single pair, or even from a single individual -possessing some new character; but most of our races have been formed, -not intentionally from a selected pair, but unconsciously, by the -preservation of many individuals which have varied, however slightly, -in some useful or desired manner. If in one country stronger and -heavier horses, and in another country lighter and fleeter ones were -habitually preferred, we may feel sure that two distinct sub-breeds -would be produced in the course of time, without any one pair having -been separated and bred from in either country. Many races have been -thus formed, and their manner of formation is closely analogous to -that of natural species. We know, also, that the horses taken to the -Falkland Islands have, during successive generations, become smaller -and weaker, while those which have run wild on the Pampas have acquired -larger and coarser heads; and such changes are manifestly due, not to -any one pair, but to all the individuals having been subjected to the -same conditions, aided, perhaps, by the principle of reversion. The -new sub-breeds in such cases are not descended from any single pair, -but from many individuals which have varied in different degrees, but -in the same general manner; and we may conclude that the races of man -have been similarly produced, the modifications being either the direct -result of exposure to different conditions, or the indirect result of -some form of selection. - - -CIVILIZED OUT OF EXISTENCE. - - [Descent of - Man, page 183.] - -When Tasmania was first colonized the natives were roughly estimated -by some at seven thousand and by others at twenty thousand. Their -number was soon greatly reduced, chiefly by fighting with the English -and with each other. After the famous hunt by all the colonists, when -the remaining natives delivered themselves up to the government, they -consisted only of one hundred and twenty individuals, who were in 1832 -transported to Flinders Island. This island, situated between Tasmania -and Australia, is forty miles long, and from twelve to eighteen -miles broad: it seems healthy, and the natives were well treated. -Nevertheless, they suffered greatly in health. In 1834 they consisted -(Bonwick, p. 250) of forty-seven adult males, forty-eight adult -females, and sixteen children, or in all of one hundred and eleven -souls. In 1835 only one hundred were left. As they continued rapidly to -decrease, and as they themselves thought that they should not perish -so quickly elsewhere, they were removed in 1847 to Oyster Cove in the -southern part of Tasmania. They then consisted (December 20, 1847) of -fourteen men, twenty-two women, and ten children. But the change of -site did no good. Disease and death still pursued them, and in 1864 -one man (who died in 1869) and three elderly women alone survived. -The infertility of the women is even a more remarkable fact than the -liability of all to ill-health and death. At the time when only nine -women were left at Oyster Cove, they told Mr. Bonwick (p. 386), that -only two had ever borne children: and these two had together produced -only three children! - -With respect to the cause of this extraordinary state of things, -Dr. Story remarks that death followed the attempts to civilize -the natives. “If left to themselves to roam as they were wont and -undisturbed, they would have reared more children, and there would have -been less mortality.” Another careful observer of the natives, Mr. -Davis, remarks: “The births have been few and the deaths numerous. This -may have been in a great measure owing to their change of living and -food; but more so to their banishment from the mainland of Van Diemen’s -Land, and consequent depression of spirits” (Bonwick, pp. 388, 390). - - * * * * * - - [Page 191.] - -Although the gradual decrease and ultimate extinction of the races of -man is a highly complex problem, depending on many causes which differ -in different places and at different times, it is the same problem -as that presented by the extinction of one of the higher animals--of -the fossil horse, for instance, which disappeared from South America, -soon afterward to be replaced, within the same districts, by countless -troops of the Spanish horse. The New-Zealander seems conscious of this -parallelism, for he compares his future fate with that of the native -rat, now almost exterminated by the European rat. Though the difficulty -is great to our imagination, and really great, if we wish to ascertain -the precise causes and their manner of action, it ought not to be so to -our reason, as long as we keep steadily in mind that the increase of -each species and each race is constantly checked in various ways; so -that, if any new check, even a slight one, be superadded, the race will -surely decrease in number; and decreasing numbers will sooner or later -lead to extinction; the end, in most cases, being promptly determined -by the inroads of conquering tribes. - - - - -XI. - -SEXUAL SELECTION AS AN AGENCY TO ACCOUNT FOR THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN -THE RACES OF MAN. - - - [Descent of - Man, page 198.] - -We have thus far been baffled in all our attempts to account for -the differences between the races of man; but there remains one -important agency, namely, sexual selection, which appears to have -acted powerfully on man, as on many other animals. I do not intend -to assert that sexual selection will account for all the differences -between the races. An unexplained residuum is left, about which we -can only say, in our ignorance, that as individuals are continually -born with, for instance, heads a little rounder or narrower, and with -noses a little longer or shorter, such slight differences might become -fixed and uniform, if the unknown agencies which induced them were to -act in a more constant manner, aided by long-continued intercrossing. -Such variations come under the provisional class, alluded to in our -second chapter, which for the want of a better term are often called -spontaneous. Nor do I pretend that the effects of sexual selection -can be indicated with scientific precision; but it can be shown that -it would be an inexplicable fact if man had not been modified by this -agency, which appears to have acted powerfully on innumerable animals. -It can further be shown that the differences between the races of -man, as in color, hairiness, form of features, etc., are of a kind -which might have been expected to come under the influence of sexual -selection. - - -STRUGGLE OF THE MALES FOR THE POSSESSION OF THE FEMALES. - - [Descent of - Man, page 213.] - -There can be no doubt that with almost all animals, in which the sexes -are separate, there is a constantly recurrent struggle between the -males for the possession of the females. - -Our difficulty in regard to sexual selection lies in understanding how -it is that the males which conquer other males, or those which prove -the most attractive to the females, leave a greater number of offspring -to inherit their superiority than their beaten and less attractive -rivals. Unless this result does follow, the characters which give to -certain males an advantage over others could not be perfected and -augmented through sexual selection. When the sexes exist in exactly -equal numbers, the worst-endowed males will (except where polygamy -prevails) ultimately find females, and leave as many offspring, as well -fitted for their general habits of life, as the best-endowed males. -From various facts and considerations, I formerly inferred that with -most animals, in which secondary sexual characters are well developed, -the males considerably exceeded the females in number; but this is not -by any means always true. If the males were to the females as two to -one, or as three to two, or even in a somewhat lower ratio, the whole -affair would be simple; for the better-armed or more attractive males -would leave the largest number of offspring. But, after investigating, -as far as possible, the numerical proportion of the sexes, I do not -believe that any great inequality in number commonly exists. In most -cases sexual selection appears to have been effective in the following -manner: - -Let us take any species, a bird for instance, and divide the females -inhabiting a district into two equal bodies, the one consisting of the -more vigorous and better-nourished individuals, and the other of the -less vigorous and healthy. The former, there can be little doubt, would -be ready to breed in the spring before the others; and this is the -opinion of Mr. Jenner Weir, who has carefully attended to the habits -of birds during many years. There can also be no doubt that the most -vigorous, best-nourished, and earliest breeders would on an average -succeed in rearing the largest number of fine offspring. The males, -as we have seen, are generally ready to breed before the females; the -strongest, and with some species the best armed of the males, drive -away the weaker; and the former would then unite with the more vigorous -and better-nourished females, because they are the first to breed. Such -vigorous pairs would surely rear a larger number of offspring than the -retarded females, which would be compelled to unite with the conquered -and less powerful males, supposing the sexes to be numerically equal; -and this is all that is wanted to add, in the course of successive -generations, to the size, strength, and courage of the males, or to -improve their weapons. - - -COURTSHIP AMONG THE LOWER ANIMALS. - - [Page 214.] - -But in very many cases the males which conquer their rivals do not -obtain possession of the females, independently of the choice of the -latter. The courtship of animals is by no means so simple and short -an affair as might be thought. The females are most excited by, or -prefer pairing with, the more ornamented males, or those which are the -best songsters, or play the best antics; but it is obviously probable -that they would at the same time prefer the more vigorous and lively -males, and this has in some cases been confirmed by actual observation. -Thus, the more vigorous females, which are the first to breed, will -have the choice of many males; and, though they may not always select -the strongest or best armed, they will select those which are vigorous -and well armed, and in other respects the most attractive. Both sexes, -therefore, of such early pairs would, as above explained, have an -advantage over others in rearing offspring; and this apparently has -sufficed, during a long course of generations, to add not only to -the strength and fighting powers of the males, but likewise to their -various ornaments or other attractions. - -In the converse and much rarer case, of the males selecting particular -females, it is plain that those which were the most vigorous, and -had conquered others, would have the freest choice; and it is almost -certain that they would select vigorous as well as attractive females. -Such pairs would have an advantage in rearing offspring, more -especially if the male had the power to defend the female during the -pairing-season, as occurs with some of the higher animals, or aided her -in providing for the young. The same principles would apply if each -sex preferred and selected certain individuals of the opposite sex; -supposing that they selected not only the more attractive but likewise -the more vigorous individuals. - - -WHY THE MALE PLAYS THE MORE ACTIVE PART IN COURTING. - - [Page 222.] - -We are naturally led to inquire why the male, in so many and such -distinct classes, has become more eager than the female, so that he -searches for her, and plays the more active part in courtship. It would -be no advantage, and some loss of power, if each sex searched for -the other; but why should the male almost always be the seeker? The -ovules of plants after fertilization have to be nourished for a time; -hence the pollen is necessarily brought to the female organs--being -placed on the stigma by means of insects or the wind, or by the -spontaneous movements of the stamens; and, in the _Algæ_, etc., by the -locomotive power of the antherozoöids. With lowly-organized aquatic -animals, permanently affixed to the same spot, and having their sexes -separate, the male element is invariably brought to the female; and -of this we can see the reason, for even if the ova were detached -before fertilization, and did not require subsequent nourishment or -protection, there would yet be greater difficulty in transporting them -than the male element, because, being larger than the latter, they are -produced in far smaller numbers. So that many of the lower animals -are, in this respect, analogous with plants. The males of affixed and -aquatic animals, having been led to emit their fertilizing element in -this way, it is natural that any of their descendants, which rose in -the scale and became locomotive, should retain the same habit; and they -would approach the female as closely as possible, in order not to risk -the loss of the fertilizing element in a long passage of it through -the water. With some few of the lower animals, the females alone are -fixed, and the males of these must be the seekers. But it is difficult -to understand why the males of species, of which the progenitors -were primordially free, should invariably have acquired the habit of -approaching the females, instead of being approached by them. But, in -all cases, in order that the males should seek efficiently, it would -be necessary that they should be endowed with strong passions; and the -acquirement of such passions would naturally follow from the more eager -leaving a larger number of offspring than the less eager. - - -TRANSMISSION OF SEXUAL CHARACTERISTICS. - - [Page 232.] - -Why certain characters should be inherited by both sexes, and other -characters by one sex alone, namely, by that sex in which the character -first appeared, is in most cases quite unknown. We can not even -conjecture why, with certain sub-breeds of the pigeon, black striæ, -though transmitted through the female, should be developed in the -male alone, while every other character is equally transferred to -both sexes. Why, again, with cats, the tortoise-shell color should, -with rare exceptions, be developed in the female alone. The very same -character, such as deficient or supernumerary digits, color-blindness, -etc., may with mankind be inherited by the males alone of one family, -and in another family by the females alone, though in both cases -transmitted through the opposite as well as through the same sex. -Although we are thus ignorant, the two following rules seem often -to hold good: that variations which first appear in either sex at a -late period of life tend to be developed in the same sex alone; while -variations which first appear early in life in either sex tend to be -developed in both sexes. I am, however, far from supposing that this is -the sole determining cause. - - * * * * * - - [Page 233.] - -An excellent case for investigation is afforded by the deer family. -In all the species, but one, the horns are developed only in the -males, though certainly transmitted through the females, and capable -of abnormal development in them. In the reindeer, on the other hand, -the female is provided with horns; so that, in this species, the horns -ought, according to our rule, to appear early in life, long before the -two sexes are mature, and have come to differ much in constitution. -In all the other species the horns ought to appear later in life, -which would lead to their development in that sex alone in which they -first appeared in the progenitor of the whole family. Now, in seven -species, belonging to distinct sections of the family, and inhabiting -different regions, in which the stags alone bear horns, I find that -the horns first appear at periods varying from nine months after birth -in the roebuck, to ten, twelve, or even more months in the stags of -the six other and larger species. But with the reindeer the case is -widely different; for, as I hear from Professor Nilsson, who kindly -made special inquiries for me in Lapland, the horns appear in the young -animals within four or five weeks after birth, and at the same time -in both sexes. So that here we have a structure developed at a most -unusually early age in one species of the family, and likewise common -to both sexes in this one species alone. - - * * * * * - - [Page 239.] - -Finally, from what we have now seen of the relation which exists -in many natural species and domesticated races, between the period -of the development of their characters and the manner of their -transmission--for example, the striking fact of the early growth of the -horns in the reindeer, in which both sexes bear horns, in comparison -with their much later growth in the other species in which the male -alone bears horns--we may conclude that one, though not the sole -cause of characters being exclusively inherited by one sex, is their -development at a late age. And, secondly, that one, though apparently -a less efficient cause of characters being inherited by both sexes, is -their development at an early age, while the sexes differ but little -in constitution. It appears, however, that some difference must exist -between the sexes even during a very early embryonic period, for -characters developed at this age not rarely become attached to one sex. - - -AN OBJECTION ANSWERED. - - [Descent of - Man, page 495.] - -Several writers have objected to the whole theory of sexual selection, -by assuming that with animals and savages the taste of the female for -certain colors or other ornaments would not remain constant for many -generations; that first one color and then another would be admired, -and consequently that no permanent effect could be produced. We may -admit that taste is fluctuating, but it is not quite arbitrary. It -depends much on habit, as we see in mankind; and we may infer that -this would hold good with birds and other animals. Even in our own -dress, the general character lasts long, and the changes are to a -certain extent graduated. Abundant evidence will be given in two -places in a future chapter, that savages of many races have admired -for many generations the same cicatrices on the skin, the same -hideously perforated lips, nostrils, or ears, distorted heads, etc.; -and these deformities present some analogy to the natural ornaments -of various animals. Nevertheless, with savages such fashions do not -endure forever, as we may infer from the differences in this respect -between allied tribes on the same continent. So again the raisers of -fancy animals certainly have admired for many generations and still -admire the same breeds; they earnestly desire slight changes, which are -considered as improvements, but any great or sudden change is looked -at as the greatest blemish. With birds in a state of nature we have -no reason to suppose that they would admire an entirely new style of -coloration, even if great and sudden variation often occurred, which is -far from being the case. We know that dovecot pigeons do not willingly -associate with the variously colored fancy breeds; that albino birds do -not commonly get partners in marriage; and that the black ravens of the -Feroe Islands chase away their piebald brethren. But this dislike of -a sudden change would not preclude their appreciating slight changes, -any more than it does in the case of man. Hence with respect to taste, -which depends on many elements, but partly on habit and partly on a -love of novelty, there seems no improbability in animals admiring for -a very long period the same general style of ornamentation or other -attractions, and yet appreciating slight changes in colors, form, or -sound. - - -DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SEXES CREATED BY SEXUAL SELECTION. - - [Page 563.] - -There can be little doubt that the greater size and strength of man, -in comparison with woman, together with his broader shoulders, more -developed muscles, rugged outline of body, his greater courage and -pugnacity, are all due in chief part to inheritance from his half-human -male ancestors. These characters would, however, have been preserved or -even augmented during the long ages of man’s savagery, by the success -of the strongest and boldest men, both in the general struggle for life -and in their contest for wives; a success which would have insured -their leaving a more numerous progeny than their less favored brethren. -It is not probable that the greater strength of man was primarily -acquired through the inherited effects of his having worked harder than -woman for his own subsistence and that of his family; for the women in -all barbarous nations are compelled to work at least as hard as the -men. With civilized people the arbitrament of battle for the possession -of the women has long ceased; on the other hand, the men, as a general -rule, have to work harder than the women for their joint subsistence, -and thus their greater strength will have been kept up. - - * * * * * - -With respect to differences of this nature between man and woman, it -is probable that sexual selection has played a highly important part. -I am aware that some writers doubt whether there is any such inherent -difference; but this is at least probable from the analogy of the -lower animals which present other secondary sexual characters. No -one disputes that the bull differs in disposition from the cow, the -wild-boar from the sow, the stallion from the mare, and, as is well -known to the keepers of menageries, the males of the larger apes from -the females. Woman seems to differ from man in mental disposition, -chiefly in her greater tenderness and less selfishness; and this holds -good even with savages, as shown by a well-known passage in Mungo -Park’s “Travels,” and by statements made by many other travelers. -Woman, owing to her maternal instincts, displays these qualities toward -her infants in an eminent degree; therefore it is likely that she -would often extend them toward her fellow-creatures. Man is the rival -of other men; he delights in competition, and this leads to ambition -which passes too easily into selfishness. These latter qualities seem -to be his natural and unfortunate birthright. It is generally admitted -that with woman the powers of intuition, of rapid perception, and -perhaps of imitation, are more strongly marked than in man; but some, -at least, of these faculties are characteristic of the lower races, and -therefore of a past and lower state of civilization. - -The chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the two sexes is -shown by man’s attaining to a higher eminence, in whatever he takes up, -than can woman--whether requiring deep thought, reason, or imagination, -or merely the use of the senses and hands. If two lists were made of -the most eminent men and women in poetry, painting, sculpture, music -(inclusive both of composition and performance), history, science, -and philosophy, with half a dozen names under each subject, the two -lists would not bear comparison. We may also infer, from the law of -the deviation from averages, so well illustrated by Mr. Galton, in -his work on “Hereditary Genius,” that if men are capable of a decided -pre-eminence over women in many subjects, the average of mental power -in man must be above that of woman. - -Among the half-human progenitors of man, and among savages, there -have been struggles between the males during many generations for the -possession of the females. But mere bodily strength and size would do -little for victory, unless associated with courage, perseverance, and -determined energy. With social animals, the young males have to pass -through many a contest before they win a female, and the older males -have to retain their females by renewed battles. They have, also, in -the case of mankind, to defend their females, as well as their young, -from enemies of all kinds, and to hunt for their joint subsistence. -But to avoid enemies or to attack them with success, to capture wild -animals, or to fashion weapons, requires the aid of the higher mental -faculties, namely, observation, reason, invention, or imagination. -These various faculties will thus have been continually put to the -test and selected during manhood; they will, moreover, have been -strengthened by use during this same period of life. Consequently, -in accordance with the principle often alluded to, we might expect -that they would at least tend to be transmitted chiefly to the male -offspring at the corresponding period of manhood. - - -HOW WOMAN COULD BE MADE TO REACH THE STANDARD OF MAN. - - [Page 565.] - -It must be borne in mind that the tendency in characters acquired by -either sex late in life, to be transmitted to the same sex at the same -age, and of early acquired characters to be transmitted to both sexes, -are rules which, though general, do not always hold. If they always -held good, we might conclude (but I here exceed my proper bounds) that -the inherited effects of the early education of boys and girls would be -transmitted equally to both sexes; so that the present inequality in -mental power between the sexes would not be effaced by a similar course -of early training; nor can it have been caused by their dissimilar -early training. In order that woman should reach the same standard -as man, she ought, when nearly adult, to be trained to energy and -perseverance, and to have her reason and imagination exercised to the -highest point; and then she would probably transmit these qualities -chiefly to her adult daughters. All women, however, could not be thus -raised, unless during many generations those who excelled in the above -robust virtues were married, and produced offspring in larger numbers -than other women. As before remarked of bodily strength, although men -do not now fight for their wives, and this form of selection has passed -away, yet during manhood they generally undergo a severe struggle in -order to maintain themselves and their families; and this will tend to -keep up or even increase their mental powers, and, as a consequence, -the present inequality between the sexes. - - -“CHARACTERISTIC SELFISHNESS OF MAN.” - - [Page 577.] - -In most, but not all parts of the world, the men are more ornamented -than the women, and often in a different manner; sometimes, though -rarely, the women are hardly at all ornamented. As the women are made -by savages to perform the greatest share of the work, and as they are -not allowed to eat the best kinds of food, so it accords with the -characteristic selfishness of man that they should not be allowed to -obtain or use the finest ornaments. Lastly, it is a remarkable fact, as -proved by the foregoing quotations, that the same fashions in modifying -the shape of the head, in ornamenting the hair, in painting, tattooing, -in perforating the nose, lips, or ears, in removing or filing the -teeth, etc., now prevail, and have long prevailed, in the most distant -quarters of the world. It is extremely improbable that these practices, -followed by so many distinct nations, should be due to tradition from -any common source. They indicate the close similarity of the mind of -man, to whatever race he may belong, just as do the almost universal -habits of dancing, masquerading, and making rude pictures. - - -NO UNIVERSAL STANDARD OF BEAUTY AMONG MANKIND. - - [Page 584.] - -The senses of man and of the lower animals seem to be so constituted -that brilliant colors and certain forms, as well as harmonious and -rhythmical sounds, give pleasure and are called beautiful; but why -this should be so we know not. It is certainly not true that there -is in the mind of man any universal standard of beauty with respect -to the human body. It is, however, possible that certain tastes may -in the course of time become inherited, though there is no evidence -in favor of this belief; and if so each race would possess its own -innate ideal standard of beauty. It has been argued that ugliness -consists in an approach to the structure of the lower animals, and no -doubt this is partly true with the more civilized nations, in which -intellect is highly appreciated; but this explanation will hardly apply -to all forms of ugliness. The men of each race prefer what they are -accustomed to; they can not endure any great change; but they like -variety, and admire each characteristic carried to a moderate extreme. -Men accustomed to a nearly oval face, to straight and regular features, -and to bright colors, admire, as we Europeans know, these points when -strongly developed. On the other hand, men accustomed to a broad face, -with high cheekbones, a depressed nose, and a black skin, admire these -peculiarities when strongly marked. No doubt characters of all kinds -may be too much developed for beauty. Hence a perfect beauty, which -implies many characters modified in a particular manner, will be in -every race a prodigy. As the great anatomist Bichat long ago said, if -every one were cast in the same mold, there would be no such thing as -beauty. If all our women were to become as beautiful as the Venus de’ -Medici, we should for a time be charmed; but we should soon wish for -variety; and, as soon as we had obtained variety, we should wish to see -certain characters a little exaggerated beyond the then existing common -standard. - - * * * * * - - [Page 578.] - -It is well known that with many Hottentot women the posterior part of -the body projects in a wonderful manner; they are steatopygous; and Sir -Andrew Smith is certain that this peculiarity is greatly admired by the -men. He once saw a woman who was considered a beauty, and she was so -immensely developed behind, that when seated on level ground she could -not rise, and had to push herself along until she came to a slope. Some -of the women in the various negro tribes have the same peculiarity; -and, according to Burton, the Somal men “are said to choose their wives -by ranging them in a line, and by picking her out who projects farthest -_a tergo_. Nothing can be more hateful to a negro than the opposite -form.” - - -DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEARD. - - [Page 602.] - -With respect to the beard in man, if we turn to our best guide, the -Quadrumana, we find beards equally developed in both sexes of many -species, but in some, either confined to the males, or more developed -in them than in the females. From this fact and from the curious -arrangement, as well as the bright colors of the hair about the head -of many monkeys, it is highly probable, as before explained, that -the males first acquired their beards through sexual selection as an -ornament, transmitting them in most cases, equally or nearly so, to -their offspring of both sexes. We know from Eschricht that, with -mankind, the female as well as the male fœtus is furnished with much -hair on the face, especially round the mouth; and this indicates that -we are descended from progenitors of whom both sexes are bearded. It -appears therefore at first sight probable that man has retained his -beard from a very early period, while woman lost her beard at the same -time that her body became almost completely divested of hair. Even -the color of our beards seems to have been inherited from an ape-like -progenitor; for, when there is any difference in tint between the -hair of the head and the beard, the latter is lighter colored in all -monkeys and in man. In those Quadrumana in which the male has a larger -beard than that of the female, it is fully developed only at maturity, -just as with mankind; and it is possible that only the later stages of -development have been retained by man. In opposition to this view of -the retention of the beard from an early period, is the fact of its -great variability in different races, and even within the same race; -for this indicates reversion--long-lost characters being very apt to -vary on reappearance. - - -DEVELOPMENT OF THE MARRIAGE-TIE. - - [Descent of - Man, page 590.] - -Although the manner of the development of the marriage-tie is an -obscure subject, as we may infer from the divergent opinions on -several points between the three authors who have studied it most -closely, namely, Mr. Morgan, Mr. McLennan, and Sir J. Lubbock, yet, -from the foregoing and several other lines of evidence, it seems -probable that the habit of marriage, in any strict sense of the word, -has been gradually developed; and that almost promiscuous, or very -loose, intercourse was once extremely common throughout the world. -Nevertheless, from the strength of the feeling of jealousy all through -the animal kingdom, as well as from the analogy of the lower animals, -more particularly of those which come nearest to man, I can not believe -that absolutely promiscuous intercourse prevailed in times past, -shortly before man attained to his present rank in the zoological -scale. Man, as I have attempted to show, is certainly descended from -some ape-like creature. With the existing Quadrumana, as far as their -habits are known, the males of some species are monogamous, but live -during only a part of the year with the females; of this the orang -seems to afford an instance. Several kinds, for example, some of the -Indian and American monkeys, are strictly monogamous, and associate all -the year round with their wives. Others are polygamous, for example, -the gorilla and several American species, and each family lives -separate. - - * * * * * - - [Page 591.] - -Therefore, looking far enough back in the stream of time, and judging -from the social habits of man as he now exists, the most probable view -is that he aboriginally lived in small communities, each with a single -wife, or, if powerful, with several, whom he jealously guarded against -all other men. Or he may not have been a social animal, and yet have -lived with several wives, like the gorilla; for all the natives “agree -that but one adult male is seen in a band; when the young male grows -up, a contest takes place for mastery, and the strongest, by killing -and driving out the others, establishes himself as the head of the -community.” The younger males, being thus expelled and wandering about, -would, when at last successful in finding a partner, prevent too close -interbreeding within the limits of the same family. - -Although savages are now extremely licentious, and although communal -marriages may formerly have largely prevailed, yet many tribes practice -some form of marriage, but of a far more lax nature than that of -civilized nations. Polygamy, as just stated, is almost universally -followed by the leading men in every tribe. Nevertheless, there -are tribes, standing almost at the bottom of the scale, which are -strictly monogamous. This is the case with the Veddahs of Ceylon; they -have a saying, according to Sir J. Lubbock, that “death alone can -separate husband and wife.” An intelligent Kandyan chief, of course a -polygamist, “was perfectly scandalized at the utter barbarism of living -with only one wife, and never parting until separated by death.” It -was, he said, “just like the Wanderoo monkeys.” Whether savages who now -enter into some form of marriage, either polygamous or monogamous, have -retained this habit from primeval times, or whether they have returned -to some form of marriage, after passing through a stage of promiscuous -intercourse, I will not pretend to conjecture. - - -UNNATURAL SELECTION IN MARRIAGE. - - [Descent of - Man, page 617.] - -Man scans with scrupulous care the character and pedigree of his -horses, cattle, and dogs before he matches them; but, when he comes -to his own marriage, he rarely or never takes any such care. He is -impelled by nearly the same motives as the lower animals, when they -are left to their own free choice, though he is in so far superior to -them that he highly values mental charms and virtues. On the other -hand, he is strongly attracted by mere wealth or rank. Yet he might by -selection do something not only for the bodily constitution and frame -of his offspring, but for their intellectual and moral qualities. Both -sexes ought to refrain from marriage, if they are in any marked degree -inferior in body or mind; but such hopes are Utopian, and will never be -even partially realized until the laws of inheritance are thoroughly -known. Every one does good service who aids toward this end. When the -principles of breeding and inheritance are better understood, we shall -not hear ignorant members of our Legislature rejecting with scorn a -plan for ascertaining whether or not consanguineous marriages are -injurious to man. - -The advancement of the welfare of mankind is a most intricate problem: -all ought to refrain from marriage who can not avoid abject poverty -for their children; for poverty is not only a great evil, but tends -to its own increase by leading to recklessness in marriage. On the -other hand, as Mr. Galton has remarked, if the prudent avoid marriage, -while the reckless marry, the inferior members tend to supplant the -better members of society. Man, like every other animal, has no doubt -advanced to his present high condition through a struggle for existence -consequent on his rapid multiplication; and, if he is to advance still -higher, it is to be feared that he must remain subject to a severe -struggle. Otherwise he would sink into indolence, and the more gifted -men would not be more successful in the battle of life than the less -gifted. Hence our natural rate of increase, though leading to many -and obvious evils, must not be greatly diminished by any means. There -should be open competition for all men; and the most able should not -be prevented by laws or customs from succeeding best, and rearing the -largest number of offspring. Important as the struggle for existence -has been, and even still is, yet, as far as the highest part of man’s -nature is concerned, there are other agencies more important. For -the moral qualities are advanced, either directly or indirectly, much -more through the effects of habit, the reasoning powers, instruction, -religion, etc., than through natural selection; though to this latter -agency may be safely attributed the social instincts which afforded the -basis for the development of the moral sense. - - -MODIFYING INFLUENCES IN BOTH SEXES. - - [Page 596.] - -With animals in a state of nature, many characters proper to the males, -such as size, strength, special weapons, courage, and pugnacity, have -been acquired through the law of battle. The semi-human progenitors of -man, like their allies the Quadrumana, will almost certainly have been -thus modified; and, as savages still fight for the possession of their -women, a similar process of selection has probably gone on in a greater -or less degree to the present day. Other characters proper to the males -of the lower animals, such as bright colors and various ornaments, have -been acquired by the more attractive males having been preferred by the -females. There are, however, exceptional cases in which the males are -the selectors, instead of having been the selected. We recognize such -cases by the females being more highly ornamented than the males--their -ornamental characters having been transmitted exclusively or chiefly to -their female offspring. One such case has been described in the order -to which man belongs, that of the Rhesus monkey. - -Man is more powerful in body and mind than woman, and in the savage -state he keeps her in a far more abject state of bondage than does the -male of any other animal; therefore it is not surprising that he should -have gained the power of selection. Women are everywhere conscious of -the value of their own beauty; and, when they have the means, they take -more delight in decorating themselves with all sorts of ornaments than -do men. They borrow the plumes of male birds, with which nature has -decked this sex in order to charm the females. As women have long been -selected for beauty, it is not surprising that some of their successive -variations should have been transmitted exclusively to the same sex; -consequently that they should have transmitted beauty in a somewhat -higher degree to their female than to their male offspring, and thus -have become more beautiful, according to general opinion, than men. -Women, however, certainly transmit most of their characters, including -some beauty, to their offspring of both sexes; so that the continued -preference by the men of each race for the more attractive women, -according to their standard of taste, will have tended to modify in the -same manner all the individuals of both sexes belonging to the race. - - * * * * * - - [Page 617.] - -He who admits the principle of sexual selection will be led to the -remarkable conclusion that the nervous system not only regulates most -of the existing functions of the body, but has indirectly influenced -the progressive development of various bodily structures and of certain -mental qualities. Courage, pugnacity, perseverance, strength and -size of body, weapons of all kinds, musical organs, both vocal and -instrumental, bright colors and ornamental appendages, have all been -indirectly gained by the one sex or the other, through the exertion of -choice, the influence of love and jealousy, and the appreciation of -the beautiful in sound, color, or form; and these powers of the mind -manifestly depend on the development of the brain. - - -“GROUNDS THAT WILL NEVER BE SHAKEN.” - - [Descent of - Man, page 606.] - -Many of the views which have been advanced are highly speculative, and -some no doubt will prove erroneous; but I have in every case given the -reasons which have led me to one view rather than to another. It seemed -worth while to try how far the principle of evolution would throw light -on some of the more complex problems in the natural history of man. -False facts are highly injurious to the progress of science, for they -often endure long; but false views, if supported by some evidence, do -little harm, for every one takes a salutary pleasure in proving their -falseness; and, when this is done, one path toward error is closed and -the road to truth is often at the same time opened. - -The main conclusion here arrived at, and now held by many naturalists -who are well competent to form a sound judgment, is that man is -descended from some less highly organized form. The grounds upon which -this conclusion rests will never be shaken, for the close similarity -between man and the lower animals in embryonic development, as well -as in innumerable points of structure and constitution, both of high -and of the most trifling importance--the rudiments which he retains, -and the abnormal reversions to which he is occasionally liable--are -facts which can not be disputed. They have long been known, but until -recently they told us nothing with respect to the origin of man. -Now, when viewed by the light of our knowledge of the whole organic -world, their meaning is unmistakable. The great principle of evolution -stands up clear and firm, when these groups of facts are considered in -connection with others, such as the mutual affinities of the members of -the same group, their geographical distribution in past and present -times, and their geological succession. It is incredible that all these -facts should speak falsely. He who is not content to look, like a -savage, at the phenomena of nature as disconnected, can not any longer -believe that man is the work of a separate act of creation. He will -be forced to admit that the close resemblance of the embryo of man to -that, for instance, of a dog--the construction of his skull, limbs, and -whole frame on the same plan with that of other mammals, independently -of the uses to which the parts may be put--the occasional reappearance -of various structures, for instance of several muscles, which man does -not normally possess, but which are common to the Quadrumana--and a -crowd of analogous facts--all point in the plainest manner to the -conclusion that man is the co-descendant with other mammals of a common -progenitor. - - - - -XII. - -THE EXPRESSION OF THE EMOTIONS IN MAN AND OTHER ANIMALS. - - _The subject is treated under three Principles: the Principle of - Associated Habit; the Principle of Antithesis; and the Principle - of the direct action of the nervous system independent of Will - and Habit._ - - -THE PRINCIPLE OF ASSOCIATED HABIT. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 29.] - -It is notorious how powerful is the force of habit. The most complex -and difficult movements can in time be performed without the least -effort or consciousness. It is not positively known how it comes -that habit is so efficient in facilitating complex movements; but -physiologists admit that “the conducting power of the nervous fibers -increases with the frequency of their excitement.” This applies to the -nerves of motion and sensation, as well as to those connected with -the act of thinking. That some physical change is produced in the -nerve-cells or nerves which are habitually used can hardly be doubted, -for otherwise it is impossible to understand how the tendency to -certain acquired movements is inherited. - - * * * * * - - [Page 31.] - -It is known to every one how difficult or even impossible it is, -without repeated trials, to move the limbs in certain opposed -directions which have never been practiced. Analogous cases occur with -sensations, as in the common experiment of rolling a marble beneath the -tips of two crossed fingers, when it feels exactly like two marbles. -Every one protects himself when falling to the ground by extending his -arms, and as Professor Alison has remarked, few can resist acting thus -when voluntarily falling on a soft bed. A man when going out-of-doors -puts on his gloves quite unconsciously; and this may seem an extremely -simple operation, but he who has taught a child to put on gloves knows -that this is by no means the case. - -When our minds are much affected, so are the movements of our bodies. - - * * * * * - - [Page 30.] - -To those who admit the gradual evolution of species, a most striking -instance of the perfection with which the most difficult consensual -movements can be transmitted, is afforded by the hummingbird -Sphinx-moth (_Macroglossa_); for this moth, shortly after its emergence -from the cocoon, as shown by the bloom on its unruffled scales, may be -seen poised stationary in the air, with its long, hair-like proboscis -uncurled and inserted into the minute orifices of flowers; and no one, -I believe, has ever seen this moth learning to perform its difficult -task, which requires such unerring aim. - - * * * * * - - [Page 32.] - -A vulgar man often scratches his head when perplexed in mind; and I -believe that he acts thus from habit, as if he experienced a slightly -uncomfortable bodily sensation, namely, the itching of his head, -to which he is particularly liable, and which he thus relieves. -Another man rubs his eyes when perplexed, or gives a little cough -when embarrassed, acting in either case as if he felt a slightly -uncomfortable sensation in his eyes or windpipe. - -From the continued use of the eyes, these organs are especially -liable to be acted on through association under various states of -the mind, although there is manifestly nothing to be seen. A man, as -Gratiolet remarks, who vehemently rejects a proposition, will almost -certainly shut his eyes or turn away his face; but, if he accepts the -proposition, he will nod his head in affirmation and open his eyes -widely. The man acts in this latter case as if he clearly saw the -thing, and in the former case as if he did not, or would not, see it. I -have noticed that persons in describing a horrid sight often shut their -eyes momentarily and firmly, or shake their heads, as if not to see or -to drive away something disagreeable; and I have caught myself, when -thinking in the dark of a horrid spectacle, closing my eyes firmly. - - * * * * * - - [Page 34.] - -There are other actions which are commonly performed under certain -circumstances, independently of habit, and which seem to be due to -imitation or some sort of sympathy. Thus persons cutting anything with -a pair of scissors may be seen to move their jaws simultaneously with -the blades of the scissors. Children learning to write often twist -about their tongues as their fingers move, in a ridiculous fashion. -When a public singer suddenly becomes a little hoarse, many of those -present may be heard, as I have been assured by a gentleman on whom I -can rely, to clear their throats; but here habit probably comes into -play, as we clear our own throats under similar circumstances. - - * * * * * - - [Page 35.] - -Reflex actions, in the strict sense of the term, are due to the -excitement of a peripheral nerve, which transmits its influence to -certain nerve-cells, and these, in their turn, excite certain muscles -or glands into action; and all this may take place without any -sensation or consciousness on our part, though often thus accompanied. -As many reflex actions are highly expressive, the subject must here -be noticed at some little length. We shall also see that some of them -graduate into, and can hardly be distinguished from, actions which have -arisen through habit. Coughing and sneezing are familiar instances of -reflex actions. - - * * * * * - - [Page 37.] - -The conscious wish to perform a reflex action sometimes stops or -interrupts its performance, though the proper sensory nerves may be -stimulated. For instance, many years ago I laid a small wager with a -dozen young men that they would not sneeze if they took snuff, although -they all declared that they invariably did so; accordingly, they all -took a pinch, but, from wishing much to succeed, not one sneezed, -though their eyes watered, and all, without exception, had to pay me -the wager. - - * * * * * - - [Page 42.] - -Dogs, when they wish to go to sleep on a carpet or other hard surface, -generally turn round and round and scratch the ground with their -fore-paws in a senseless manner, as if they intended to trample down -the grass and scoop out a hollow, as, no doubt, their wild parents did, -when they lived on open, grassy plains or in the woods. - - -THE PRINCIPLE OF ANTITHESIS. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 50.] - -Certain states of the mind lead, as we have seen in the last chapter, -to certain habitual movements which were primarily, or may still be, -of service; and we shall find that, when a directly opposite state -of mind is induced, there is a strong and involuntary tendency to the -performance of movements of a directly opposite nature, though these -have never been of any service. - - * * * * * - -When a dog approaches a strange dog or man in a savage or hostile -frame of mind, he walks upright and very stiffly; his head is slightly -raised, or not much lowered; the tail is held erect and quite rigid; -the hairs bristle, especially along the neck and back; the pricked ears -are directed forward, and the eyes have a fixed stare. These actions -follow from the dog’s intention to attack his enemy, and are thus to a -large extent intelligible. As he prepares to spring with a savage growl -on his enemy, the canine teeth are uncovered, and the ears are pressed -close backward on the head; but with these latter actions we are not -here concerned. Let us now suppose that the dog suddenly discovers -that the man whom he is approaching is not a stranger, but his master; -and let it be observed how completely and instantaneously his whole -bearing is reversed. Instead of walking upright, the body sinks -downward or even crouches, and is thrown into flexuous movements; his -tail, instead of being held stiff and upright, is lowered and wagged -from side to side; his hair instantly becomes smooth; his ears are -depressed and drawn backward, but not closely to the head; and his lips -hang loosely. From the drawing back of the ears, the eyelids become -elongated, and the eyes no longer appear round and staring. It should -be added that the animal is at such times in an excited condition from -joy; and nerve-force will be generated in excess, which naturally -leads to action of some kind. Not one of the above movements, so -clearly expressive of affection, are of the least direct service to the -animal. They are explicable, as far as I can see, solely from being in -complete opposition or antithesis to the attitude and movements which, -from intelligible causes, are assumed when a dog intends to fight, and -which consequently are expressive of anger. - - -ORIGIN OF THE PRINCIPLE OF ANTITHESIS. - - [Page 60.] - -We will now consider how the principle of antithesis in expression has -arisen. With social animals, the power of intercommunication between -the members of the same community--and, with other species, between -the opposite sexes, as well as between the young and the old--is of -the highest importance to them. This is generally effected by means of -the voice, but it is certain that gestures and expressions are to a -certain extent mutually intelligible. Man not only uses inarticulate -cries, gestures, and expressions, but has invented articulate language; -if, indeed, the word _invented_ can be applied to a process completed -by innumerable steps, half-consciously made. Any one who has watched -monkeys will not doubt that they perfectly understand each other’s -gestures and expression, and to a large extent, as Rengger asserts, -those of man. An animal when going to attack another, or when afraid -of another, often makes itself appear terrible, by erecting its hair, -thus increasing the apparent bulk of its body, by showing its teeth, or -brandishing its horns, or by uttering fierce sounds. - -As the power of intercommunication is certainly of high service to many -animals, there is no _a priori_ improbability in the supposition that -gestures manifestly of an opposite nature to those by which certain -feelings are already expressed should at first have been voluntarily -employed under the influence of an opposite state of feeling. The -fact of the gestures being now innate would be no valid objection to -the belief that they were at first intentional; for, if practiced -during many generations, they would probably at last be inherited. -Nevertheless, it is more than doubtful, as we shall immediately -see, whether any of the cases which come under our present head of -antithesis have thus originated. - -With conventional signs which are not innate, such as those used by -the deaf and dumb and by savages, the principle of opposition or -antithesis has been partially brought into play. The Cistercian monks -thought it sinful to speak, and, as they could not avoid holding some -communication, they invented a gesture language, in which the principle -of opposition seems to have been employed. Dr. Scott, of the Exeter -Deaf and Dumb Institution, writes to me that “opposites are greatly -used in teaching the deaf and dumb, who have a lively sense of them.” -Nevertheless I have been surprised how few unequivocal instances can be -adduced. This depends partly on all the signs having commonly had some -natural origin; and partly on the practice of the deaf and dumb and of -savages to contract their signs as much as possible for the sake of -rapidity. Hence their natural source or origin often becomes doubtful, -or is completely lost; as is likewise the case with articulate language. - - * * * * * - - [Page 64.] - -When a cat, or rather when some early progenitor of the species, from -feeling affectionate, first slightly arched its back, held its tail -perpendicularly upward and pricked its ears, can it be believed that -the animal consciously wished thus to show that its frame of mind -was directly the reverse of that when, from being ready to fight or -to spring on its prey, it assumed a crouching attitude, curled its -tail from side to side, and depressed its ears? Even still less can -I believe that my dog voluntarily put on his dejected attitude and -“_hot-house face_,” which formed so complete a contrast to his previous -cheerful attitude and whole bearing. It can not be supposed that he -knew that I should understand his expression, and that he could thus -soften my heart and make me give up visiting the hot-house. - -Hence, for the development of the movements which come under the -present head, some other principle, distinct from the will and -consciousness, must have intervened. This principle appears to be that -every movement which we have voluntarily performed throughout our -lives has required the action of certain muscles; and, when we have -performed a directly opposite movement, an opposite set of muscles has -been habitually brought into play--as in turning to the right or to the -left, in pushing away or pulling an object toward us, and in lifting or -lowering a weight. - - -THE PRINCIPLE OF THE ACTION OF THE EXCITED NERVOUS SYSTEM ON THE BODY. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 66.] - -The most striking case, though a rare and abnormal one, which can be -adduced of the direct influence of the nervous system, when strongly -affected, on the body, is the loss of color in the hair, which has -occasionally been observed after extreme terror or grief. One authentic -instance has been recorded, in the case of a man brought out for -execution in India, in which the change of color was so rapid that it -was perceptible to the eye. - -Another good case is that of the trembling of the muscles, which is -common to man and to many, or most, of the lower animals. Trembling -is of no service, often of much disservice, and can not have been -at first acquired through the will, and then rendered habitual in -association with any emotion. I am assured by an eminent authority -that young children do not tremble, but go into convulsions, under -the circumstances which would induce excessive trembling in adults. -Trembling is excited in different individuals in very different -degrees, and by the most diversified causes--by cold to the surface, -before fever-fits, although the temperature of the body is then above -the normal standard; in blood-poisoning, delirium tremens, and other -diseases; by general failure of power in old age; by exhaustion after -excessive fatigue; locally from severe injuries, such as burns; and, in -an especial manner, by the passage of a catheter. Of all emotions, fear -notoriously is the most apt to induce trembling; but so do occasionally -great anger and joy. I remember once seeing a boy who had just shot -his first snipe on the wing, and his hands trembled to such a degree -from delight that he could not for some time reload his gun; and I have -heard of an exactly similar case with an Australian savage, to whom a -gun had been lent. Fine music, from the vague emotions thus excited, -causes a shiver to run down the backs of some persons. - - * * * * * - - [Page 69.] - -When animals suffer from an agony of pain, they generally writhe about -with frightful contortions; and those which habitually use their -voices utter piercing cries or groans. Almost every muscle of the -body is brought into strong action. With man the mouth may be closely -compressed, or, more commonly, the lips are retracted, with the teeth -clinched or ground together. - - * * * * * - - [Page 75.] - -The heart will be all the more readily affected through habitual -associations, as it is not under the control of the will. A man when -moderately angry, or even when enraged, may command the movements of -his body, but he can not prevent his heart from beating rapidly. His -chest will, perhaps, give a few heaves, and his nostrils just quiver, -for the movements of respiration are only in part voluntary. In like -manner, those muscles of the face which are least obedient to the will -will sometimes alone betray a slight and passing emotion. The glands, -again, are wholly independent of the will, and a man suffering from -grief may command his features, but can not always prevent the tears -from coming into his eyes. A hungry man, if tempting food is placed -before him, may not show his hunger by any outward gesture, but he can -not check the secretion of saliva. - - * * * * * - - [Page 77.] - -With all, or almost all, animals, even with birds, terror causes the -body to tremble. The skin becomes pale, sweat breaks out, and the hair -bristles. - - * * * * * - - [Page 79.] - -A physician once remarked to me, as a proof of the exciting nature -of anger, that a man when excessively jaded will sometimes invent -imaginary offenses, and put himself into a passion, unconsciously, for -the sake of reinvigorating himself; and, since hearing this remark, I -have occasionally recognized its full truth. - - * * * * * - - [Page 81.] - -Exertion stimulates the heart, and this reacts on the brain, and aids -the mind to bear its heavy load. - - - - -XIII. - -MEANS OF THE EXPRESSION OF THE EMOTIONS. - - -VOCAL ORGANS. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 83.] - -With many kinds of animals, man included, the vocal organs are -efficient in the highest degree as a means of expression. We have seen -in the last chapter that, when the sensorium is strongly excited, the -muscles of the body are generally thrown into violent action; and, -as a consequence, loud sounds are uttered, however silent the animal -may generally be, and although the sounds may be of no use. Hares and -rabbits, for instance, never, I believe, use their vocal organs, except -in the extremity of suffering; as, when a wounded hare is killed by -the sportsman, or when a young rabbit is caught by a stoat. Cattle and -horses suffer great pain in silence, but when this is excessive, and -especially when associated with terror, they utter fearful sounds. - - * * * * * - - [Page 87.] - -That animals utter musical notes is familiar to every one, as we may -daily hear in the singing of birds. It is a more remarkable fact -that an ape, one of the Gibbons, produces an exact octave of musical -sounds, ascending and descending the scale by half-tones; so that this -monkey, “alone of brute mammals, may be said to sing.” From this fact, -and from the analogy of other animals, I have been led to infer that -the progenitors of man probably uttered musical tones before they had -acquired the power of articulate speech; and that, consequently, when -the voice is used under any strong emotion, it tends to assume, through -the principle of association, a musical character. - - -ERECTION OF THE HAIR. - - [Page 96.] - -The enraged lion erects his mane. The bristling of the hair along -the neck and back of the dog, and over the whole body of the cat, -especially on the tail, is familiar to every one. With the cat it -apparently occurs only under fear; with the dog, under anger and fear; -but not, as far as I have observed, under abject fear, as when a dog is -going to be flogged by a severe gamekeeper. If, however, the dog shows -fight, as sometimes happens, up goes his hair. I have often noticed -that the hair of a dog is particularly liable to rise if he is half -angry and half afraid, as on beholding some object only indistinctly -seen in the dusk. - - * * * * * - - [Page 97.] - -Birds belonging to all the chief orders ruffle their feathers when -angry or frightened. Every one must have seen two cocks, even quite -young birds, preparing to fight with erected neck-hackles; nor -can these feathers when erected serve as a means of defense, for -cock-fighters have found by experience that it is advantageous to trim -them. The male Ruff (_Machetes pugnax_) likewise erects its collar of -feathers when fighting. When a dog approaches a common hen with her -chickens, she spreads out her wings, raises her tail, ruffles all her -feathers, and, looking as ferocious as possible, dashes at the intruder. - - * * * * * - - [Page 105.] - -Several kinds of snakes inflate themselves when irritated. The -puff-adder (_Clotho arietans_) is remarkable in this respect; but, I -believe, after carefully watching these animals, that they do not act -thus for the sake of increasing their apparent bulk, but simply for -inhaling a large supply of air, so as to produce their surprisingly -loud, harsh, and prolonged hissing sound. - - -ERECTION OF THE EARS. - - [Page 111.] - -The ears through their movements are highly expressive in many animals; -but in some, such as man, the higher apes, and many ruminants, they -fail in this respect. A slight difference in position serves to express -in the plainest manner a different state of mind, as we may daily see -in the dog; but we are here concerned only with the ears being drawn -closely backward and pressed to the head. A savage frame of mind is -thus shown, but only in the case of those animals which fight with -their teeth; and the care which they take to prevent their ears being -seized by their antagonists accounts for this position. Consequently, -through habit and association, whenever they feel slightly savage, or -pretend in their play to be savage, their ears are drawn back. That -this is the true explanation may be inferred from the relation which -exists in very many animals between their manner of fighting and the -retraction of their ears. - -All the Carnivora fight with their canine teeth, and all, as far as I -have observed, draw their ears back when feeling savage. - - -A STARTLED HORSE. - - [Expressions - of the - Emotions, - page 130.] - -The actions of a horse when much startled are highly expressive. One -day my horse was much frightened at a drilling-machine, covered by a -tarpaulin, and lying on an open field. He raised his head so high that -his neck became almost perpendicular; and this he did from habit, for -the machine lay on a slope below, and could not have been seen with -more distinctness through the raising of the head; nor, if any sound -had proceeded from it, could the sound have been more distinctly heard. -His eyes and ears were directed intently forward; and I could feel -through the saddle the palpitations of his heart. With red, dilated -nostrils he snorted violently, and, whirling round, would have dashed -off at full speed, had I not prevented him. The distention of the -nostrils is not for the sake of scenting the source of danger, for, -when a horse smells carefully at any object and is not alarmed, he -does not dilate his nostrils. Owing to the presence of a valve in the -throat, a horse when panting does not breathe through his open mouth, -but through his nostrils; and these consequently have become endowed -with great powers of expansion. This expansion of the nostrils, as well -as the snorting, and the palpitations of the heart, are actions which -have become firmly associated during a long series of generations with -the emotion of terror; for terror has habitually led the horse to the -most violent exertion in dashing away at full speed from the cause of -danger. - - -MONKEY-SHINES. - - [Page 142.] - -Many years ago, in the Zoölogical Gardens, I placed a looking-glass -on the floor before two young orangs, who, as far as it was known, -had never before seen one. At first they gazed at their own images -with the most steady surprise, and often changed their point of view. -They then approached close and protruded their lips toward the image, -as if to kiss it, in exactly the same manner as they had previously -done toward each other, when first placed, a few days before, in the -same room. They next made all sorts of grimaces, and put themselves -in various attitudes before the mirror; they pressed and rubbed the -surface; they placed their hands at different distances behind it; -looked behind it; and finally seemed almost frightened, started a -little, became cross, and refused to look any longer. - -When we try to perform some little action which is difficult and -requires precision, for instance, to thread a needle, we generally -close our lips firmly, for the sake, I presume, of not disturbing our -movements by breathing; and I noticed the same action in a young orang. -The poor little creature was sick, and was amusing itself by trying -to kill the flies on the window-panes with its knuckles; this was -difficult as the flies buzzed about, and at each attempt the lips were -firmly compressed, and at the same time slightly protruded. - - -WEEPING OF MAN AND BRUTE. - - [Expression of - the Emotion, - page 153.] - -Infants while young do not shed tears or weep, as is known to nurses -and medical men. This circumstance is not exclusively due to the -lachrymal glands being as yet incapable of secreting tears. I first -noticed this fact from having accidentally brushed with the cuff of -my coat the open eye of one of my infants, when seventy-seven days -old, causing this eye to water freely; and, though the child screamed -violently, the other eye remained dry, or was only slightly suffused -with tears. A similar slight effusion occurred ten days previously -in both eyes during a screaming-fit. The tears did not run over the -eyelids and roll down the cheeks of this child, while screaming -badly, when one hundred and twenty-two days old. This first happened -seventeen days later, at the age of one hundred and thirty-nine days. -A few other children have been observed for me, and the period of free -weeping appears to be very variable. In one case, the eyes became -slightly suffused at the age of only twenty days; in another, at -sixty-two days. With two other children, the tears did _not_ run down -the face at the ages of eighty-four and one hundred and ten days; but -in a third child they did run down at the age of one hundred and four -days. In one instance, as I was positively assured, tears ran down at -the unusually early age of forty-two days. It would appear as if the -lachrymal glands required some practice in the individual before they -are easily excited into action, in somewhat the same manner as various -inherited consensual movements and tastes require some exercise before -they are fixed and perfected. This is all the more likely with a habit -like weeping, which must have been acquired since the period when man -branched off from the common progenitor of the genus _Homo_ and of the -non-weeping anthropomorphous apes. - - * * * * * - - [Page 135.] - -A woman, who sold a monkey to the Zoölogical Society, believed to -have come from Borneo (_Macacus maurus_ or _M. inornatus_ of Gray), -said that it often cried; and Mr. Bartlett, as well as the keeper -Mr. Sutton, have repeatedly seen it, when grieved, or even when much -pitied, weeping so copiously that the tears rolled down its cheeks. - - * * * * * - - [Page 155.] - -A New Zealand chief “cried like a child because the sailors spoiled his -favorite cloak by powdering it with flour.” I saw in Tierra del Fuego -a native who had lately lost a brother, and who alternately cried with -hysterical violence, and laughed heartily at anything which amused him. -With the civilized nations of Europe there is also much difference -in the frequency of weeping. Englishmen rarely cry, except under the -pressure of the acutest grief; whereas, in some parts of the Continent, -the men shed tears much more readily and freely. - -The insane notoriously give way to all their emotions with little -or no restraint; and I am informed by Dr. J. Crichton Browne that -nothing is more characteristic of simple melancholia, even in the male -sex, than a tendency to weep on the slightest occasions, or from no -cause. They also weep disproportionately on the occurrence of any real -cause of grief. The length of time during which some patients weep is -astonishing, as well as the amount of tears which they shed. - - * * * * * - - [Page 167.] - -The Indian elephant is known sometimes to weep. Sir E. Tennent, in -describing those which he saw captured and bound in Ceylon, says some -“lay motionless on the ground, with no other indication of suffering -than the tears which suffused their eyes and flowed incessantly.” -Speaking of another elephant he says: “When overpowered and made fast, -his grief was most affecting; his violence sank to utter prostration, -and he lay on the ground, uttering choking cries, with tears trickling -down his cheeks.” - - -THE GRIEF-MUSCLES. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 180.] - -With respect to the eyebrows, they may occasionally be seen to -assume an oblique position in persons suffering from deep dejection -or anxiety; for instance, I have observed this movement in a mother -while speaking about her sick son; and it is sometimes excited by -quite trifling or momentary causes of real or pretended distress. The -eyebrows assume this position owing to the contraction of certain -muscles (namely, the orbiculars, corrugators, and pyramidals of the -nose, which together tend to lower and contract the eyebrows) being -partially checked by the more powerful action of the central fasciæ of -the frontal muscle. These latter fasciæ, by their contraction, raise -the inner ends alone of the eyebrows; and, as the corrugators at the -same time draw the eyebrows together, their inner ends become puckered -into a fold or lump. The eyebrows are at the same time somewhat -roughened, owing to the hairs being made to project. Dr. J. Crichton -Browne has also often noticed, in melancholic patients who keep their -eyebrows persistently oblique, “a peculiar acute arching of the upper -eyelid.” The acute arching of the eyelids depends, I believe, on the -inner end alone of the eyebrows being raised; for, when the whole -eyebrow is elevated and arched, the upper eyelid follows in a slight -degree the same movement. - -But the most conspicuous result of the opposed contraction of the -above-named muscles is exhibited by the peculiar furrows formed -on the forehead. These muscles, when thus in conjoint yet opposed -action, may be called, for the sake of brevity, the grief-muscles. -When a person elevates his eyebrows by the contraction of the whole -frontal muscle, transverse wrinkles extend across the whole breadth -of the forehead; but, in the present case, the middle fasciæ alone -are contracted; consequently, transverse furrows are formed across -the middle part alone of the forehead. The skin over the exterior -parts of both eyebrows is at the same time drawn downward and smoothed -by the contraction of the outer portions of the orbicular muscles. -The eyebrows are likewise brought together through the simultaneous -contraction of the corrugators; and this latter action generates -vertical furrows, separating the exterior and lowered part of the skin -of the forehead from the central and raised part. The union of these -vertical furrows with the central and transverse furrows produces a -mark on the forehead which has been compared to a horseshoe; but the -furrows more strictly form three sides of a quadrangle. They are often -conspicuous on the foreheads of adult, or nearly adult, persons, when -their eyebrows are made oblique; but with young children, owing to -their skin not easily wrinkling, they are rarely seen, or mere traces -of them can be detected. - - -VOLUNTARY POWER OVER THE GRIEF-MUSCLES. - - [Page 183.] - -Few persons, without some practice, can voluntarily act on their -grief-muscles; but, after repeated trials, a considerable number -succeed, while others never can. The degree of obliquity in the -eyebrows, whether assumed voluntarily or unconsciously, differs much -in different persons. With some who apparently have unusually strong -pyramidal muscles, the contraction of the central fasciæ of the frontal -muscle, although it may be energetic, as shown by the quadrangular -furrows on the forehead, does not raise the inner ends of the eyebrows, -but only prevents their being so much lowered as they otherwise would -have been. As far as I have been able to observe, the grief-muscles are -brought into action much more frequently by children and women than by -men. They are rarely acted on, at least with grown-up persons, from -bodily pain, but almost exclusively from mental distress. Two persons, -who, after some practice, succeeded in acting on their grief-muscles, -found by looking at a mirror that, when they made their eyebrows -oblique, they unintentionally at the same time depressed the corners -of their mouths; and this is often the case when the expression is -naturally assumed. - -The power to bring the grief-muscles freely into play appears to be -hereditary, like almost every other human faculty. A lady belonging to -a family famous for having produced an extraordinary number of great -actors and actresses, and who can herself give this expression “with -singular precision,” told Dr. Crichton Browne that all her family -had possessed the power in a remarkable degree. The same hereditary -tendency is said to have extended, as I likewise hear from Dr. -Browne, to the last descendant of the family, which gave rise to Sir -Walter Scott’s novel of “Red Gauntlet”; but the hero is described as -contracting his forehead into a horseshoe mark from any strong emotion. -I have also seen a young woman whose forehead seemed almost habitually -thus contracted, independently of any emotion being at the time felt. - -The grief-muscles are not very frequently brought into play; and, as -the action is often momentary, it easily escapes observation. Although -the expression, when observed, is universally and instantly recognized -as that of grief or anxiety, yet not one person out of a thousand who -has never studied the subject is able to say precisely what change -passes over the sufferer’s face. Hence probably it is that this -expression is not even alluded to, as far as I have noticed, in any -work of fiction, with the exception of “Red Gauntlet” and of one other -novel; and the authoress of the latter, as I am informed, belongs to -the famous family of actors just alluded to; so that her attention may -have been specially called to the subject. - - -“DOWN IN THE MOUTH.” - - [Page 194.] - -To say that a person “is down in the mouth” is synonymous with saying -that he is out of spirits. The depression of the corners may often be -seen, as already stated on the authority of Dr. Crichton Browne and -Mr. Nicol, with the melancholic insane, and was well exhibited in some -photographs, sent to me by the former gentleman, of patients with a -strong tendency to suicide. It has been observed with men belonging to -various races, namely, with Hindoos, the dark hill-tribes of India, -Malays, and, as the Rev. Mr. Hagenauer informs me, with the aborigines -of Australia. - -When infants scream they firmly contract the muscles round their eyes, -and this draws up the upper lip; and, as they have to keep their mouths -widely open, the depressor muscles running to the corners are likewise -brought into strong action. This generally, but not invariably, causes -a slight angular bend in the lower lip on both sides, near the corners -of the mouth. - - * * * * * - - [Page 195.] - -It is remarkable how small a depression of the corners of the mouth -gives to the countenance an expression of low spirits or dejection, -so that an extremely slight contraction of these muscles would be -sufficient to betray this state of mind. - -I may here mention a trifling observation, as it will serve to sum -up our present subject. An old lady with a comfortable but absorbed -expression sat nearly opposite to me in a railway-carriage. While I was -looking at her I saw that her _depressores anguli oris_ became very -slightly yet decidedly contracted; but, as her countenance remained as -placid as ever, I reflected how meaningless was this contraction, and -how easily one might be deceived. The thought had hardly occurred to -me when I saw that her eyes suddenly became suffused with tears almost -to overflowing, and her whole countenance fell. There could now be -no doubt that some painful recollection, perhaps that of a long-lost -child, was passing through her mind. As soon as her sensorium was thus -affected, certain nerve-cells from long habit instantly transmitted an -order to all the respiratory muscles, and to those round the mouth, to -prepare for a fit of crying. But the order was countermanded by the -will, or rather by a later acquired habit, and all the muscles were -obedient, excepting in a slight degree the _depressores anguli oris_. -The mouth was not even opened; the respiration was not hurried; and no -muscle was affected except those which draw down the corners of the -mouth. - - -LAUGHTER. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 200.] - -Many curious discussions have been written on the causes of laughter -with grown-up persons. The subject is extremely complex. Something -incongruous or unaccountable, exciting surprise and some sense of -superiority in the laughter, who must be in a happy frame of mind, -seems to be the commonest cause. The circumstances must not be of a -momentous nature; no poor man would laugh or smile on suddenly hearing -that a large fortune had been bequeathed to him. - - * * * * * - - [Page 201.] - -The imagination is sometimes said to be tickled, by a ludicrous idea; -and this so-called tickling of the mind is curiously analogous with -that of the body. Every one knows how immoderately children laugh -and how their whole bodies are convulsed when they are tickled. The -anthropoid apes, as we have seen, likewise utter a reiterated sound, -corresponding with our laughter, when they are tickled, especially -under the armpits. I touched with a bit of paper the sole of the foot -of one of my infants, when only seven days old, and it was suddenly -jerked away and the toes curled about, as in an older child. Such -movements, as well as laughter from being tickled, are manifestly -reflex actions; and this is likewise shown by the minute unstriped -muscles, which serve to erect the separate hairs on the body, -contracting near a tickled surface. Yet laughter from a ludicrous idea, -though involuntary, can not be called a strictly reflex action. In this -case, and in that of laughter from being tickled, the mind must be in -a pleasurable condition; a young child, if tickled by a strange man, -would scream from fear. The touch must be light, and an idea or event, -to be ludicrous, must not be of grave import. The parts of the body -which are most easily tickled are those which are not commonly touched, -such as the armpits or between the toes, or parts such as the soles -of the feet, which are habitually touched by a broad surface; but the -surface on which we sit offers a marked exception to this rule. - - * * * * * - - [Page 202.] - -The sound of laughter is produced by a deep inspiration followed by -short, interrupted, spasmodic contractions of the chest, and especially -of the diaphragm. Hence we hear of “laughter holding both his sides.” -From the shaking of the body, the head nods to and fro. The lower jaw -often quivers up and down, as is likewise the case with some species of -baboons, when they are much pleased. - -During laughter the mouth is opened more or less widely, with the -corners drawn much backward, as well as a little upward; and the upper -lip is somewhat raised. The drawing back of the corners is best seen in -moderate laughter, and especially in a broad smile--the latter epithet -showing how the mouth is widened. - - * * * * * - - [Page 208.] - -Although we can hardly account for the shape of the mouth during -laughter, which leads to wrinkles being formed beneath the eyes, nor -for the peculiar reiterated sound of laughter, nor for the quivering of -the jaws, nevertheless we may infer that all these effects are due to -some common cause; for they are all characteristic and expressive of a -pleased state of mind in various kinds of monkeys. - - * * * * * - -It is scarcely possible to point out any difference between the -tear-stained face of a person after a paroxysm of excessive laughter -and after a bitter crying-fit. It is probably due to the close -similarity of the spasmodic movements caused by these widely different -emotions that hysteric patients alternately cry and laugh with -violence, and that young children sometimes pass suddenly from the one -to the other state. Mr. Swinhoe informs me that he has often seen the -Chinese, when suffering from deep grief, burst out into hysterical fits -of laughter. - -I was anxious to know whether tears are freely shed during excessive -laughter by most of the races of men, and I hear from my correspondents -that this is the case. One instance was observed with the Hindoos, and -they themselves said that it often occurred. So it is with the Chinese. -The women of a wild tribe of Malays in the Malacca Peninsula sometimes -shed tears when they laugh heartily, though this seldom occurs. With -the Dyaks of Borneo it must frequently be the case, at least with -the women, for I hear from the Rajah C. Brooke that it is a common -expression with them to say, “We nearly made tears from laughter.” - - * * * * * - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 133.] - -Young orangs, when tickled, grin and make a chuckling sound; and Mr. -Martin says that their eyes grow brighter. As soon as their laughter -ceases, an expression may be detected passing over their faces, -which, as Mr. Wallace remarked to me, may be called a smile. I have -also noticed something of the same kind with the chimpanzee. Dr. -Duchenne--and I can not quote a better authority--informs me that he -kept a very tame monkey in his house for a year; and, when he gave it -during meal-times some choice delicacy, he observed that the corners -of its mouth were slightly raised; thus an expression of satisfaction, -partaking of the nature of an incipient smile, and resembling that -often seen on the face of man, could be plainly perceived in this -animal. - - -EXPRESSION OF THE DEVOUT EMOTIONS. - - [Page 220.] - -With some sects, both past and present, religion and love have been -strangely combined; and it has even been maintained, lamentable as -the fact may be, that the holy kiss of love differs but little from -that which a man bestows on a woman, or a woman on a man. Devotion is -chiefly expressed by the face being directed toward the heavens, with -the eyeballs upturned. Sir C. Bell remarks that, at the approach of -sleep, or of a fainting-fit, or of death, the pupils are drawn upward -and inward; and he believes that “when we are rapt in devotional -feelings, and outward impressions are unheeded, the eyes are raised by -an action neither taught nor acquired”; and that this is due to the -same cause as in the above cases. That the eyes are upturned during -sleep is, as I hear from Professor Donders, certain. With babies, while -sucking their mother’s breast, this movement of the eyeballs often -gives to them an absurd appearance of ecstatic delight; and here it may -be clearly perceived that a struggle is going on against the position -naturally assumed during sleep. But Sir C. Bell’s explanation of the -fact, which rests on the assumption that certain muscles are more under -the control of the will than others, is, as I hear from Professor -Donders, incorrect. As the eyes are often turned up in prayer, without -the mind being so much absorbed in thought as to approach to the -unconsciousness of sleep, the movement is probably a conventional -one--the result of the common belief that Heaven, the source of Divine -power to which we pray, is seated above us. - -A humble kneeling posture, with the hands upturned and palms joined, -appears to us, from long habit, a gesture so appropriate to devotion, -that it might be thought to be innate; but I have not met with any -evidence to this effect with the various extra-European races of -mankind. During the classical period of Roman history it does not -appear, as I hear from an excellent classic, that the hands were thus -joined during prayer. Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood has apparently given -the true explanation, though this implies that the attitude is one -of slavish subjection. “When the suppliant kneels and holds up his -hands with the palms joined, he represents a captive who proves the -completeness of his submission by offering up his hands to be bound -by the victor. It is the pictorial representation of the Latin _dare -manus_, to signify submission.” Hence it is not probable that either -the uplifting of the eyes or the joining of the open hands, under the -influence of devotional feelings, is an innate or a truly expressive -action; and this could hardly have been expected, for it is very -doubtful whether feelings such as we should now rank as devotional -affected the hearts of men while they remained during past ages in an -uncivilized condition. - - -FROWNING. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 225.] - -We may now inquire how it is that a frown should express the perception -of something difficult or disagreeable, either in thought or action. -In the same way as naturalists find it advisable to trace the -embryological development of an organ in order fully to understand -its structure, so with the movements of expression it is advisable to -follow as nearly as possible the same plan. The earliest and almost -sole expression seen during the first days of infancy, and then -often exhibited, is that displayed during the act of screaming; and -screaming is excited, both at first and for some time afterward, by -every distressing or displeasing sensation and emotion--by hunger, -pain, anger, jealousy, fear, etc. At such times the muscles round the -eyes are strongly contracted; and this, as I believe, explains to a -large extent the act of frowning during the remainder of our lives. I -repeatedly observed my own infants, from under the age of one week to -that of two or three months, and found that, when a screaming-fit came -on gradually, the first sign was the contraction of the corrugators, -which produced a slight frown, quickly followed by the contraction of -the other muscles round the eyes. - - * * * * * - - [Page 226.] - -Screaming or weeping begins to be voluntarily restrained at an early -period of life, whereas frowning is hardly ever restrained at any age. -It is perhaps worth notice that, with children much given to weeping, -anything which perplexes their minds, and which would cause most other -children merely to frown, readily makes them weep. So with certain -classes of the insane, any effort of mind, however slight, which with -an habitual frowner would cause a slight frown, leads to their weeping -in an unrestrained manner. It is not more surprising that the habit of -contracting the brows at the first perception of something distressing, -although gained during infancy, should be retained during the rest of -our lives, than that many other associated habits acquired at an early -age should be permanently retained both by man and the lower animals. -For instance, full-grown cats, when feeling warm and comfortable, -often retain the habit of alternately protruding their fore-feet with -extended toes, which habit they practiced for a definite purpose while -sucking their mothers. - - -POUTING. - - [Page 232.] - -With young children sulkiness is shown by pouting, or, as it is -sometimes called, “making a snout.” When the corners of the mouth -are much depressed, the lower lip is a little everted and protruded; -and this is likewise called a pout. But the pouting here referred -to consists of the protrusion of both lips into a tubular form, -sometimes to such an extent as to project as far as the end of the -nose, if this be short. Pouting is generally accompanied by frowning, -and sometimes by the utterance of a booing or whooing noise. This -expression is remarkable, as almost the sole one, as far as I know, -which is exhibited much more plainly during childhood, at least with -Europeans, than during maturity. There is, however, some tendency to -the protrusion of the lips with the adults of all races under the -influence of great rage. Some children pout when they are shy, and they -can then hardly be called sulky. - - * * * * * - - [Page 234.] - -Young orangs and chimpanzees protrude their lips to an extraordinary -degree, when they are discontented, somewhat angry, or sulky; also -when they are surprised, a little frightened, and even when slightly -pleased. Their mouths are protruded apparently for the sake of making -the various noises proper to these several states of mind; and its -shape, as I observed with the chimpanzee, differed slightly when the -cry of pleasure and that of anger were uttered. As soon as these -animals become enraged, the shape of the mouth wholly changes, and the -teeth are exposed. The adult orang when wounded is said to emit “a -singular cry, consisting at first of high notes, which at length deepen -into a low roar. While giving out the high notes he thrusts out his -lips into a funnel shape, but in uttering the low notes he holds his -mouth wide open.” With the gorilla, the lower lip is said to be capable -of great elongation. If, then, our semi-human progenitors protruded -their lips when sulky or a little angered, in the same manner as do -the existing anthropoid apes, it is not an anomalous, though a curious -fact, that our children should exhibit, when similarly affected, a -trace of the same expression, together with some tendency to utter a -noise. For it is not at all unusual for animals to retain, more or less -perfectly, during early youth, and subsequently to lose, characters -which were aboriginally possessed by their adult progenitors, and which -are still retained by distinct species, their near relations. - - -DECISION AT THE MOUTH. - - [Page 236.] - -No determined man probably ever had an habitually gaping mouth. Hence, -also, a small and weak lower jaw, which seems to indicate that the -mouth is not habitually and firmly closed, is commonly thought to be -characteristic of feebleness of character. A prolonged effort of any -kind, whether of body or mind, implies previous determination; and if -it can be shown that the mouth is generally closed with firmness before -and during a great and continued exertion of the muscular system, then, -through the principle of association, the mouth would almost certainly -be closed as soon as any determined resolution was taken. - - -ANGER. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 243.] - -The lips are sometimes protruded during rage in a manner the meaning -of which I do not understand, unless it depends on our descent from -some ape-like animal. Instances have been observed, not only with -Europeans, but with the Australians and Hindoos. The lips, however, -are much more commonly retracted, the grinning or clinched teeth being -thus exposed. This has been noticed by almost every one who has written -on expression. The appearance is as if the teeth were uncovered, ready -for seizing or tearing an enemy, though there may be no intention -of acting in this manner. Mr. Dyson Lacy has seen this grinning -expression with the Australians, when quarreling, and so has Gaika -with the Caffres of South Africa. Dickens, in speaking of an atrocious -murderer who had just been caught, and was surrounded by a furious mob, -describes “the people as jumping up one behind another, snarling with -their teeth, and making at him like wild beasts.” Every one who has -had much to do with young children must have seen how naturally they -take to biting, when in a passion. It seems as instinctive in them as -in young crocodiles, who snap their little jaws as soon as they emerge -from the egg. - - -SNEERING. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 253.] - -The expression here considered, whether that of a playful sneer or -ferocious snarl, is one of the most curious which occurs in man. -It reveals his animal descent; for no one, even if rolling on the -ground in a deadly grapple with an enemy, and attempting to bite him, -would try to use his canine teeth more than his other teeth. We may -readily believe from our affinity to the anthropomorphous apes that -our male semi-human progenitors possessed great canine teeth, and men -are now occasionally born having them of unusually large size, with -interspaces in the opposite jaw for their reception. We may further -suspect, notwithstanding that we have no support from analogy, that our -semi-human progenitors uncovered their canine teeth when prepared for -battle, as we still do when feeling ferocious, or when merely sneering -at or defying some one, without any intention of making a real attack -with our teeth. - - -DISGUST. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 258.] - -Extreme disgust is expressed by movements round the mouth identical -with those preparatory to the act of vomiting. The mouth is opened -widely, with the upper lip strongly retracted, which wrinkles the sides -of the nose, and with the lower lip protruded and everted as much as -possible. This latter movement requires the contraction of the muscles -which draw downward the corners of the mouth. - -It is remarkable how readily and instantly retching or actual vomiting -is induced in some persons by the mere idea of having partaken of any -unusual food, as of an animal which is not commonly eaten; although -there is nothing in such food to cause the stomach to reject it. -When vomiting results, as a reflex action, from some real cause--as -from too rich food, or tainted meat, or from an emetic--it does not -ensue immediately, but generally after a considerable interval of -time. Therefore, to account for retching or vomiting being so quickly -and easily excited by a mere idea, the suspicion arises that our -progenitors must formerly have had the power (like that possessed -by ruminants and some other animals) of voluntarily rejecting food -which disagreed with them, or which they thought would disagree with -them; and now, though this power has been lost, as far as the will is -concerned, it is called into involuntary action, through the force of a -formerly well-established habit, whenever the mind revolts at the idea -of having partaken of any kind of food, or at anything disgusting. This -suspicion receives support from the fact, of which I am assured by Mr. -Sutton, that the monkeys in the Zoölogical Gardens often vomit while in -perfect health, which looks as if the act were voluntary. We can see -that as man is able to communicate, by language to his children and -others, the knowledge of the kinds of food to be avoided, he would have -little occasion to use the faculty of voluntary rejection; so that this -power would tend to be lost through disuse. - - -SHRUGGING THE SHOULDERS. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 271.] - -We may now inquire why men in all parts of the world, when they -feel--whether or not they wish to show this feeling--that they cannot -or will not do something, or will not resist something if done by -another, shrug their shoulders, at the same time often bending in their -elbows, showing the palms of their hands with extended fingers, often -throwing their heads a little on one side, raising their eyebrows, -and opening their mouths. These states of the mind are either simply -passive, or show a determination not to act. None of the above -movements are of the least service. The explanation lies, I can not -doubt, in the principle of unconscious antithesis. This principle here -seems to come into play as clearly as in the case of a dog, who, when -feeling savage, puts himself in the proper attitude for attacking and -for making himself appear terrible to his enemy; but, as soon as he -feels affectionate, throws his whole body into a directly opposite -attitude, though this is of no direct use to him. - - * * * * * - -Let it be observed how an indignant man who resents and will not -submit to some injury holds his head erect, squares his shoulders, and -expands his chest. He often clinches his fists, and puts one or both -arms in the proper position for attack or defense, with the muscles -of his limbs rigid. He frowns--that is, he contracts and lowers his -brows--and, being determined, closes his mouth. The actions and -attitude of a helpless man are, in every one of these respects, exactly -the reverse. - - -BLUSHING. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 310.] - -Blushing is the most peculiar and the most human of all expressions. -Monkeys redden from passion, but it would require an overwhelming -amount of evidence to make us believe that any animal could blush. The -reddening of the face from a blush is due to the relaxation of the -muscular coats of the small arteries, by which the capillaries become -filled with blood; and this depends on the proper vaso-motor center -being affected. No doubt, if there be at the same time much mental -agitation, the general circulation will be affected; but it is not due -to the action of the heart that the net-work of minute vessels covering -the face becomes, under a sense of shame, gorged with blood. We can -cause laughing by tickling the skin; weeping or frowning, by a blow; -trembling, from a fear of pain, and so forth; but we can not cause a -blush, as Dr. Burgess remarks, by any physical means--that is, by any -action on the body. It is the mind which must be affected. Blushing -is not only involuntary, but the wish to restrain it, by leading to -self-attention, actually increases the tendency. - - * * * * * - - [Page 312.] - -The tendency to blush is inherited. Dr. Burgess gives the case of a -family, consisting of a father, mother, and ten children, all of whom, -without exception, were prone to blush to a most painful degree. The -children were grown up; “and some of them were sent to travel, in -order to wear away this diseased sensibility, but nothing was of the -slightest avail.” Even peculiarities in blushing seem to be inherited. -Sir James Paget, while examining the spine of a girl, was struck at -her singular manner of blushing: a big splash of red appeared first -on one cheek, and then other splashes variously scattered over the -face and neck. He subsequently asked the mother whether her daughter -always blushed in this peculiar manner, and was answered, “Yes, she -takes after me.” Sir J. Paget then perceived that, by asking this -question, he had caused the mother to blush; and she exhibited the same -peculiarity as her daughter. - - * * * * * - - [Page 318.] - -Mr. Washington Matthews has often seen a blush on the faces of the -young squaws belonging to various wild Indian tribes of North America. -At the opposite extremity of the continent, in Tierra del Fuego, -the natives, according to Mr. Bridges, “blush much, but chiefly in -regard to women; but they certainly blush also at their own personal -appearance.” This latter statement agrees with what I remember of the -Fuegian, Jemmy Button, who blushed when he was quizzed about the care -which he took in polishing his shoes, and in otherwise adorning himself. - - * * * * * - - [Page 319.] - -Several trustworthy observers have assured me that they have seen -on the faces of negroes an appearance resembling a blush, under -circumstances which would have excited one in us, though their skins -were of an ebony-black tint. Some describe it as blushing brown, but -most say that the blackness becomes more intense. - - * * * * * - - [Page 324.] - -I will give an instance of the extreme disturbance of mind to which -some sensitive men are liable. A gentleman, on whom I can rely, -assured me that he had been an eye-witness of the following scene: A -small dinner-party was given in honor of an extremely shy man, who, -when he rose to return thanks, rehearsed the speech, which he had -evidently learned by heart, in absolute silence, and did not utter a -single word; but he acted as if he were speaking with much emphasis. -His friends, perceiving how the case stood, loudly applauded the -imaginary bursts of eloquence, whenever his gestures indicated a pause, -and the man never discovered that he had remained the whole time -completely silent. On the contrary, he afterward remarked to my friend, -with much satisfaction, that he thought he had succeeded uncommonly -well. - - -BLUSHING NOT NECESSARILY AN EXPRESSION OF GUILT. - - [Page 333.] - -It is not the sense of guilt, but the thought that others think or know -us to be guilty, which crimsons the face. A man may feel thoroughly -ashamed at having told a small falsehood, without blushing; but if he -even suspects that he is detected he will instantly blush, especially -if detected by one whom he reveres. - -On the other hand, a man may be convinced that God witnesses all his -actions, and he may feel deeply conscious of some fault and pray for -forgiveness; but this will not, as a lady who is a great blusher -believes, ever excite a blush. The explanation of this difference -between the knowledge by God and man of our actions lies, I presume, -in man’s disapprobation of immoral conduct being somewhat akin in -nature to his depreciation of our personal appearance, so that through -association both lead to similar results; whereas the disapprobation of -God brings up no such association. - -Many a person has blushed intensely when accused of some crime, though -completely innocent of it. - - * * * * * - - [Page 334.] - -An action may be meritorious or of an indifferent nature, but a -sensitive person, if he suspects that others take a different view of -it, will blush. For instance, a lady by herself may give money to a -beggar without a trace of a blush, but if others are present, and she -doubts whether they approve, or suspects that they think her influenced -by display, she will blush. So it will be, if she offers to relieve the -distress of a decayed gentlewoman, more particularly of one whom she -had previously known under better circumstances, as she can not then -feel sure how her conduct will be viewed. But such cases as these blend -into shyness. - - * * * * * - - [Page 338.] - -The belief that blushing was _specially_ designed by the Creator is -opposed to the general theory of evolution, which is now so largely -accepted; but it forms no part of my duty here to argue on the general -question. Those who believe in design will find it difficult to -account for shyness being the most frequent and efficient of all the -causes of blushing, as it makes the blusher to suffer and the beholder -uncomfortable, without being of the least service to either of them. -They will also find it difficult to account for negroes and other -dark-colored races blushing, in whom a change of color in the skin is -scarcely or not at all visible. - - -BLUSHING ACCOUNTED FOR. - -The hypothesis which appears to me the most probable, though it may at -first seem rash, is that attention closely directed to any part of the -body tends to interfere with the ordinary and tonic contraction of the -small arteries of that part. These vessels, in consequence, become at -such times more or less relaxed, and are instantly filled with arterial -blood. This tendency will have been much strengthened, if frequent -attention has been paid during many generations to the same part, owing -to nerve-force readily flowing along accustomed channels, and by the -power of inheritance. Whenever we believe that others are depreciating -or even considering our personal appearance, our attention is vividly -directed to the outer and visible parts of our bodies; and of all such -parts we are most sensitive about our faces, as no doubt has been the -case during many past generations. Therefore, assuming for the moment -that the capillary vessels can be acted on by close attention, those -of the face will have become eminently susceptible. Through the force -of association, the same effects will tend to follow whenever we think -that others are considering or censuring our actions or character. - - * * * * * - - [Page 340.] - -It is known that the involuntary movements of the heart are affected if -close attention be paid to them. Gratiolet gives the case of a man who, -by continually watching and counting his own pulse, at last caused one -beat out of every six to intermit. On the other hand, my father told me -of a careful observer, who certainly had heart-disease and died from -it, and who positively stated that his pulse was habitually irregular -to an extreme degree; yet to his great disappointment it invariably -became regular as soon as my father entered the room. - - * * * * * - - [Page 342.] - -When we direct our whole attention to any one sense, its acuteness is -increased; and the continued habit of close attention, as with blind -people to that of hearing, and with the blind and deaf to that of -touch, appears to improve the sense in question permanently. There is, -also, some reason to believe, judging from the capacities of different -races of man, that the effects are inherited. Turning to ordinary -sensations, it is well known that pain is increased by attending to it; -and Sir B. Brodie goes so far as to believe that pain may be felt in -any part of the body to which attention is closely drawn. - - -A NEW ARGUMENT FOR A SINGLE PARENT-STOCK. - - [Expression of - the Emotions, - page 361.] - -I have endeavored to show in considerable detail that all the chief -expressions exhibited by man are the same throughout the world. This -fact is interesting, as it affords a new argument in favor of the -several races being descended from a single parent-stock, which must -have been almost completely human in structure, and to a large extent -in mind, before the period at which the races diverged from each other. -No doubt similar structures adapted for the same purpose have often -been independently acquired through variation and natural selection -by distinct species; but this view will not explain close similarity -between distinct species in a multitude of unimportant details. Now, if -we bear in mind the numerous points of structure having no relation to -expression, in which all the races of man closely agree, and then add -to them the numerous points, some of the highest importance and many of -the most trifling value, on which the movements of expression directly -or indirectly depend, it seems to me improbable in the highest degree -that so much similarity, or rather identity of structure, could have -been acquired by independent means. Yet this must have been the case -if the races of man are descended from several aboriginally distinct -species. It is far more probable that the many points of close -similarity in the various races are due to inheritance from a single -parent-form, which had already assumed a human character. - - - - -XIV. - -THE PROVISIONAL HYPOTHESIS OF PANGENESIS. - - - [Animals and - Plants under - Domestication, - vol. ii, - page 349.] - -Every one would wish to explain to himself, even in an imperfect -manner, how it is possible for a character possessed by some remote -ancestor suddenly to reappear in the offspring; how the effects of -increased or decreased use of a limb can be transmitted to the child; -how the male sexual element can act not solely on the ovules, but -occasionally on the mother-form; how a hybrid can be produced by the -union of the cellular tissue of two plants independently of the organs -of generation; how a limb can be reproduced on the exact line of -amputation, with neither too much nor too little added; how the same -organism may be produced by such widely different processes as budding -and true seminal generation; and, lastly, how, of two allied forms, -one passes in the course of its development through the most complex -metamorphoses, and the other does not do so, though when mature both -are alike in every detail of structure. I am aware that my view is -merely a provisional hypothesis or speculation; but, until a better one -be advanced, it will serve to bring together a multitude of facts which -are at present left disconnected by any efficient cause. As Whewell, -the historian of the inductive sciences, remarks, “Hypotheses may -often be of service to science when they involve a certain portion of -incompleteness, and even of error.” Under this point of view I venture -to advance the hypothesis of pangenesis, which implies that every -separate part of the whole organization reproduces itself. So that -ovules, spermatozoa, and pollen-grains--the fertilized egg or seed, as -well as buds--include and consist of a multitude of germs thrown off -from each separate part or unit. - - -FUNCTIONAL INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITS OF THE BODY. - - [Page 364.] - -Physiologists agree that the whole organism consists of a multitude -of elemental parts, which are to a great extent independent of one -another. Each organ, says Claude Bernard, has its proper life, its -autonomy; it can develop and reproduce itself independently of the -adjoining tissues. A great German authority, Virchow, asserts still -more emphatically that each system consists of an “enormous mass -of minute centers of action.... Every element has its own special -action, and, even though it derive its stimulus to activity from other -parts, yet alone effects the actual performance of duties.... Every -single epithelial and muscular fiber-cell leads a sort of parasitical -existence in relation to the rest of the body.... Every single -bone-corpuscle really possesses conditions of nutrition peculiar to -itself.” Each element, as Sir J. Paget remarks, lives its appointed -time and then dies, and is replaced after being cast off or absorbed. -I presume that no physiologist doubts that, for instance, each -bone-corpuscle of the finger differs from the corresponding corpuscle -in the corresponding joint of the toe; and there can hardly be a doubt -that even those on the corresponding sides of the body differ, though -almost identical in nature. This near approach to identity is curiously -shown in many diseases in which the same exact points on the right and -left sides of the body are similarly affected; thus Sir J. Paget gives -a drawing of a diseased pelvis, in which the bone has grown into a most -complicated pattern, but “there is not one spot or line on one side -which is not represented, as exactly as it would be in a mirror, on the -other.” - -Many facts support this view of the independent life of each minute -element of the body. Virchow insists that a single bone-corpuscle or -a single cell in the skin may become diseased. The spur of a cock, -after being inserted into the ear of an ox, lived for eight years, -and acquired a weight of three hundred and ninety-six grammes (nearly -fourteen ounces) and the astonishing length of twenty-four centimetres, -or about nine inches; so that the head of the ox appeared to bear three -horns. The tail of a pig has been grafted into the middle of its back, -and reacquired sensibility. Dr. Ollier inserted a piece of periosteum -from the bone of a young dog under the skin of a rabbit, and true bone -was developed. A multitude of similar facts could be given. - - * * * * * - - [Page 368.] - -What can be more wonderful than that characters, which have disappeared -during scores, or hundreds, or even thousands of generations, should -suddenly reappear perfectly developed, as in the case of pigeons and -fowls, both when purely bred and especially when crossed; or as with -the zebrine stripes on dun-colored horses, and other such cases? Many -monstrosities come under this same head, as when rudimentary organs -are redeveloped, or when an organ which we must believe was possessed -by an early progenitor of the species, but of which not even a -rudiment is left, suddenly reappears, as with the fifth stamen in some -_Scrophulariaceæ_. - - * * * * * - - [Page 369.] - -In every living creature we may feel assured that a host of long-lost -characters lie ready to be evolved under proper conditions. How can -we make intelligible, and connect with other facts, this wonderful -and common capacity of reversion--this power of calling back to life -long-lost characters? - - * * * * * - - [Page 336.] - -Imperfect nails sometimes appear on the stumps of the amputated -fingers of man; and it is an interesting fact that with the snake-like -saurians, which present a series with more and more imperfect limbs, -the terminations of the phalanges first disappear, “the nails becoming -transferred to their proximal remnants, or even to parts which are not -phalanges.” - - * * * * * - - [Page 387.] - -Mr. Salter and Dr. Maxwell Masters have found pollen within the ovules -of the passion-flower and of the rose. Buds may be developed in the -most unnatural positions, as on the petal of a flower. Numerous -analogous facts could be given. - -I do not know how physiologists look at such facts as the foregoing. -According to the doctrine of pangenesis, the gemmules of the transposed -organs become developed in the wrong place, from uniting with wrong -cells or aggregates of cells during their nascent state; and this would -follow from a slight modification in their elective affinities. - - * * * * * - - [Page 388.] - -On any ordinary view it is unintelligible how changed conditions, -whether acting on the embryo, the young or the adult, can cause -inherited modifications. It is equally or even more unintelligible, on -any ordinary view, how the effects of the long-continued use or disuse -of a part, or of changed habits of body or mind, can be inherited. A -more perplexing problem can hardly be proposed; but on our view we -have only to suppose that certain cells become at last structurally -modified, and that these throw off similarly modified gemmules. This -may occur at any period of development, and the modification will -be inherited at a corresponding period; for the modified gemmules -will unite in all ordinary cases with the proper preceding cells, -and will consequently be developed at the same period at which the -modification first arose. With respect to mental habits or instincts, -we are so profoundly ignorant of the relation between the brain and -the power of thought that we do not know positively whether a fixed -habit induces any change in the nervous system, though this seems -highly probable; but, when such habit or other mental attribute, or -insanity, is inherited, we must believe that some actual modification -is transmitted; and this implies, according to our hypothesis, that -gemmules derived from modified nerve-cells are transmitted to the -offspring. - - -NECESSARY ASSUMPTIONS. - - [Page 369.] - -I have now enumerated the chief facts which every one would desire -to see connected by some intelligible bond. This can be done, if we -make the following assumptions, and much may be advanced in favor of -the chief one. The secondary assumptions can likewise be supported -by various physiological considerations. It is universally admitted -that the cells or units of the body increase by self-division or -proliferation, retaining the same nature, and that they ultimately -become converted into the various tissues and substances of the body. -But besides this means of increase I assume that the units throw off -minute granules which are dispersed throughout the whole system; that -these, when supplied with proper nutriment, multiply by self-division, -and are ultimately developed into units like those from which they -were originally derived. These granules may be called gemmules. They -are collected from all parts of the system to constitute the sexual -elements, and their development in the next generation forms a new -being; but they are likewise capable of transmission in a dormant state -to future generations and may then be developed. Their development -depends on their union with other partially developed, or nascent cells -which precede them in the regular course of growth. Why I use the term -union will be seen when we discuss the direct action of pollen on the -tissues of the mother-plant. Gemmules are supposed to be thrown off by -every unit, not only during the adult state, but during each stage of -development of every organism; but not necessarily during the continued -existence of the same unit. Lastly, I assume that the gemmules in their -dormant state have a mutual affinity for each other, leading to their -aggregation into buds or into the sexual elements. Hence, it is not the -reproductive organs or buds which generate new organisms, but the units -of which each individual is composed. These assumptions constitute the -provisional hypothesis which I have called pangenesis. - - * * * * * - - [Page 372.] - -But I have further to assume that the gemmules in their undeveloped -state are capable of largely multiplying themselves by self-division, -like independent organisms. Delpino insists that to “admit of -multiplication by fissiparity in corpuscles, analogous to seeds -or buds ... is repugnant to all analogy.” But this seems a strange -objection, as Thuret has seen the zoöspore of an alga divide itself, -and each half germinated. Haeckel divided the segmented ovum of a -siphonophora into many pieces, and these were developed. Nor does the -extreme minuteness of the gemmules, which can hardly differ much in -nature from the lowest and simplest organisms, render it improbable -that they should grow and multiply. A great authority, Dr. Beale, says -that “minute yeast-cells are capable of throwing off buds or gemmules, -much less than the 1/100000 of an inch in diameter”; and these he thinks -are “capable of subdivision practically _ad infinitum_.” - -A particle of small-pox matter, so minute as to be borne by the wind, -must multiply itself many thousandfold in a person thus inoculated; -and so with the contagious matter of scarlet fever. It has recently -been ascertained that a minute portion of the mucous discharge from an -animal affected with rinderpest, if placed in the blood of a healthy -ox, increases so fast that in a short space of time “the whole mass of -blood, weighing many pounds, is infected, and every small particle of -that blood contains enough poison to give, within less than forty-eight -hours, the disease to another animal.” - - * * * * * - - [Page 374.] - -The gemmules derived from each part or organ must be thoroughly -dispersed throughout the whole system. We know, for instance, that -even a minute fragment of a leaf of a begonia will reproduce the whole -plant; and that if a fresh-water worm is chopped into small pieces, -each will reproduce the whole animal. Considering also the minuteness -of the gemmules and the permeability of all organic tissues, the -thorough dispersion of the gemmules is not surprising. That matter -may be readily transferred without the aid of vessels from part to -part of the body, we have a good instance in a case recorded by Sir J. -Paget of a lady, whose hair lost its color at each successive attack -of neuralgia and recovered it again in the course of a few days. With -plants, however, and probably with compound animals, such as corals, -the gemmules do not ordinarily spread from bud to bud, but are confined -to the parts developed from each separate bud; and of this fact no -explanation can be given. - - -TWO OBJECTIONS ANSWERED. - - [Page 380.] - -But we have here to encounter two objections which apply not only to -the regrowth of a part, or of a bisected individual, but to fissiparous -generation and budding. The first objection is that the part which is -reproduced is in the same stage of development as that of the being -which has been operated on or bisected; and in the case of buds, -that the new beings thus produced are in the same stage as that of -the budding parent. Thus a mature salamander, of which the tail has -been cut off, does not reproduce a larval tail; and a crab does not -reproduce a larval leg. In the case of budding it was shown in the -first part of this chapter that the new being thus produced does not -retrograde in development--that is, does not pass through those earlier -stages which the fertilized germ has to pass through. Nevertheless, the -organisms operated on or multiplying themselves by buds must, by our -hypothesis, include innumerable gemmules derived from every part or -unit of the earlier stages of development; and why do not such gemmules -reproduce the amputated part or the whole body at a corresponding early -stage of development? - -The second objection, which has been insisted on by Delpino, is that -the tissues, for instance, of a mature salamander or crab, of which -a limb has been removed, are already differentiated and have passed -through their whole course of development; and how can such tissues in -accordance with our hypothesis attract and combine with the gemmules of -the part which is to be reproduced? In answer to these two objections -we must bear in mind the evidence which has been advanced, showing -that at least in a large number of cases the power of regrowth is a -localized faculty, acquired for the sake of repairing special injuries -to which each particular creature is liable; and, in the case of buds -or fissiparous generation, for the sake of quickly multiplying the -organism at a period of life when it can be supported in large numbers. -These considerations lead us to believe that in all such cases a stock -of nascent cells or of partially developed gemmules are retained for -this special purpose either locally or throughout the body, ready to -combine with the gemmules derived from the cells which come next in due -succession. If this be admitted, we have a sufficient answer to the -above two objections. Anyhow, pangenesis seems to throw a considerable -amount of light on the wonderful power of regrowth. - - -EFFECT OF MORBID ACTION. - - [Page 392.] - -We have as yet spoken only of the removal of parts, when not followed -by morbid action: but, when the operation is thus followed, it is -certain that the deficiency is sometimes inherited. In a former chapter -instances were given, as of a cow, the loss of whose horn was followed -by suppuration, and her calves were destitute of a horn on the same -side of their heads. But the evidence which admits of no doubt is -that given by Brown-Séquard with respect to Guinea-pigs, which, after -their sciatic nerves had been divided, gnawed off their own gangrenous -toes, and the toes of their offspring were deficient in at least -thirteen instances on the corresponding feet. The inheritance of the -lost part in several of these cases is all the more remarkable as only -one parent was affected; but we know that a congenital deficiency is -often transmitted from one parent alone--for instance, the offspring -of hornless cattle of either sex, when crossed with perfect animals, -are often hornless. How, then, in accordance with our hypothesis can -we account for mutilations being sometimes strongly inherited, if they -are followed by diseased action? The answer probably is that all the -gemmules of the mutilated or amputated part are gradually attracted -to the diseased surface during the reparative process, and are there -destroyed by the morbid action. - - -TRANSMISSION LIMITED. - - [Page 396.] - -The transmission of dormant gemmules during many successive generations -is hardly in itself more improbable, as previously remarked, than the -retention during many ages of rudimentary organs, or even only of -a tendency to the production of a rudiment; but there is no reason -to suppose that dormant gemmules can be transmitted and propagated -forever. Excessively minute and numerous as they are believed to be, -an infinite number, derived, during a long course of modification and -descent, from each unit of each progenitor, could not be supported or -nourished by the organism. But it does not seem improbable that certain -gemmules, under favorable conditions, should be retained and go on -multiplying for a much longer period than others. Finally, on the view -here given, we certainly gain some insight into the wonderful fact that -the child may depart from the type of both its parents, and resemble -its grandparents, or ancestors removed by many hundreds of generations. - - * * * * * - - [Page 398.] - -The child, strictly speaking, does not grow into the man, but includes -germs which slowly and successively become developed and form the man. -In the child, as well as in the adult, each part generates the same -part. Inheritance must be looked at as merely a form of growth, like -the self-division of a lowly-organized unicellular organism. Reversion -depends on the transmission from the forefather to his descendants of -dormant gemmules, which occasionally become developed under certain -known or unknown conditions. Each animal and plant may be compared with -a bed of soil full of seeds, some of which soon germinate, some lie -dormant for a period, while others perish. When we hear it said that -a man carries in his constitution the seeds of an inherited disease, -there is much truth in the expression. No other attempt, as far as I -am aware, has been made, imperfect as this confessedly is, to connect -under one point of view these several grand classes of facts. An -organic being is a microcosm--a little universe, formed of a host of -self-propagating organisms, inconceivably minute and numerous as the -stars in heaven. - - - - -XV. - -OBJECTIONS TO THE THEORY OF DESCENT WITH MODIFICATION CONSIDERED. - - - [Origin of - Species, - page 63.] - -Several writers have misapprehended or objected to the term Natural -Selection. Some have even imagined that natural selection induces -variability, whereas it implies only the preservation of such -variations as arise and are beneficial to the being under its -conditions of life. No one objects to agriculturists speaking of the -potent effects of man’s selection; and in this case the individual -difference given by nature, which man for some object selects, must of -necessity first occur. Others have objected that the term selection -implies conscious choice in the animals which become modified; and it -has even been urged that, as plants have no volition, natural selection -is not applicable to them! In the literal sense of the word, no doubt, -natural selection is a false term; but who ever objected to chemists -speaking of the elective affinities of the various elements?--and yet -an acid can not strictly be said to elect the base with which it in -preference combines. It has been said that I speak of natural selection -as an active power or Deity; but who objects to an author speaking -of the attraction of gravity as ruling the movements of the planets? -Every one knows what is meant and is implied by such metaphorical -expressions; and they are almost necessary for brevity. So again it is -difficult to avoid personifying the word Nature; but I mean by Nature, -only the aggregate action and product of many natural laws, and by laws -the sequence of events as ascertained by us. With a little familiarity -such superficial objections will be forgotten. - - -MISREPRESENTATIONS CORRECTED. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 421.] - -As my conclusions have lately been much misrepresented, and it has -been stated that I attribute the modification of species exclusively -to natural selection, I may be permitted to remark that in the first -edition of this work, and subsequently, I placed in a most conspicuous -position--namely, at the close of the introduction--the following -words: “I am convinced that natural selection has been the main but not -the exclusive means of modification.” This has been of no avail. Great -is the power of steady misrepresentation; but the history of science -shows that fortunately this power does not long endure. - -It can hardly be supposed that a false theory would explain, in so -satisfactory a manner as does the theory of natural selection, the -several large classes of facts above specified. It has recently been -objected that this is an unsafe method of arguing; but it is a method -used in judging of the common events of life, and has often been used -by the greatest natural philosophers. The undulatory theory of light -has thus been arrived at; and the belief in the revolution of the -earth on its own axis was until lately supported by hardly any direct -evidence. It is no valid objection that science as yet throws no -light on the far higher problem of the essence or origin of life. Who -can explain what is the essence of the attraction of gravity? No one -now objects to following out the results consequent on this unknown -element of attraction; notwithstanding that Leibnitz formerly accused -Newton of introducing “occult qualities and miracles into philosophy.” - -I see no good reason why the views given in this volume should shock -the religious feelings of any one. It is satisfactory, as showing how -transient such impressions are, to remember that the greatest discovery -ever made by man, namely, the law of the attraction of gravity, was -also attacked by Leibnitz, “as subversive of natural, and inferentially -of revealed, religion.” A celebrated author and divine has written to -me that “he has gradually learned to see that it is just as noble a -conception of the Deity to believe that he created a few original forms -capable of self-development into other and needful forms, as to believe -that he required a fresh act of creation to supply the voids caused by -the action of his laws.” - - -LAPSE OF TIME AND EXTENT OF AREA. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 82.] - -The mere lapse of time by itself does nothing, either for or against -natural selection. I state this because it has been erroneously -asserted that the element of time has been assumed by me to play an -all-important part in modifying species, as if all the forms of life -were necessarily undergoing change through some innate law. Lapse of -time is only so far important, and its importance in this respect is -great, that it gives a better chance of beneficial variations arising, -and of their being selected, accumulated, and fixed. It likewise tends -to increase the direct action of the physical conditions of life, in -relation to the constitution of each organism. - -If we turn to nature to test the truth of these remarks, and look -at any small isolated area, such as an oceanic island, although the -number of species inhabiting it is small, as we shall see in our -chapter on “Geographical Distribution,” yet of these species a very -large proportion are endemic--that is, have been produced there, and -nowhere else in the world. Hence an oceanic island at first sight -seems to have been highly favorable for the production of new species. -But we may thus deceive ourselves, for, to ascertain whether a small -isolated area, or a large open area like a continent, has been most -favorable for the production of new organic forms, we ought to make the -comparison within equal times; and this we are incapable of doing. - -Although isolation is of great importance in the production of new -species, on the whole I am inclined to believe that largeness of area -is still more important, especially for the production of species which -shall prove capable of enduring for a long period, and of spreading -widely. Throughout a great and open area, not only will there be a -better chance of favorable variations, arising from the large number -of individuals of the same species there supported, but the conditions -of life are much more complex from the large number of already -existing species; and if some of these many species become modified -and improved, others will have to be improved in a corresponding -degree, or they will be exterminated. Each new form, also, as soon as -it has been much improved, will be able to spread over the open and -continuous area, and will thus come into competition with many other -forms. Moreover, great areas, though now continuous, will often, owing -to former oscillations of level, have existed in a broken condition; so -that the good effects of isolation will generally, to a certain extent, -have concurred. Finally, I conclude that, although small isolated -areas have been in some respects highly favorable for the production of -new species, yet that the course of modification will generally have -been more rapid on large areas; and what is more important, that the -new forms produced on large areas, which already have been victorious -over many competitors, will be those that will spread most widely, and -will give rise to the greatest number of new varieties and species. -They will thus play a more important part in the changing history of -the organic world. - - -WHY THE HIGHER FORMS HAVE NOT SUPPLANTED THE LOWER. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 98.] - -But it may be objected that if all organic beings thus tend to rise -in the scale, how is it that throughout the world a multitude of the -lowest forms still exist; and how is it that in each great class some -forms are far more highly developed than others? Why have not the -more highly developed forms everywhere supplanted and exterminated -the lower? Lamarck, who believed in an innate and inevitable tendency -toward perfection in all organic beings, seems to have felt this -difficulty so strongly that he was led to suppose that new and simple -forms are continually being produced by spontaneous generation. Science -has not as yet proved the truth of this belief, whatever the future -may reveal. On our theory the continued existence of lowly organisms -offers no difficulty; for natural selection, or the survival of the -fittest, does not necessarily include progressive development--it only -takes advantage of such variations as arise and are beneficial to each -creature under its complex relations of life. And it may be asked, -What advantage, as far as we can see, would it be to an infusorian -animalcule--to an intestinal worm--or even to an earth-worm, to be -highly organized? If it were no advantage, these forms would be left, -by natural selection, unimproved or but little improved, and might -remain for indefinite ages in their present lowly condition. And -geology tells us that some of the lowest forms, as the infusoria and -rhizopods, have remained for an enormous period in nearly their present -state. But to suppose that most of the many now existing low forms -have not in the least advanced since the first dawn of life would be -extremely rash; for every naturalist who has dissected some of the -beings now ranked as very low in the scale must have been struck with -their really wondrous and beautiful organization. - -Nearly the same remarks are applicable if we look to the different -grades of organization within the same great group; for instance, -in the vertebrata, to the co-existence of mammals and fish--among -mammalia, to the co-existence of man and the ornithorhynchus--among -fishes, to the co-existence of the shark and the lancelet (Amphioxus), -which latter fish in the extreme simplicity of its structure approaches -the invertebrate classes. But mammals and fish hardly come into -competition with each other; the advancement of the whole class of -mammals, or of certain members in this class, to the highest grade -would not lead to their taking the place of fishes. Physiologists -believe that the brain must be bathed by warm blood to be highly -active, and this requires aërial respiration; so that warm-blooded -mammals when inhabiting the water lie under a disadvantage in having to -come continually to the surface to breathe. With fishes, members of the -shark family would not tend to supplant the lancelet; for the lancelet, -as I hear from Fritz Müller, has as sole companion and competitor on -the barren, sandy shore of South Brazil an anomalous annelid. The -three lowest orders of mammals, namely, marsupials, edentata, and -rodents, co-exist in South America in the same region with numerous -monkeys, and probably interfere little with each other. Although -organization, on the whole, may have advanced and be still advancing -throughout the world, yet the scale will always present many degrees -of perfection; for the high advancement of certain whole classes, or -of certain members of each class, does not at all necessarily lead to -the extinction of those groups with which they do not enter into close -competition. In some cases, as we shall hereafter see, lowly organized -forms appear to have been preserved to the present day, from inhabiting -confined or peculiar stations, where they have been subjected to less -severe competition, and where their scanty numbers have retarded the -chance of favorable variations arising. - -Finally, I believe that many lowly organized forms now exist throughout -the world, from various causes. In some cases variations or individual -differences of a favorable nature may never have arisen for natural -selection to act on and accumulate. In no case, probably, has time -sufficed for the utmost possible amount of development. In some few -cases there has been what we must call retrogression of organization. -But the main cause lies in the fact that under very simple conditions -of life a high organization would be of no service--possibly would be -of actual disservice, as being of a more delicate nature, and more -liable to be put out of order and injured. - -Looking to the first dawn of life, when all organic beings, as we may -believe, presented the simplest structure, how, it has been asked, -could the first steps in the advancement or differentiation of parts -have arisen? - - * * * * * - - [Page 100.] - -As we have no facts to guide us, speculation on the subject is almost -useless. It is, however, an error to suppose that there would be no -struggle for existence, and, consequently, no natural selection, until -many forms had been produced: variations in a single species inhabiting -an isolated station might be beneficial, and thus the whole mass of -individuals might be modified, or two distinct forms might arise. But, -as I remarked toward the close of the Introduction, no one ought to -feel surprised at much remaining as yet unexplained on the origin of -species, if we make due allowance for our profound ignorance on the -mutual relations of the inhabitants of the world at the present time, -and still more so during past ages. - - -THE AMOUNT OF LIFE MUST HAVE A LIMIT. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 101.] - -What, then, checks an indefinite increase in the number of species? -The amount of life (I do not mean the number of specific forms) -supported on an area must have a limit, depending so largely as it -does on physical conditions; therefore, if an area be inhabited by -very many species, each or nearly each species will be represented by -few individuals; and such species will be liable to extermination from -accidental fluctuations in the nature of the seasons or in the number -of their enemies. The process of extermination in such cases would -be rapid, whereas the production of new species must always be slow. -Imagine the extreme case of as many species as individuals in England, -and the first severe winter or very dry summer would exterminate -thousands on thousands of species. Rare species, and each species -will become rare if the number of species in any country becomes -indefinitely increased, will, on the principle often explained, -present within a given period few favorable variations; consequently, -the process of giving birth to new specific forms would thus be -retarded. When any species becomes very rare, close interbreeding will -help to exterminate it; authors have thought that this comes into play -in accounting for the deterioration of the aurochs in Lithuania, of red -deer in Scotland, and of bears in Norway, etc. Lastly, and this I am -inclined to think is the most important element, a dominant species, -which has already beaten many competitors in its own home, will tend to -spread and supplant many others. Alph. de Candolle has shown that those -species which spread widely tend generally to spread _very_ widely; -consequently, they will tend to supplant and exterminate several -species in several areas, and thus check the inordinate increase of -specific forms throughout the world. Dr. Hooker has recently shown -that in the southeast corner of Australia, where, apparently, there -are many invaders from different quarters of the globe, the endemic -Australian species have been greatly reduced in number. How much weight -to attribute to these several considerations I will not pretend to -say; but conjointly they must limit in each country the tendency to an -indefinite augmentation of specific forms. - - -THE BROKEN BRANCHES OF THE TREE OF LIFE. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 104.] - -The affinities of all the beings of the same class have sometimes been -represented by a great tree. I believe this simile largely speaks the -truth. The green and budding twigs may represent existing species; and -those produced during former years may represent the long succession -of extinct species. At each period of growth all the growing twigs -have tried to branch out on all sides, and to overtop and kill the -surrounding twigs and branches, in the same manner as species and -groups of species have at all times overmastered other species in the -great battle for life. The limbs divided into great branches, and these -into lesser and lesser branches, were themselves once, when the tree -was young, budding twigs; and this connection of the former and present -buds by ramifying branches may well represent the classification of -all extinct and living species in groups subordinate to groups. Of the -many twigs which flourished when the tree was a mere bush, only two or -three, now grown into great branches, yet survive and bear the other -branches; so with the species which lived during long-past geological -periods, very few have left living and modified descendants. From -the first growth of the tree, many a limb and branch has decayed and -dropped off; and these fallen branches of various sizes may represent -those whole orders, families, and genera which have now no living -representatives, and which are known to us only in a fossil state. As -we here and there see a thin straggling branch springing from a fork -low down in a tree, and which by some chance has been favored and is -still alive on its summit, so we occasionally see an animal like the -ornithorhynchus or lepidosiren, which in some small degree connects by -its affinities two large branches of life, and which has apparently -been saved from fatal competition by having inhabited a protected -station. As buds give rise by growth to fresh buds, and these, if -vigorous, branch out and overtop on all sides many a feebler branch, so -by generation I believe it has been with the great Tree of Life, which -fills with its dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and -covers the surface with its ever-branching and beautiful ramifications. - - -WHY WE DO NOT FIND TRANSITIONAL FORMS. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 134.] - -It may be urged that, when several closely-allied species inhabit -the same territory, we surely ought to find at the present time many -transitional forms. - - * * * * * - - [Page 137.] - -I believe that species come to be tolerably well-defined objects, and -do not at any one period present an inextricable chaos of varying -and intermediate links: first, because new varieties are very slowly -formed, for variation is a slow process, and natural selection can do -nothing until favorable individual differences or variations occur, -and until a place in the natural polity of the country can be better -filled by some modification of some one or more of its inhabitants. -And such new places will depend on slow changes of climate, or on the -occasional immigration of new inhabitants, and, probably, in a still -more important degree, on some of the old inhabitants becoming slowly -modified, with the new forms thus produced and the old ones acting and -reacting on each other. So that, in any one region and at any one time, -we ought to see only a few species presenting slight modifications of -structure in some degree permanent; and this assuredly we do see. - -Secondly, areas now continuous must often have existed within the -recent period as isolated portions, in which many forms, more -especially among the classes which unite for each birth and wander -much, may have separately been rendered sufficiently distinct to -rank as representative species. In this case, intermediate varieties -between the several representative species and their common parent must -formerly have existed within each isolated portion of the land, but -these links during the process of natural selection will have been -supplanted and exterminated, so that they will no longer be found in a -living state. - -Thirdly, when two or more varieties have been formed in different -portions of a strictly continuous area, intermediate varieties will, it -is probable, at first have been formed in the intermediate zones, but -they will generally have had a short duration. For these intermediate -varieties will, from reasons already assigned (namely, from what we -know of the actual distribution of closely-allied or representative -species, and likewise of acknowledged varieties), exist in the -intermediate zones in lesser numbers than the varieties which they tend -to connect. From this cause alone the intermediate varieties will be -liable to accidental extermination; and, during the process of further -modification through natural selection, they will almost certainly -be beaten and supplanted by the forms which they connect; for these -from existing in greater numbers will, in the aggregate, present more -varieties and thus be further improved through natural selection and -gain further advantages. - -Lastly, looking not to any one time, but to all time, if my theory be -true, numberless intermediate varieties, linking closely together all -the species of the same group, must assuredly have existed; but the -very process of natural selection constantly tends, as has been so -often remarked, to exterminate the parent-forms and the intermediate -links. Consequently evidence of their former existence could be found -only among fossil remains, which are preserved, as we shall attempt to -show in a future chapter, in an extremely imperfect and intermittent -record. - - * * * * * - - [Page 283.] - -Professor Pictet, in commenting on early transitional forms, and taking -birds as an illustration, can not see how the successive modifications -of the anterior limbs of a supposed prototype could possibly have been -of any advantage. But look at the penguins of the Southern Ocean; have -not these birds their front limbs in this precise intermediate state -of “neither true arms nor true wings”? Yet these birds hold their -place victoriously in the battle for life; for they exist in infinite -numbers and of many kinds. I do not suppose that we here see the real -transitional grades through which the wings of birds have passed; but -what special difficulty is there in believing that it might profit -the modified descendants of the penguin, first to become enabled to -flap along the surface of the sea like the logger-headed duck, and -ultimately to rise from its surface and glide through the air? - - * * * * * - - [Page 289.] - -The several difficulties here discussed, namely--that, though we find -in our geological formations many links between the species which now -exist and which formerly existed, we do not find infinitely numerous -fine transitional forms closely joining them all together; the -sudden manner in which several groups of species first appear in our -European formations--the almost entire absence, as at present known, -of formations rich in fossils beneath the Cambrian strata--are all -undoubtedly of the most serious nature. We see this in the fact that -the most eminent paleontologists, namely, Cuvier, Agassiz, Barrande, -Pictet, Falconer, E. Forbes, etc., and all our greatest geologists, as -Lyell, Murchison, Sedgwick, etc., have unanimously, often vehemently, -maintained the immutability of species. But Sir Charles Lyell now gives -the support of his high authority to the opposite side; and most -geologists and paleontologists are much shaken in their former belief. -Those who believe that the geological record is in any degree perfect -will undoubtedly at once reject the theory. For my part, following -out Lyell’s metaphor, I look at the geological record as a history -of the world imperfectly kept, and written in a changing dialect; of -this history we possess the last volume alone, relating only to two or -three countries. Of this volume, only here and there a short chapter -has been preserved; and of each page, only here and there a few lines. -Each word of the slowly-changing language, more or less different in -the successive chapters, may represent the forms of life which are -entombed in our consecutive formations, and which falsely appear to us -to have been abruptly introduced. On this view, the difficulties above -discussed are greatly diminished, or even disappear. - - -HOW COULD THE TRANSITIONAL FORM HAVE SUBSISTED? - - [Page 138.] - -It has been asked by the opponents of such views as I hold, how, for -instance, could a land carnivorous animal have been converted into -one with aquatic habits; for how could the animal in its transitional -state have subsisted? It would be easy to show that there now exist -carnivorous animals presenting close intermediate grades from strictly -terrestrial to aquatic habits; and, as each exists by a struggle for -life, it is clear that each must be well adapted to its place in -nature. Look at the _Mustela vison_ of North America, which has webbed -feet, and which resembles an otter in its fur, short legs, and form of -tail. During the summer this animal dives for and preys on fish, but -during the long winter it leaves the frozen waters, and preys, like -other polecats, on mice and land animals. If a different case had -been taken, and it had been asked how an insectivorous quadruped could -possibly have been converted into a flying bat, the question would have -been far more difficult to answer. Yet I think such difficulties have -little weight. - -Here, as on other occasions, I lie under a heavy disadvantage, for, -out of the many striking cases which I have collected, I can give only -one or two instances of transitional habits and structures in allied -species; and of diversified habits, either constant or occasional, in -the same species. And it seems to me that nothing less than a long list -of such cases is sufficient to lessen the difficulty in any particular -case like that of the bat. - - -WHY NATURE TAKES NO SUDDEN LEAPS. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 156.] - -Finally, then, although in many cases it is most difficult even to -conjecture by what transitions organs have arrived at their present -state, yet, considering how small the proportion of living and known -forms is to the extinct and unknown, I have been astonished how rarely -an organ can be named, toward which no transitional grade is known to -lead. It certainly is true that new organs, appearing as if created for -some special purpose, rarely or never appear in any being--as indeed -is shown by that old but somewhat exaggerated canon in natural history -of “Natura non facit saltum.” We meet with this admission in the -writings of almost every experienced naturalist; or as Milne-Edwards -has well expressed it, Nature is prodigal in variety, but niggard in -innovation. Why, on the theory of Creation, should there be so much -variety and so little real novelty? Why should all the parts and organs -of many independent beings, each supposed to have been separately -created for its proper place in nature, be so commonly linked together -by graduated steps? Why should not Nature take a sudden leap from -structure to structure? On the theory of natural selection, we can -clearly understand why she should not; for natural selection acts only -by taking advantage of slight successive variations; she can never take -a great and sudden leap, but must advance by short and sure though slow -steps. - - -IMPERFECT CONTRIVANCES OF NATURE ACCOUNTED FOR. - - [Page 163.] - -If our reason leads us to admire with enthusiasm a multitude of -inimitable contrivances in nature, this same reason tells us, though -we may easily err on both sides, that some other contrivances are less -perfect. Can we consider the sting of the bee as perfect, which, when -used against many kinds of enemies, can not be withdrawn, owing to the -backward serratures, and thus inevitably causes the death of the insect -by tearing out its viscera? - -If we look at the sting of the bee, as having existed in a remote -progenitor as a boring and serrated instrument like that in so many -members of the same great order, and that it has since been modified -but not perfected for its present purpose with the poison originally -adapted for some other object, such as to produce galls, since -intensified, we can perhaps understand how it is that the use of the -sting should so often cause the insect’s own death: for, if on the -whole the power of stinging be useful to the social community, it -will fulfill all the requirements of natural selection, though it may -cause the death of some few members. If we admire the truly wonderful -power of scent by which the males of many insects find their females, -can we admire the production for this single purpose of thousands -of drones, which are utterly useless to the community for any other -purpose, and which are ultimately slaughtered by their industrious and -sterile sisters? It may be difficult, but we ought to admire the savage -instinctive hatred of the queen-bee, which urges her to destroy the -young queens, her daughters, as soon as they are born, or to perish -herself in the combat; for undoubtedly this is for the good of the -community; and maternal love or maternal hatred, though the latter -fortunately is most rare, is all the same to the inexorable principle -of natural selection. If we admire the several ingenious contrivances -by which orchids and many other plants are fertilized through insect -agency, can we consider as equally perfect the elaboration of dense -clouds of pollen by our fir-trees, so that a few granules may be wafted -by chance on to the ovules? - - -INSTINCTS AS A DIFFICULTY. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 205.] - -Many instincts are so wonderful that their development will probably -appear to the reader a difficulty sufficient to overthrow my whole -theory. I may here premise that I have nothing to do with the origin of -the mental powers, any more than I have with that of life itself. We -are concerned only with the diversities of instinct and of the other -mental faculties in animals of the same class. - -I will not attempt any definition of instinct. It would be easy to -show that several distinct mental actions are commonly embraced by -this term; but every one understands what is meant when it is said -that instinct impels the cuckoo to migrate and to lay her eggs in -other birds’ nests. An action, which we ourselves require experience -to enable us to perform, when performed by an animal, more especially -by a very young one, without experience, and when performed by many -individuals in the same way, without their knowing for what purpose it -is performed, is usually said to be instinctive. But I could show that -none of these characters are universal. A little dose of judgment or -reason, as Pierre Huber expresses it, often comes into play, even with -animals low in the scale of nature. - - * * * * * - - [Page 206.] - -If we suppose any habitual action to become inherited--and it can be -shown that this does sometimes happen--then the resemblance between -what originally was a habit and an instinct becomes so close as not -to be distinguished. If Mozart, instead of playing the piano-forte -at three years old with wonderfully little practice, had played a -tune with no practice at all, he might truly be said to have done -so instinctively. But it would be a serious error to suppose that -the greater number of instincts have been acquired by habit in -one generation, and then transmitted by inheritance to succeeding -generations. It can be clearly shown that the most wonderful instincts -with which we are acquainted, namely, those of the hive-bee and of many -ants, could not possibly have been acquired by habit. - - * * * * * - - [Page 208.] - -Why, it has been asked, if instinct be variable, has it not granted -to the bee “the ability to use some other material when wax was -deficient”? But what other natural material could bees use? They will -work, as I have seen, with wax hardened with vermilion or softened with -lard. Andrew Knight observed that his bees, instead of laboriously -collecting propolis, used a cement of wax and turpentine, with which he -had covered decorticated trees. It has lately been shown that bees, -instead of searching for pollen, will gladly use a very different -substance, namely, oatmeal. Fear of any particular enemy is certainly -an instinctive quality, as may be seen in nestling birds, though it -is strengthened by experience, and by the sight of fear of the same -enemy in other animals. The fear of man is slowly acquired, as I -have elsewhere shown, by the various animals which inhabit desert -islands; and we see an instance of this even in England, in the greater -wildness of all our large birds in comparison with our small birds; -for the large birds have been most persecuted by man. We may safely -attribute the greater wildness of our large birds to this cause; for in -uninhabited islands large birds are not more fearful than small; and -the magpie, so wary in England, is tame in Norway, as is the hooded -crow in Egypt. - - -SOME INSTINCTS ACQUIRED AND SOME LOST. - - [Page 210.] - -It may be doubted whether any one would have thought of training a -dog to point, had not some one dog naturally shown a tendency in this -line; and this is known occasionally to happen, as I once saw, in a -pure terrier: the act of pointing is probably, as many have thought, -only the exaggerated pause of an animal preparing to spring on its -prey. When the first tendency to point was once displayed, methodical -selection and the inherited effects of compulsory training in each -successive generation would soon complete the work; and unconscious -selection is still in progress, as each man tries to procure, without -intending to improve the breed, dogs which stand and hunt best. On the -other hand, habit alone in some cases has sufficed; hardly any animal -is more difficult to tame than the young of the wild rabbit; scarcely -any animal is tamer than the young of the tame rabbit; but I can hardly -suppose that domestic rabbits have often been selected for tameness -alone; so that we must attribute at least the greater part of the -inherited change from extreme wildness to extreme tameness to habit and -long-continued close confinement. - -Natural instincts are lost under domestication: a remarkable instance -of this is seen in those breeds of fowls which very rarely or never -become “broody,” that is, never wish to sit on their eggs. Familiarity -alone prevents our seeing how largely and how permanently the minds -of our domestic animals have been modified. It is scarcely possible -to doubt that the love of man has become instinctive in the dog. All -wolves, foxes, jackals, and species of the cat genus, when kept tame, -are most eager to attack poultry, sheep, and pigs; and this tendency -has been found incurable in dogs which have been brought home as -puppies from countries such as Tierra del Fuego and Australia, where -the savages do not keep these domestic animals. How rarely, on the -other hand, do our civilized dogs, even when quite young, require -to be taught not to attack poultry, sheep, and pigs! No doubt they -occasionally do make an attack, and are then beaten; and, if not cured, -they are destroyed; so that habit and some degree of selection have -probably concurred in civilizing by inheritance our dogs. On the other -hand, young chickens have lost, wholly by habit, that fear of the dog -and cat which no doubt was originally instinctive in them; for I am -informed by Captain Hutton that the young chickens of the parent-stock, -the _Gallus bankiva_, when reared in India under a hen, are at first -excessively wild. So it is with young pheasants reared in England under -a hen. It is not that chickens have lost all fear, but fear only of -dogs and cats, for if the hen gives the danger-chuckle, they will run -(more especially young turkeys) from under her, and conceal themselves -in the surrounding grass or thickets; and this is evidently done for -the instinctive purpose of allowing, as we see in wild ground-birds, -their mother to fly away. But this instinct retained by our chickens -has become useless under domestication, for the mother-hen has almost -lost by disuse the power of flight. - -Hence, we may conclude that, under domestication, instincts have been -acquired, and natural instincts have been lost, partly by habit, -and partly by man selecting and accumulating, during successive -generations, peculiar mental habits and actions, which at first -appeared from what we must in our ignorance call an accident. - - -INNUMERABLE LINKS NECESSARILY LOST. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 264.] - -The main cause of innumerable intermediate links not now occurring -everywhere throughout nature depends on the very process of natural -selection, through which new varieties continually take the places of -and supplant their parent-forms. But just in proportion as this process -of extermination has acted on an enormous scale, so must the number of -intermediate varieties, which have formerly existed, be truly enormous. -Why, then, is not every geological formation and every stratum full -of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any -such finely-graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most -obvious and serious objection which can be urged against the theory. -The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the -geological record. - -In the first place, it should always be borne in mind what sort of -intermediate forms must, on the theory, have formerly existed. I have -found it difficult, when looking at any two species, to avoid picturing -to myself forms _directly_ intermediate between them. But this is a -wholly false view; we should always look for forms intermediate between -each species and a common but unknown progenitor; and the progenitor -will generally have differed in some respects from all its modified -descendants. To give a simple illustration: the fantail and pouter -pigeons are both descended from the rock-pigeon; if we possessed all -the intermediate varieties which have ever existed, we should have an -extremely close series between both and the rock-pigeon; but we should -have no varieties directly intermediate between the fantail and pouter; -none, for instance, combining a tail somewhat expanded with a crop -somewhat enlarged, the characteristic features of these two breeds. -These two breeds, moreover, have become so much modified, that, if we -had no historical or indirect evidence regarding their origin, it would -not have been possible to have determined, from a mere comparison of -their structure with that of the rock-pigeon, _C. livia_, whether they -had descended from this species or from some other allied form, such as -_C. oenas_. - - * * * * * - - [Page 265.] - -It is just possible by the theory, that one of two living forms might -have descended from the other; for instance, a horse from a tapir; and -in this case _direct_ intermediate links will have existed between -them. But such a case would imply that one form had remained for a -very long period unaltered, while its descendants had undergone a vast -amount of change; and the principle of competition between organism and -organism, between child and parent, will render this a very rare event; -for in all cases the new and improved forms of life tend to supplant -the old and unimproved forms. - -By the theory of natural selection all living species have been -connected with the parent-species of each genus, by differences not -greater than we see between the natural and domestic varieties of -the same species at the present day; and these parent-species, now -generally extinct, have in their turn been similarly connected with -more ancient forms; and so on backward, always converging to the common -ancestor of each great class. So that the number of intermediate and -transitional links, between all living and extinct species, must have -been inconceivably great. But assuredly, if this theory be true, such -have lived upon the earth. - - -PLENTY OF TIME FOR THE NECESSARY GRADATIONS. - - [Page 266.] - -Independently of our not finding fossil remains of such infinitely -numerous connecting links, it may be objected that time can not have -sufficed for so great an amount of organic change, all changes having -been effected slowly. It is hardly possible for me to recall to the -reader who is not a practical geologist the facts leading the mind -feebly to comprehend the lapse of time. He who can read Sir Charles -Lyell’s grand work on the “Principles of Geology,” which the future -historian will recognize as having produced a revolution in natural -science, and yet does not admit how vast have been the past periods of -time, may at once close this volume. - - * * * * * - - [Page 269.] - -When geologists look at large and complicated phenomena, and then at -the figures representing several million years, the two produce a -totally different effect on the mind, and the figures are at once -pronounced too small. In regard to subaërial denudation, Mr. Croll -shows, by calculating the known amount of sediment annually brought -down by certain rivers, relatively to their areas of drainage, that -one thousand feet of solid rock, as it became gradually disintegrated, -would thus be removed from the mean level of the whole area in the -course of six million years. This seems an astonishing result, and -some considerations lead to the suspicion that it may be too large, -but even if halved or quartered it is still very surprising. Few of -us, however, know what a million really means: Mr. Croll gives the -following illustration: take a narrow strip of paper, eighty-three feet -four inches in length, and stretch it along the wall of a large hall; -then mark off at one end the tenth of an inch. This tenth of an inch -will represent one hundred years, and the entire strip a million years. -But let it be borne in mind, in relation to the subject of this work, -what a hundred years implies, represented as it is by a measure utterly -insignificant in a hall of the above dimensions. Several eminent -breeders, during a single lifetime, have so largely modified some of -the higher animals, which propagate their kind much more slowly than -most of the lower animals, that they have formed what well deserves -to be called a new sub-breed. Few men have attended with due care to -any one strain for more than half a century, so that a hundred years -represents the work of two breeders in succession. - - * * * * * - - [Page 270.] - -Now let us turn to our richest geological museums, and what a paltry -display we behold! That our collections are imperfect is admitted by -every one. The remark of that admirable paleontologist, Edward Forbes, -should never be forgotten, namely, that very many fossil species are -known and named from single and often broken specimens, or from a few -specimens collected on some one spot. Only a small portion of the -surface of the earth has been geologically explored, and no part with -sufficient care, as the important discoveries made every year in Europe -prove. No organism wholly soft can be preserved. Shells and bones decay -and disappear when left on the bottom of the sea, where sediment is not -accumulating. We probably take a quite erroneous view, when we assume -that sediment is being deposited over nearly the whole bed of the sea, -at a rate sufficiently quick to imbed and preserve fossil remains. -Throughout an enormously large proportion of the ocean, the bright blue -tint of the water bespeaks its purity. The many cases on record of a -formation conformably covered, after an immense interval of time, by -another and later formation, without the underlying bed having suffered -in the interval any wear and tear, seem explicable only on the view -of the bottom of the sea not rarely lying for ages in an unaltered -condition. The remains which do become imbedded, if in sand or gravel, -will, when the beds are upraised, generally be dissolved by the -percolation of rain-water charged with carbonic acid. Some of the many -kinds of animals which live on the beach between high and low water -mark seem to be rarely preserved. For instance, the several species of -the _Chthamalinæ_ (a sub-family of sessile cirripeds) coat the rocks -all over the world in infinite numbers: they are all strictly littoral, -with the exception of a single Mediterranean species, which inhabits -deep water, and this has been found fossil in Sicily, whereas not -one other species has hitherto been found in any tertiary formation; -yet it is known that the genus _Chthamalus_ existed during the Chalk -period. Lastly, many great deposits, requiring a vast length of time -for their accumulation, are entirely destitute of organic remains, -without our being able to assign any reason; one of the most striking -instances is that of the Flysch formation, which consists of shale and -sandstone, several thousand, occasionally even six thousand, feet in -thickness, and extending for at least three hundred miles from Vienna -to Switzerland; and, although this great mass has been most carefully -searched, no fossils, except a few vegetable remains, have been found. - - -WIDE INTERVALS OF TIME BETWEEN THE GEOLOGICAL FORMATIONS. - - [Page 271.] - -But the imperfection in the geological record largely results from -another and more important cause than any of the foregoing; namely, -from the several formations being separated from each other by wide -intervals of time. This doctrine has been emphatically admitted by -many geologists and paleontologists, who, like E. Forbes, entirely -disbelieve in the change of species. When we see the formations -tabulated in written works, or when we follow them in nature, it is -difficult to avoid believing that they are closely consecutive. But -we know, for instance, from Sir R. Murchison’s great work on Russia, -what wide gaps there are in that country between the superimposed -formations; so it is in North America, and in many other parts of -the world. The most skillful geologist, if his attention had been -confined exclusively to these large territories, would never have -suspected that, during the periods which were blank and barren in his -own country, great piles of sediment, charged with new and peculiar -forms of life, had elsewhere been accumulated. And if, in each separate -territory, hardly any idea can be formed of the length of time which -has elapsed between the consecutive formations, we may infer that this -could nowhere be ascertained. The frequent and great changes in the -mineralogical composition of consecutive formations, generally implying -great changes in the geography of the surrounding lands, whence the -sediment was derived, accord with the belief of vast intervals of time -having elapsed between each formation. - - * * * * * - - [Page 278.] - -It is all-important to remember that naturalists have no golden rule -by which to distinguish species and varieties; they grant some little -variability to each species, but, when they meet with a somewhat -greater amount of difference between any two forms, they rank both -as species, unless they are enabled to connect them together by the -closest intermediate gradations; and this, from the reasons just -assigned, we can seldom hope to effect in any one geological section. -Supposing B and C to be two species, and a third, A, to be found in an -older and underlying bed; even if A were strictly intermediate between -B and C, it would simply be ranked as a third and distinct species, -unless at the same time it could be closely connected by intermediate -varieties with either one or both forms. Nor should it be forgotten, -as before explained, that A might be the actual progenitor of B and C, -and yet would not necessarily be strictly intermediate between them -in all respects. So that we might obtain the parent-species and its -several modified descendants from the lower and upper beds of the same -formation, and, unless we obtained numerous transitional gradations, we -should not recognize their blood-relationship, and should consequently -rank them as distinct species. - - -SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF GROUPS OF ALLIED SPECIES. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 282.] - -The abrupt manner in which whole groups of species suddenly appear -in certain formations has been urged by several paleontologists--for -instance, by Agassiz, Pictet, and Sedgwick--as a fatal objection to the -belief in the transmutation of species. If numerous species, belonging -to the same genera or families, have really started into life at once, -the fact would be fatal to the theory of evolution through natural -selection. For the development by this means of a group of forms, all -of which are descended from some one progenitor, must have been an -extremely slow process; and the progenitors must have lived long before -their modified descendants. But we continually overrate the perfection -of the geological record, and falsely infer, because certain genera or -families have not been found beneath a certain stage, that they did -not exist before that stage. In all cases positive paleontological -evidence may be implicitly trusted; negative evidence is worthless, -as experience has so often shown. We continually forget how large the -world is, compared with the area over which our geological formations -have been carefully examined; we forget that groups of species may -elsewhere have long existed, and have slowly multiplied, before they -invaded the ancient archipelagoes of Europe and the United States. We -do not make due allowance for the intervals of time which have elapsed -between our consecutive formations--longer, perhaps, in many cases -than the time required for the accumulation of each formation. These -intervals will have given time for the multiplication of species from -some one parent-form; and, in the succeeding formation, such groups or -species will appear as if suddenly created. - - -HOW LITTLE WE KNOW OF FORMER INHABITANTS OF THE WORLD. - - [Page 283.] - -Even in so short an interval as that between the first and second -edition of Pictet’s great work on Paleontology, published in 1844–’46 -and in 1853–’57, the conclusions on the first appearance and -disappearance of several groups of animals have been considerably -modified; and a third edition would require still further changes. I -may recall the well-known fact that in geological treatises, published -not many years ago, mammals were always spoken of as having abruptly -come in at the commencement of the tertiary[B] series. And now one -of the richest known accumulations of fossil mammals belongs to the -middle of the secondary series; and true mammals have been discovered -in the new red sandstone at nearly the commencement of this great -series. Cuvier used to urge that no monkey occurred in any tertiary -stratum; but now extinct species have been discovered in India, South -America, and in Europe, as far back as the Miocene stage. Had it not -been for the rare accident of the preservation of footsteps in the -new red sandstone of the United States, who would have ventured to -suppose that no less than at least thirty different bird-like animals, -some of gigantic size, existed during that period? Not a fragment of -bone has been discovered in these beds. Not long ago, paleontologists -maintained that the whole class of birds came suddenly into existence -during the Eocene period; but now we know, on the authority of -Professor Owen, that a bird certainly lived during the deposition -of the upper greensand; and still more recently, that strange bird, -the archeopteryx, with a long, lizard-like tail, bearing a pair of -feathers on each joint, and with its wings furnished with two free -claws, has been discovered in the oölitic slates of Solenhofen. Hardly -any recent discovery shows more forcibly than this, how little we as -yet know of the former inhabitants of the world. - - [B] TERTIARY.--The latest geological epoch, immediately - preceding the establishment of the present order of things. - - -THE EXTINCTION OF SPECIES INVOLVED IN MYSTERY. - - [Origin of - Species, - page 294.] - -The extinction of species has been involved in the most gratuitous -mystery. Some authors have even supposed that as the individual has -a definite length of life, so have species a definite duration. No -one can have marveled more than I have done at the extinction of -species. When I found in La Plata the tooth of a horse imbedded with -the remains of mastodon, megatherium, toxodon, and other extinct -monsters, which all co-existed with still living shells at a very late -geological period, I was filled with astonishment; for, seeing that -the horse, since its introduction by the Spaniards into South America, -has run wild over the whole country and has increased in numbers at -an unparalleled rate, I asked myself what could so recently have -exterminated the former horse under conditions of life apparently so -favorable. But my astonishment was groundless. Professor Owen soon -perceived that the tooth, though so like that of the existing horse, -belonged to an extinct species. Had this horse been still living, but -in some degree rare, no naturalist would have felt the least surprise -at its rarity; for rarity is the attribute of a vast number of species -of all classes, in all countries. If we ask ourselves why this or -that species is rare, we answer that something is unfavorable in its -conditions of life; but what that something is we can hardly ever -tell. On the supposition of the fossil horse still existing as a rare -species, we might have felt certain, from the analogy of all other -mammals, even of the slow-breeding elephant, and from the history of -the naturalization of the domestic horse in South America, that under -more favorable conditions it would in a very few years have stocked -the whole continent. But we could not have told what the unfavorable -conditions were which checked its increase, whether some one or several -contingencies, and at what period of the horse’s life, and in what -degree, they severally acted. If the conditions had gone on, however -slowly, becoming less and less favorable, we assuredly should not have -perceived the fact, yet the fossil horse would certainly have become -rarer and rarer, and finally extinct;--its place being seized on by -some more successful competitor. - -It is most difficult always to remember that the increase of every -creature is constantly being checked by unperceived hostile agencies; -and that these same unperceived agencies are amply sufficient to cause -rarity, and finally extinction. So little is this subject understood -that I have heard surprise repeatedly expressed at such great monsters -as the mastodon and the more ancient dinosaurians having become -extinct; as if mere bodily strength gave victory in the battle of life. -Mere size, on the contrary, would in some cases determine, as has -been remarked by Owen, quicker extermination from the greater amount -of requisite food. Before man inhabited India or Africa, some cause -must have checked the continued increase of the existing elephant. A -highly capable judge, Dr. Falconer, believes that it is chiefly insects -which, from incessantly harassing and weakening the elephant in India, -check its increase; and this was Bruce’s conclusion with respect to -the African elephant in Abyssinia. It is certain that insects and -blood-sucking bats determine the existence of the larger naturalized -quadrupeds in several parts of South America. - - * * * * * - - [Page 295.] - -I may repeat what I published in 1845, namely, that to admit that -species generally become rare before they become extinct--to feel no -surprise at the rarity of a species, and yet to marvel greatly when the -species ceases to exist, is much the same as to admit that sickness -in the individual is the forerunner of death--to feel no surprise at -sickness, but, when the sick man dies, to wonder and to suspect that he -died by some deed of violence. - - -DEAD LINKS BETWEEN LIVING SPECIES. - - [Page 302.] - -No one will deny that the Hipparion is intermediate between the -existing horse and certain older ungulate forms. What a wonderful -connecting link in the chain of mammals is the Typotherium from South -America, as the name given to it by Professor Gervais expresses, and -which can not be placed in any existing order! The Sirenia form a very -distinct group of mammals, and one of the most remarkable peculiarities -in the existing dugong and lamentin is the entire absence of hind -limbs, without even a rudiment being left; but the extinct Halitherium -had, according to Professor Flower, an ossified thigh-bone “articulated -to a well-defined acetabulum in the pelvis,” and it thus makes some -approach to ordinary hoofed quadrupeds, to which the Sirenia are in -other respects allied. The cetaceans or whales are widely different -from all other mammals, but the tertiary Zeuglodon and Squalodon, which -have been placed by some naturalists in an order by themselves, are -considered by Professor Huxley to be undoubtedly cetaceans, “and to -constitute connecting links with the aquatic carnivora.” - -Even the wide interval between birds and reptiles has been shown -by the naturalist just quoted to be partially bridged over in the -most unexpected manner, on the one hand, by the ostrich and extinct -Archeopteryx, and on the other hand, by the Compsognathus, one of -the dinosaurians--that group which includes the most gigantic of all -terrestrial reptiles. Turning to the Invertebrata, Barrande asserts, -and a higher authority could not be named, that he is every day taught -that, although palæozoic animals can certainly be classed under -existing groups, yet that at this ancient period the groups were not so -distinctly separated from each other as they now are. - -Some writers have objected to any extinct species, or group of species, -being considered as intermediate between any two living species or -groups of species. If by this term it is meant that an extinct form -is directly intermediate in all its characters between two living -forms or groups, the objection is probably valid. But in a natural -classification many fossil species certainly stand between living -species, and some extinct genera between living genera, even between -genera belonging to distinct families. The most common case, especially -with respect to very distinct groups, such as fish and reptiles, seems -to be that, supposing them to be distinguished at the present day by a -score of characters, the ancient members are separated by a somewhat -lesser number of characters; so that the two groups formerly made a -somewhat nearer approach to each other than they now do. - - -LIVING DESCENDANTS OF FOSSIL SPECIES. - - [Page 311.] - -It may be asked in ridicule, whether I suppose that the megatherium -and other allied huge monsters, which formerly lived in South America, -have left behind them the sloth, armadillo, and ant-eater, as their -degenerate descendants. This can not for an instant be admitted. These -huge animals have become wholly extinct, and have left no progeny. But -in the caves of Brazil there are many extinct species which are closely -allied in size and in all other characters to the species still living -in South America; and some of these fossils may have been the actual -progenitors of the living species. It must not be forgotten that, on -our theory, all the species of the same genus are the descendants of -some one species; so that, if six genera, each having eight species, -be found in one geological formation, and in a succeeding formation -there be six other allied or representative genera each with the -same number of species, then we may conclude that generally only one -species of each of the older genera has left modified descendants, -which constitute the new genera containing the several species; -the other seven species of each old genus having died out and left -no progeny. Or, and this will be a far commoner case, two or three -species in two or three alone of the six older genera will be the -parents of the new genera: the other species and the other whole genera -having become utterly extinct. In failing orders, with the genera -and species decreasing in numbers as is the case with the Edentata -of South America, still fewer genera and species will leave modified -blood-descendants. - - -UNNECESSARY TO EXPLAIN THE CAUSE OF EACH INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCE. - - [Animals and - Plants, vol. - ii, page 425.] - -In accordance with the views maintained by me in this work and -elsewhere, not only various domestic races, but the most distinct -genera and orders within the same great class--for instance, mammals, -birds, reptiles, and fishes--are all the descendants of one common -progenitor, and we must admit that the whole vast amount of difference -between these forms has primarily arisen from simple variability. To -consider the subject under this point of view is enough to strike -one dumb with amazement. But our amazement ought to be lessened when -we reflect that beings almost infinite in number, during an almost -infinite lapse of time, have often had their whole organization -rendered in some degree plastic, and that each slight modification of -structure which was in any way beneficial under excessively complex -conditions of life has been preserved, while each which was in any -way injurious has been rigorously destroyed. And the long-continued -accumulation of beneficial variations will infallibly have led to -structures as diversified, as beautifully adapted for various purposes -and as excellently co-ordinated, as we see in the animals and plants -around us. Hence I have spoken of selection as the paramount power, -whether applied by man to the formation of domestic breeds, or by -nature to the production of species. - -If an architect were to rear a noble and commodious edifice, without -the use of cut stone, by selecting from the fragments at the base of a -precipice wedge-formed stones for his arches, elongated stones for his -lintels, and flat stones for his roof, we should admire his skill and -regard him as the paramount power. Now, the fragments of stone, though -indispensable to the architect, bear to the edifice built by him the -same relation which the fluctuating variations of organic beings bear -to the varied and admirable structures ultimately acquired by their -modified descendants. - -Some authors have declared that natural selection explains nothing, -unless the precise cause of each slight individual difference be made -clear. If it were explained to a savage utterly ignorant of the art of -building, how the edifice had been raised stone upon stone, and why -wedge-formed fragments were used for the arches, flat stones for the -roof, etc., and if the use of each part and of the whole building were -pointed out, it would be unreasonable if he declared that nothing had -been made clear to him, because the precise cause of the shape of each -fragment could not be told. But this is a nearly parallel case with -the objection that selection explains nothing, because we know not the -cause of each individual difference in the structure of each being. - -The shape of the fragments of stone at the base of our precipice may be -called accidental, but this is not strictly correct; for the shape of -each depends on a long sequence of events, all obeying natural laws; -on the nature of the rock, on the lines of deposition or cleavage, on -the form of the mountain, which depends on its upheaval and subsequent -denudation, and lastly on the storm or earthquake which throws down the -fragments. But in regard to the use to which the fragments may be put, -their shape may be strictly said to be accidental. - - -“FACE TO FACE WITH AN INSOLUBLE DIFFICULTY.” - - [Page 427.] - -And here we are led to face a great difficulty, in alluding to which I -am aware that I am traveling beyond my proper province. An omniscient -Creator must have foreseen every consequence which results from the -laws imposed by him. But can it be reasonably maintained that the -Creator intentionally ordered, if we use the words in any ordinary -sense, that certain fragments of rock should assume certain shapes so -that the builder might erect his edifice? If the various laws which -have determined the shape of each fragment were not predetermined for -the builder’s sake, can it be maintained with any greater probability -that he specially ordained for the sake of the breeder each of the -innumerable variations in our domestic animals and plants--many of -these variations being of no service to man, and not beneficial, far -more often injurious, to the creatures themselves? Did he ordain that -the crop and tail-feathers of the pigeon should vary in order that the -fancier might make his grotesque pouter and fantail breeds? Did he -cause the frame and mental qualities of the dog to vary in order that a -breed might be formed of indomitable ferocity, with jaws fitted to pin -down the bull for man’s brutal sport? But if we give up the principle -in one case--if we do not admit that the variations of the primeval dog -were intentionally guided in order that the greyhound, for instance, -that perfect image of symmetry and vigor, might be formed--no shadow of -reason can be assigned for the belief that variations, alike in nature -and the result of the same general laws, which have been the groundwork -through natural selection of the formation of the most perfectly -adapted animals in the world, man included, were intentionally and -specially guided. However much we may wish it, we can hardly follow -Professor Asa Gray in his belief “that variation has been led along -certain beneficial lines,” like a stream “along definite and useful -lines of irrigation.” If we assume that each particular variation was -from the beginning of all time preordained, then that plasticity of -organization, which leads to many injurious deviations of structure, -as well as the redundant power of reproduction which inevitably leads -to a struggle for existence, and, as a consequence, to the natural -selection or survival of the fittest, must appear to us superfluous -laws of nature. On the other hand, an omnipotent and omniscient Creator -ordains everything and foresees everything. Thus we are brought face -to face with a difficulty as insoluble as is that of free-will and -predestination. - - -WHY DISTASTEFUL? - - [Descent of - Man, page 618.] - -The main conclusion arrived at in this work, namely, that man is -descended from some lowly organized form, will, I regret to think, be -highly distasteful to many. But there can hardly be a doubt that we -are descended from barbarians. The astonishment which I felt on first -seeing a party of Fuegians on a wild and broken shore will never be -forgotten by me, for the reflection at once rushed into my mind--such -were our ancestors. These men were absolutely naked and bedaubed -with paint, their long hair was tangled, their mouths frothed with -excitement, and their expression was wild, startled, and distrustful. -They possessed hardly any arts, and like wild animals lived on what -they could catch; they had no government, and were merciless to -every one not of their own small tribe. He who has seen a savage in -his native land will not feel much shame, if forced to acknowledge -that the blood of some more humble creature flows in his veins. For -my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little -monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his -keeper, or from that old baboon, who, descending from the mountains, -carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished -dogs--as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up -bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his -wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest -superstitions. - -Man may be excused for feeling some pride at having risen, though not -through his own exertions, to the very summit of the organic scale; and -the fact of his having thus risen, instead of having been aboriginally -placed there, may give him hope for a still higher destiny in the -distant future. But we are not here concerned with hopes or fears, only -with the truth as far as our reason permits us to discover it; and I -have given the evidence to the best of my ability. We must, however, -acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities, -with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which -extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, -with his godlike intellect which has penetrated into the movements and -constitution of the solar system--with all these exalted powers--man -still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin. - - -“ACCORDS BETTER WITH WHAT WE KNOW OF THE CREATOR’S LAWS.” - - [Origin of - Species, - page 428.] - -Authors of the highest eminence seem to be fully satisfied with the -view that each species has been independently created. To my mind -it accords better with what we know of the laws impressed on matter -by the Creator, that the production and extinction of the past and -present inhabitants of the world should have been due to secondary -causes, like those determining the birth and death of the individual. -When I view all beings not as special creations, but as the lineal -descendants of some few beings which lived long before the first bed of -the Cambrian system was deposited, they seem to me to become ennobled. -Judging from the past, we may safely infer that not one living species -will transmit its unaltered likeness to a distant futurity. And of the -species now living very few will transmit progeny of any kind to a -far distant futurity; for the manner in which all organic beings are -grouped, shows that the greater number of species in each genus, and -all the species in many genera, have left no descendants, but have -become utterly extinct. We can so far take a prophetic glance into -futurity as to foretell that it will be the common and widely-spread -species, belonging to the larger and dominant groups within each class, -which will ultimately prevail and procreate new and dominant species. -As all the living forms of life are the lineal descendants of those -which lived long before the Cambrian epoch, we may feel certain that -the ordinary succession by generation has never once been broken, and -that no cataclysm has desolated the whole world. Hence we may look with -some confidence to a secure future of great length. And as natural -selection works solely by and for the good of each being, all corporeal -and mental endowments will tend to progress toward perfection. - - -THE GRANDEUR OF THIS VIEW OF LIFE. - - [Page 429.] - -It is interesting to contemplate a tangled bank, clothed with many -plants of many kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various -insects flitting about, and with worms crawling through the damp earth, -and to reflect that these elaborately constructed forms, so different -from each other, and dependent upon each other in so complex a manner, -have all been produced by laws acting around us. These laws, taken in -the largest sense, being growth with reproduction; inheritance which -is almost implied by reproduction; variability from the indirect and -direct action of the conditions of life, and from use and disuse: a -ratio of increase so high as to lead to a struggle for life, and as a -consequence to natural selection, entailing divergence of character and -the extinction of less-improved forms. Thus, from the war of nature, -from famine and death, the most exalted object which we are capable -of conceiving, namely, the production of the higher animals, directly -follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several -powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms -or into one; and that, while this planet has gone cycling on according -to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms -most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved. - - -NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY. - - [Descent of - Man, page 612.] - -I am aware that the assumed instinctive belief in God has been used by -many persons as a rash argument for his existence. But this is a rash -argument, as we should thus be compelled to believe in the existence -of many cruel and malignant spirits, only a little more powerful than -man; for the belief in them is far more general than in a beneficent -Deity. The idea of a universal and beneficent Creator does not seem to -arise in the mind of man, until he has been elevated by long-continued -culture. - -He who believes in the advancement of man from some low organized -form, will naturally ask, How does this bear on the belief in the -immortality of the soul? The barbarous races of man, as Sir J. Lubbock -has shown, possess no clear belief of this kind; but arguments derived -from the primeval beliefs of savages are, as we have just seen, of -little or no avail. Few persons feel any anxiety from the impossibility -of determining at what precise period in the development of the -individual, from the first trace of a minute germinal vesicle, man -becomes an immortal being; and there is no greater cause for anxiety -because the period can not possibly be determined in the gradually -ascending organic scale. - -I am aware that the conclusions arrived at in this work will be -denounced by some as highly irreligious; but he who denounces them is -bound to show why it is more irreligious to explain the origin of man -as a distinct species by descent from some lower form, through the -laws of variation and natural selection, than to explain the birth of -the individual through the laws of ordinary reproduction. The birth -both of the species and of the individual are equally parts of that -grand sequence of events, which our minds refuse to accept as the -result of blind chance. The understanding revolts at such a conclusion, -whether or not we are able to believe that every slight variation of -structure--the union of each pair in marriage--the dissemination of -each seed--and other such events, have all been ordained for some -special purpose. - - * * * * * - - [Journal of - Researches, - page 503.] - -Among the scenes which are deeply impressed on my mind, none exceed in -sublimity the primeval forests undefaced by the hand of man; whether -those of Brazil, where the powers of life are predominant, or those -of Tierra del Fuego, where death and decay prevail. Both are temples -filled with the varied productions of the God of Nature; no one can -stand in these solitudes unmoved, and not feel that there is more in -man than the mere breath of his body. - - -THE END. - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made consistent when a -predominant preference was found in the original book; otherwise they -were not changed. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced quotation marks -were remedied when the change was obvious or could be determined by -reference to Darwin’s original books; and otherwise left unbalanced. - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DARWINISM STATED BY DARWIN -HIMSELF *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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text-indent: 0; text-align: center;} -.x-ebookmaker .blockquot {margin: 1.5em 3% 1.5em 3%;} - -.hang { - font-size: smaller; - text-align: justify; - padding-left: 1.5em; - text-indent: -1.5em; -} -.x-ebookmaker .hang {margin: .5em 3% 2em 3%;} - -.transnote { - background-color: #999999; - border: thin dotted; - font-family: sans-serif, serif; - margin-left: 5%; - margin-right: 5%; - margin-top: 4em; - margin-bottom: 2em; - padding: 1em; -} -.x-ebookmaker .transnote { - page-break-inside: avoid; - margin-left: 2%; - margin-right: 2%; - margin-top: 1em; - margin-bottom: 1em; - padding: .5em; -} - -.gesperrt { - letter-spacing: 0.2em; - margin-right: -0.2em; -} -.wspace {word-spacing: .3em;} - -.pagenum br {display: none; visibility: hidden;} - - /* ]]> */ </style> -</head> - -<body> -<p style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Darwinism stated by Darwin himself, by Charles Darwin</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Darwinism stated by Darwin himself</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:0; margin-top:0; margin-bottom:1em;'>Characteristic passages from the writings of Charles Darwin</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Charles Darwin</p> -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Compiler: Nathan Sheppard</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: October 13, 2022 [eBook #69147]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Tim Lindell, Charlie Howard, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries)</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DARWINISM STATED BY DARWIN HIMSELF ***</div> - -<h1>DARWINISM<br /> - -<span class="smaller">STATED BY DARWIN HIMSELF.</span></h1> - -<p class="p2 center larger wspace"><i>CHARACTERISTIC PASSAGES<br /> -FROM THE WRITINGS OF CHARLES DARWIN.</i></p> - -<p class="p2 center wspace smaller">SELECTED AND ARRANGED</p> - -<p class="p1 center vspace"><span class="small">BY</span><br /> -<span class="larger gesperrt">NATHAN SHEPPARD,</span></p> - -<p class="center xsmall wspace">AUTHOR OF<br /> -“SHUT UP IN PARIS,” EDITOR OF “THE DICKENS READER,” “CHARACTER READINGS<br /> -FROM GEORGE ELIOT,” AND “GEORGE ELIOT’S ESSAYS.”</p> - -<p class="p2 smaller">“There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been -originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, while -this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so -simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been -and are being evolved.”—<i>The Origin of Species</i>, page 429.</p> - -<p class="p2 center vspace larger wspace">NEW YORK:<br /> -D. APPLETON AND COMPANY,<br /> -<span class="smaller">1, 3, <span class="allsmcap">AND</span> 5 BOND STREET.</span><br /> -1884.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<p class="newpage p4 center smaller"> -<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1884,<br /> -By</span> D. APPLETON AND COMPANY.<br /> -</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="PREFACE">PREFACE.</h2> -</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">While</span> these selections can not but be useful to those -who are perfectly familiar with the writings of Darwin, -they are designed especially for those who know little, -or nothing, about his line of research and argument, -and yet would like to obtain a general idea of it in a -form which shall be at once authentic, brief, and inexpensive.</p> - -<p>This volume contains, of course, only an outline of -the contents of the twelve volumes from which it is -compiled, and for which it is by no means intended as -a substitute. It will, on the contrary, we should hope, -create an appetite which can be satisfied only by a careful -reading of the works themselves.</p> - -<p>Darwin’s repetitions, necessitated by his method of -investigation and publication, and his unexampled candor -in controversy, have been something of an embarrassment -in the classification of these passages; so that -we have been obliged in some instances to sacrifice continuity -to perspicuity. But, as one object of this book -is to correct misrepresentations by giving Darwin’s views<span class="pagenum" id="Page_iv">iv</span> -in his own language, some of his own repetitions must -be given also, in order to leave no doubt as to precisely -what he said and did not say. It will probably be a -long while before the dispute over the theory that he -advocated will cease, but there is certainly no excuse -for a difference of opinion with regard to the language -that he used, and the meaning he attached to it. That -language and that meaning will be found in these -pages. Darwinism stated by its opponents is one thing, -Darwinism stated by Darwin himself will be found to -be quite another thing, for, to use his own exclamation, -“great is the power of steady misrepresentation!”</p> - -<p>The order followed in the arrangement of these extracts -is not that of the books, but the one naturally -suggested by our plan, which is designed to conduct the -reader through the vegetable up to the animal kingdom, -and up from the lowest to the highest animal, man, -“the wonder and glory of the universe.”</p> - -<p>The references are to the American edition of Darwin’s -works published by D. Appleton & Co., New -York.</p> - -<p>It is no part of our purpose to discuss the theory -expounded here, but we can not refrain from joining -in the general expression of admiration for its illustrious -expounder. Lord Derby says, “He was one of half a -dozen men of this century who will be remembered a -century hence”; and yet his friends were “more impressed -with the dignified simplicity of his nature than -by the great work he had done.” Professor Huxley<span class="pagenum" id="Page_v">v</span> -compares him to Socrates in wisdom and humility; and -there could be no better authority than Mr. A. R. Wallace -for the statement that “there are none to stand -beside him as equals in the whole domain of science.” -He has been extolled, since his death, by a host of religious -leaders in press and pulpit (some of whose utterances -will be found on another page), and we concur -with them in the opinion that science never had a -champion whose temper and behavior were more nearly -in accord with the practical injunctions of the Christian -religion. Whatever we or any one may think of Darwin’s -scientific theories, no one can gainsay the value -of his personal example, and few can be so prejudiced -as to resist the fascination that will always be felt at the -mention of his name.</p> - -<p class="p1"><span class="smcap">New York</span>, <i>February 1, 1884</i>.</p> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vi">vi</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="INTRODUCTORY_PASSAGES_QUOTED_BY_DARWIN_IN">INTRODUCTORY PASSAGES QUOTED BY DARWIN IN -HIS “ORIGIN OF SPECIES.”</h2> -</div> - -<div class="smaller1"> -<p><span class="firstword">“But</span> with regard to the material world, we can at least go so -far as this—we can perceive that events are brought about not -by insulated interpositions of divine power, exerted in each particular -case, but by the establishment of general laws.”—<span class="smcap">Whewell</span>: -<i>Bridgewater Treatise</i>.</p> - -<p>“The only distinct meaning of the word ‘natural’ is <em>stated</em>, -<em>fixed</em>, or <em>settled</em>; since what is natural as much requires and presupposes -an intelligent agent to render it so, i. e., to effect it continually -or at stated times, as what is supernatural or miraculous -does to effect it for once.”—<span class="smcap">Butler</span>: <cite>Analogy of Revealed Religion</cite>.</p> - -<p>“To conclude, therefore, let no man out of a weak conceit of -sobriety, or an ill-applied moderation, think or maintain, that a -man can search too far or be too well studied in the book of God’s -word, or in the book of God’s works; divinity or philosophy; -but rather let men endeavor an endless progress or proficience in -both.”—<span class="smcap">Bacon</span>: <cite>Advancement of Learning</cite>.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_vii">vii</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="DARWIN_AND_HIS_THEORIES_FROM_A_RELIGIOUS">DARWIN AND HIS THEORIES FROM A RELIGIOUS -POINT OF VIEW.</h2> -</div> - -<div class="smaller1"> -<p>“Surely in such a man lived that true charity which is the very -essence of the true spirit of Christ.”—Canon <span class="smcap">Prothero</span>.</p> - -<p>“The moral lesson of his life is perhaps even more valuable -than is the grand discovery which he has stamped on the world’s -history.”—<cite>The Observer</cite> (London).</p> - -<p>“Darwin’s writings may be searched in vain for an irreverent -or unbelieving word.”—<cite>The Church Review.</cite></p> - -<p>“The doctrine of evolution with which Darwin’s name would -always be associated lent itself at least as readily to the old promise -of God as to more modern but less complete explanations of the -universe.”—Canon <span class="smcap">Barry</span>.</p> - -<p>“The fundamental doctrine of the theist is left precisely as it -was. The belief in the great Creator and Ruler of the Universe -is, as we have seen, confessed by the author of these doctrines. -The grounds remain untouched of faith in the personal Deity who -is in intimate relation with individual souls, who is their guide -and helper in life, and who can be trusted in regard to the great -hereafter.”—<cite>The Church Quarterly Review.</cite></p> - -<p>“It appears impossible to overrate the gain we have won in the -stupendous majesty of this (Darwin’s) idea of the Creator and -creation.”—<cite>Sunday-School Chronicle.</cite></p> - -<p>“It is certain that Mr. Darwin’s books contain a marvelous -store of patiently accumulated and most interesting facts. Those -facts seem to point in the direction of the belief that the Great -Spirit of the Universe has wrought slowly and with infinite patience, -through innumerable ages, rather than by abrupt intervention<span class="pagenum" id="Page_viii">viii</span> -and by means of great catastrophes, in the production of the -results, in the animate and inanimate world, which now offer to -the student of nature boundless scope for observation and inquiry.”—<cite>The -Christian World.</cite></p> - -<p>“Let us see, in the funeral honors paid within these holy precincts -to our greatest naturalist, a happy trophy of the reconciliation -between faith and science.”—<cite>The Guardian.</cite></p> - -<p>“That there is some truth in the theory of evolution, however, -most scientists, including those of Christian faith, believe, and -Mr. Darwin certainly has done much to make the facts plain; but -no scientific principle established by him ever has undermined any -truth of the Gospel.”—<cite>The Congregationalist.</cite></p> - -<p>“Christian believers are found among the ranks of evolutionists -without apparent prejudice to their faith. Professor Mivart, -the zoölogist; Professor Asa Gray, the botanist; Professor Le -Conte and Professor Winchell, the geologists, may be named as -among these.”—<cite>The Presbyterian.</cite></p> - -<p>“In all his simple and noble life Mr. Darwin was influenced -by the profoundly religious conviction that nothing was beneath -the earnest study of man which had been worthy of the mighty -hand of God.”—Canon <span class="smcap">Farrar</span>.</p> - -<p>“He has not one word to say against religion; ... by-and-by -it may be seen that he has done much to put religious faith as -well as scientific knowledge on a higher plane.”—<cite>Independent.</cite></p> - -<p>“A celebrated author and divine has written to me that ‘he -has gradually learned to see that it is just as noble a conception -of the Deity to believe that he created a few original forms capable -of self-development into other and needful forms, as to believe -that he required a fresh act of creation to supply the voids caused -by the action of his laws.’”—<cite>Origin of Species</cite>, page 422.</p> - -<p>“I am at the head of a college where to declare against it -[evolution] would perplex my best students. They would ask me -which to give up, science or the Bible.... It is but the evolution -of Genesis when each ‘brings forth after its kind.’ Science -tells the same story. But what is the limit of the fixedness of the -law? I believe that the evolution of new species is a question in -science, and not of religion. It should be left to scientific men.”—President -<span class="smcap">McCosh</span>.</p> -</div> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ix">ix</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2> -</div> - -<table id="toc"> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap b0" colspan="2">I.</td> -</tr> -<tr class="small"> - <td></td> - <td class="tdr">PAGE</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub p0" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Movements and Habits of Plants.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Movement of Plants in Relation to their Wants</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_1">2</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Power of Movement in Animal and Plant compared</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_2">4</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Advantages of Cross-Fertilization</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_3">6</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Potency of the Sexual Elements in Plants</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_4">6</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Experiments in Crossing</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_5">8</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Struggle for Existence among Seeds</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_6">9</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Practical Application of these Views</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_7">9</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Marriages of First Cousins</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_8">11</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Development of the Two Sexes in Plants</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_9">12</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Why the Sexes have been reseparated</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_10">14</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Comparative Fertility of Male and Female Plants</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_11">15</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Effect of Climate on Reproduction</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_12">16</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Causes of Sterility among Plants</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_13">17</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">An “Ideal Type” or Inevitable Modification</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_14">18</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Special Adaptations to a Changing Purpose</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_15">19</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">An Illustration</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_16">21</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">As interesting on the Theory of Development as on that of Direct Interposition</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_17">22</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Sleep of the Plants</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_18">24</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Self-Protection during Sleep</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_19">25</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Influence of Light upon Plants</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_20">28</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Influence of Gravitation upon Plants</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_21">29</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Power of Digestion in Plants</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_22">31</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Diverse Means by which Plants gain their Subsistence</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_23">34</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">How a Plant preys upon Animals</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_24">35</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_x">x</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">II.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Part played by Worms in the History of this Planet.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">They preserve Valuable Ruins</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_25">42</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">They prepare the Ground for Seed</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_26">43</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Intelligence of Worms</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_27">45</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">III.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Laws of Variability with respect to Animals and Plants.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Inherited Effect of Changed Habits</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_28">48</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Effects of the Use and Disuse of Parts</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_29">50</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Vague Origin of our Domestic Animals</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_30">52</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Descent of the Domestic Pigeon</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_31">53</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Origin of the Dog</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_32">55</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Origin of the Horse</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_33">57</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Causes of Modifications in the Horse</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_34">58</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“Making the Works of God a mere Mockery”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_35">59</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Variability of Cultivated Plants</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_36">61</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Savage Wisdom in the Cultivation of Plants</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_37">62</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Unknown Laws of Inheritance</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_38">64</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Laws of Inheritance that are fairly well established</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_39">66</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Inherited Peculiarities in Man</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_40">67</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Inherited Diseases</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_41">68</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Causes of Non-Inheritance</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_42">69</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Steps by which Domestic Races have been produced</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_43">71</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Unconscious Selection</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_44">73</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Adaptation of Animals to the Fancies of Man</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_45">74</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Doubtful Species</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_46">75</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Species an Arbitrary Term</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_47">77</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The True Plan of Creation</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_48">79</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">IV.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Struggle for Existence.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Death inevitable in the Fight for Life</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_49">82</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“Inexplicable on the Theory of Creation”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_50">84</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Obscure Checks to Increase</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_51">85</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Climate as a Check to Increase</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_52">86</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Influence of Insects in the Struggle for Existence</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_53">88</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">No such Thing as Change in the Result of the Struggle</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_54">90</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xi">xi</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">V.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Natural Selection; or, the Survival of the Fittest.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">An Invented Hypothesis</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_55">93</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">How far the Theory may be extended</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_56">94</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Is there any Limit to what Selection can effect?</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_57">96</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Has Organization advanced?</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_58">97</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">A Higher Workmanship than Man’s</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_59">99</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Why Habits and Structure are not in Agreement</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_60">102</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">No Modification in one Species designed for the Good of Another</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_61">103</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Illustrations of the Action of Natural Selection</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_62">106</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Divergence of Character</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_63">108</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Evolution of the Human Eye</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_64">110</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">VI.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Geographical Distribution of Organic Beings.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Isolated Continents never were united</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_65">115</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Means of Dispersal</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_66">116</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">These Means of Transport not accidental</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_67">118</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Dispersal during the Glacial Period</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_68">119</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Theory of Creation inadequate</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_69">122</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Causes of a Glacial Climate</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_70">123</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Difficulties not yet removed</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_71">124</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Identity of the Species of Islands with those of the Mainland explained only by this Theory</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_72">125</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">VII.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Evidence of the Descent of Man from some Lower Form.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Points of Correspondence between Man and the other Animals</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_73">129</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The facts of Embryology and the Theory of Development</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_74">131</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Two Principles that explain the Facts</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_75">134</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Embryology against Abrupt Changes</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_76">135</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Rudimentary Organs only to be explained on the Theory of Development</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_77">137</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“No other Explanation has ever been given”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_78">139</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Unity of Type explained by Relationship</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_79">140</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Inexplicable on the Ordinary View of Creation</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_80">142</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Descent with Modification the only Explanation</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_81">143</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xii">xii</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The History of Life on the Theory of Descent with Modification</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_82">144</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Letters retained in the Spelling but Useless in Pronunciation</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_83">146</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Man’s Deficiency in Tail</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_84">147</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Points of Resemblance between Man and Monkey</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_85">149</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Variability of Man</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_86">152</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Causes of Variability in Domesticated Man</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_87">153</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Action of Changed Conditions</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_88">155</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Inherited Effects of the Increased and Diminished Use of Parts</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_89">156</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Reversion as a Factor in the Development of Man</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_90">158</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Reversion in the Human Family</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_91">160</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Prepotence in the Transmission of Character</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_92">162</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Natural Selection in the Development of Man</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_93">163</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">How Man became upright</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_94">165</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Brain enlarges as the Mental Faculties develop</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_95">167</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Nakedness of the Skin</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_96">169</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Is Man the most helpless of the Animals?</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_97">171</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">VIII.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Mental Powers of Man and the Lower Animals compared.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Fundamental Intuitions the same in Man and the other Animals</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_98">175</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Man and the Lower Animals excited by the same Emotions</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_99">177</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">All Animals possess some Power of Reasoning</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_100">179</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Power of Association in Dog and Savage</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_101">181</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Lower Animals progress in Intelligence</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_102">182</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Power of Abstraction</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_103">183</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Evolution of Language</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_104">185</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Development of Languages and Species compared</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_105">188</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Sense of Beauty</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_106">191</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Development of the Ear for Music</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_107">192</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">IX.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Development of the Moral Sense.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">From the Social Instincts to the Moral Sense</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_108">195</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Human Sympathy among Animals</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_109">197</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Love of Approbation</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_110">199</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Fellow-Feeling for our Fellow-Animals</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_111">200</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Development of the Golden Rule</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_112">201</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiii">xiii</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Regret peculiar to Man, and why</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_113">202</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Remorse explained</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_114">204</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Development of Self-Control</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_115">205</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Variability of Conscience</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_116">207</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Progress not an Invariable Rule</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_117">209</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">All Civilized Nations are the Descendants of Barbarians</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_118">210</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“The Ennobling Belief in God”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_119">213</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">X.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Genealogy of Man.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Man a Sub-Order</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_120">218</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Birthplace of Man</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_121">221</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Origin of the Vertebrata</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_122">224</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">From no Bone to Backbone</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_123">226</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Does Mankind consist of Several Species?</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_124">228</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Races graduate into each other</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_125">229</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Was the First Man a Speaking Animal?</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_126">231</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Theory of a Single Pair</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_127">231</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Civilized out of Existence</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_128">233</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">XI.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Sexual Selection as an Agency to account for the Differences between the Races of Man.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Struggle of the Males for the Possession of the Females</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_129">236</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Courtship among the Lower Animals</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_130">237</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Why the Male plays the more Active Part in Courting</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_131">239</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Transmission of Sexual Characteristics</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_132">240</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">An Objection answered</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_133">242</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Difference between the Sexes created by Sexual Selection</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_134">243</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">How Woman could be made to reach the Standard of Man</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_135">246</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“Characteristic Selfishness of Man”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_136">247</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">No Universal Standard of Beauty among Mankind</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_137">248</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Development of the Beard</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_138">249</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Development of the Marriage-Tie</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_139">250</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Unnatural Selection in Marriage</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_140">252</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Modifying Influences in Both Sexes</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_141">254</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“Grounds that will never be shaken”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_142">256</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xiv">xiv</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">XII.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Expression of the Emotions in Man and other Animals.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Principle of Associated Habit</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_143">258</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Principle of Antithesis</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_144">261</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Origin of the Principle of Antithesis</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_145">263</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Principle of the Action of the Excited Nervous System on the Body</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_146">265</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">XIII.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Means of the Expression of the Emotions.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Vocal Organs</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_147">268</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Erection of the Hair</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_148">269</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Erection of the Ears</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_149">270</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">A Startled Horse</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_150">271</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Monkey-Shines</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_151">271</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Weeping of Man and Brute</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_152">272</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Grief-Muscles</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_153">275</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Voluntary Power over the Grief-Muscles</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_154">276</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“Down in the Mouth”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_155">278</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Laughter</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_156">279</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Expression of the Devout Emotions</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_157">282</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Frowning</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_158">284</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Pouting</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_159">285</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Decision at the Mouth</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_160">287</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Anger</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_161">287</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Sneering</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_162">288</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Disgust</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_163">289</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Shrugging the Shoulders</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_164">290</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Blushing</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_165">291</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Blushing not necessarily an Expression of Guilt</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_166">293</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Blushing accounted for</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_167">294</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">A New Argument for a Single Parent-Stock</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_168">296</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">XIV.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">The Provisional Hypothesis of Pangenesis.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Functional Independence of the Units of the Body</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_169">299</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Necessary Assumptions</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_170">302</a><span class="pagenum" id="Page_xv">xv</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Two Objections answered</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_171">305</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Effect of Morbid Action</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_172">306</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Transmission limited</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_173">307</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chap" colspan="2">XV.</td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdc chapsub" colspan="2"><span class="smcap">Objections to the Theory of Descent with Modification considered.</span></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Misrepresentations corrected</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_174">310</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Lapse of Time and Extent of Area</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_175">311</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Why the Higher Forms have not supplanted the Lower</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_176">313</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Amount of Life must have a Limit</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_177">316</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Broken Branches of the Tree of Life</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_178">317</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Why we do not find Transitional Forms</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_179">319</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">How could the Transitional Form have subsisted?</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_180">322</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Why Nature takes no Sudden Leaps</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_181">323</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Imperfect Contrivances of Nature accounted for</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_182">324</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Instincts as a Difficulty</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_183">325</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Some Instincts acquired and some lost</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_184">327</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Innumerable Links necessarily lost</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_185">329</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Plenty of Time for the Necessary Gradations</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_186">331</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Wide Intervals of Time between the Geological Formations</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_187">334</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Sudden Appearance of Groups of Allied Species</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_188">336</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">How little we know of Former Inhabitants of the World</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_189">337</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Extinction of Species involved in Mystery</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_190">338</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Dead Links between Living Species</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_191">340</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Living Descendants of Fossil Species</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_192">342</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Unnecessary to explain the Cause of each Individual Difference</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_193">343</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“Face to Face with an Insoluble Difficulty”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_194">344</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Why distasteful?</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_195">346</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">“Accords better with what we know of the Creator’s Laws”</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_196">347</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">The Grandeur of this View of Life</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_197">348</a></td> -</tr> -<tr> - <td class="tdl">Not incompatible with the Belief in Immortality</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#sec_198">349</a></td> -</tr> -</table> - -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_1">1</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="DARWINISM"><span class="larger">DARWINISM<br /> - -<span class="subhead">STATED BY DARWIN HIMSELF.</span></span></h2> -</div> - -<hr class="narrow x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="I">I.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE MOVEMENTS AND HABITS OF PLANTS.</span></h2> - -<div class="sidenote">The Power -of Movement -in Plants,<br /> -page 1.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">The</span> most widely prevalent movement is -essentially of the same nature as that of the -stem of a climbing plant, which bends successively -to all points of the compass, so that the tip -revolves. This movement has been called by Sachs “revolving -nutation”; but we have found it much more -convenient to use the terms <em>circumnutation</em> and <em>circumnutate</em>. -As we shall have to say much about this -movement, it will be useful here briefly to describe its -nature. If we observe a circumnutating stem, which -happens at the time to be bent, we will say toward the -north, it will be found gradually to bend more and more -easterly, until it faces the east; and so onward to the -south, then to the west, and back again to the north. If -the movement had been quite regular, the apex would -have described a circle, or rather, as the stem is always -growing upward, a circular spiral. But it generally describes -irregular elliptical or oval figures; for the apex, -after pointing in any one direction, commonly moves -back to the opposite side, not, however, returning along<span class="pagenum" id="Page_2">2</span> -the same line. Afterward other irregular ellipses or ovals -are successively described, with their longer axes directed -to different points of the compass. While describing -such figures, the apex often travels in a zigzag line, or -makes small subordinate loops or triangles. In the case -of leaves the ellipses are generally narrow.</p> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 3.</div> - -<p>Even the stems of seedlings before they -have broken through the ground, as well as -their buried radicles, circumnutate, as far as the pressure -of the surrounding earth permits. In this universally -present movement we have the basis or groundwork for -the acquirement, according to the requirements of the -plant, of the most diversified movements.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_1">THE MOVEMENT OF PLANTS IN RELATION TO THEIR -WANTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">The Movements -and -Habits of -Climbing -Plants,<br /> -page 202.</div> - -<p>The most interesting point in the natural -history of climbing plants is the various kinds -of movement which they display in manifest -relation to their wants. The most different -organs—stems, branches, flower-peduncles, petioles, mid-ribs -of the leaf and leaflets, and apparently aërial roots—all -possess this power.</p> - -<p>1. The first action of a tendril is to place itself in a -proper position. For instance, the tendril of <i>Cobæa</i> first -rises vertically up, with its branches divergent and with -the terminal hooks turned outward; the young shoot at -the extremity of the stem is at the same time bent to one -side, so as to be out of the way. The young leaves of -clematis, on the other hand, prepare for action by temporarily -curving themselves downward, so as to serve as -grapnels.</p> - -<p>2. If a twining plant or a tendril gets by any accident -into an inclined position, it soon bends upward, though<span class="pagenum" id="Page_3">3</span> -secluded from the light. The guiding stimulus no doubt -is the attraction of gravity, as Andrew Knight showed to -be the case with germinating plants. If a shoot of any -ordinary plant be placed in an inclined position in a glass -of water in the dark, the extremity will, in a few hours, -bend upward; and, if the position of the shoot be then -reversed, the downward-bent shoot reverses its curvature; -but if the stolon of a strawberry, which has no tendency -to grow upward, be thus treated, it will curve downward -in the direction of, instead of in opposition to, the force -of gravity. As with the strawberry, so it is generally with -the twining shoots of the <i>Hibbertia dentata</i>, which climbs -laterally from bush to bush; for these shoots, if placed -in a position inclined downward, show little and sometimes -no tendency to curve upward.</p> - -<p>3. Climbing plants, like other plants, bend toward -the light by a movement closely analogous to the incurvation -which causes them to revolve, so that their revolving -movement is often accelerated or retarded in traveling -to or from the light. On the other hand, in a few -instances tendrils bend toward the dark.</p> - -<p>4. We have the spontaneous revolving movement -which is independent of any outward stimulus, but is -contingent on the youth of the part, and on vigorous -health; and this again, of course, depends on a proper -temperature and other favorable conditions of life.</p> - -<p>5. Tendrils, whatever their homological nature may -be, and the petioles or tips of the leaves of leaf-climbers, -and apparently certain roots, all have the power of movement -when touched, and bend quickly toward the touched -side. Extremely slight pressure often suffices. If the -pressure be not permanent, the part in question straightens -itself and is again ready to bend on being touched.</p> - -<p>6. Tendrils, soon after clasping a support, but not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_4">4</span> -after a mere temporary curvature, contract spirally. If -they have not come into contact with any object, they -ultimately contract spirally, after ceasing to revolve; but -in this case the movement is useless, and occurs only after -a considerable lapse of time.</p> - -<p>With respect to the means by which these various -movements are effected, there can be little doubt, from -the researches of Sachs and H. de Vries, that they are -due to unequal growth; but, from the reasons already -assigned, I can not believe that this explanation applies to -the rapid movements from a delicate touch.</p> - -<p>Finally, climbing plants are sufficiently numerous to -form a conspicuous feature in the vegetable kingdom, -more especially in tropical forests. America, which so -abounds with arboreal animals, as Mr. Bates remarks, -likewise abounds, according to Mohl and Palm, with -climbing plants; and, of the tendril-bearing plants examined -by me, the highest developed kinds are natives of -this grand continent, namely, the several species of <i>Bignonia</i>, -<i>Eccremocarpus</i>, <i>Cobæa</i>, and <i>Ampelopsis</i>. But even -in the thickets of our temperate regions the number of -climbing species and individuals is considerable, as will -be found by counting them.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_2">THE POWER OF MOVEMENT IN ANIMAL AND PLANT -COMPARED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 206.</div> - -<p>It has often been vaguely asserted that -plants are distinguished from animals by not -having the power of movement. It should rather be said -that plants acquire and display this power only when it is -of some advantage to them; this being of comparatively -rare occurrence, as they are affixed to the ground, and -food is brought to them by the air and rain. We see -how high in the scale of organization a plant may rise,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_5">5</span> -when we look at one of the more perfect tendril-bearers. -It first places its tendrils ready for action, as a polypus -places its tentacula. If the tendril be displaced, it is -acted on by the force of gravity and rights itself. It is -acted on by the light, and bends toward or from it, or -disregards it, whichever maybe most advantageous. During -several days the tendrils or internodes, or both, spontaneously -revolve with a steady motion. The tendril -strikes some object, and quickly curls round and firmly -grasps it. In the course of some hours it contracts into -a spire, dragging up the stem, and forming an excellent -spring. All movements now cease. By growth the tissues -soon become wonderfully strong and durable. The -tendril has done its work, and has done it in an admirable -manner.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote">The Power -of Movement -in Plants,<br /> -page 571.</div> - -<p>It is impossible not to be struck with the -resemblance between the foregoing movements -of plants and many of the actions performed -unconsciously by the lower animals. With plants an astonishingly -small stimulus suffices; and even with allied -plants one may be highly sensitive to the slightest continued -pressure, and another highly sensitive to a slight -momentary touch. The habit of moving at certain periods -is inherited both by plants and animals; and several -other points of similitude have been specified. But the -most striking resemblance is the localization of their -sensitiveness, and the transmission of an influence from -the excited part to another which consequently moves. -Yet plants do not, of course, possess nerves or a central -nervous system; and we may infer that with animals -such structures serve only for the more perfect transmission -of impressions, and for the more complete intercommunication -of the several parts.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_6">6</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_3">ADVANTAGES OF CROSS-FERTILIZATION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">The Effects -of Cross and -Self Fertilization -in the -Vegetable -Kingdom,<br /> -page 443.</div> - -<p>There are two important conclusions which -may be deduced from my observations: 1. -That the advantages of cross-fertilization do -not follow from some mysterious virtue in the -mere union of two distinct individuals, but -from such individuals having been subjected during previous -generations to different conditions, or to their having -varied in a manner commonly called spontaneous, so that -in either case their sexual elements have been in some degree -differentiated; and, 2. That the injury from self-fertilization -follows from the want of such differentiation -in the sexual elements. These two propositions are fully -established by my experiments. Thus, when plants of -the <i>Ipomœa</i> and of the <i>Mimulus</i>, which had been self-fertilized -for the seven previous generations, and had been -kept all the time under the same conditions, were intercrossed -one with another, the offspring did not profit in -the least by the cross.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 451.</div> - -<p>The curious cases of plants which can fertilize -and be fertilized by any other individual -of the same species, but are altogether sterile with their -own pollen, become intelligible, if the view here propounded -is correct, namely, that the individuals of the -same species growing in a state of nature near together -have not really been subjected during several previous -generations to quite the same conditions.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_4">POTENCY OF THE SEXUAL ELEMENTS IN PLANTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 446.</div> - -<p>It is obvious that the exposure of two sets -of plants during several generations to different -conditions can lead to no beneficial results, as far as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_7">7</span> -crossing is concerned, unless their sexual elements are -thus affected. That every organism is acted on to a certain -extent by a change in its environment will not, I presume, -be disputed. It is hardly necessary to advance -evidence on this head; we can perceive the difference between -individual plants of the same species which have -grown in somewhat more shady or sunny, dry or damp -places. Plants which have been propagated for some generations -under different climates or at different seasons -of the year transmit different constitutions to their seedlings. -Under such circumstances, the chemical constitution -of their fluids and the nature of their tissues are -often modified. Many other such facts could be adduced. -In short, every alteration in the function of a part is -probably connected with some corresponding, though -often quite imperceptible, change in structure or composition.</p> - -<p>Whatever affects an organism in any way, likewise -tends to act on its sexual elements. We see this in the -inheritance of newly acquired modifications, such as those -from the increased use or disuse of a part, and even from -mutilations if followed by disease. We have abundant -evidence how susceptible the reproductive system is to -changed conditions, in the many instances of animals rendered -sterile by confinement; so that they will not unite, -or, if they unite, do not produce offspring, though the -confinement may be far from close; and of plants rendered -sterile by cultivation. But hardly any cases afford -more striking evidence how powerfully a change in the -conditions of life acts on the sexual elements than those -already given, of plants which are completely self-sterile -in one country, and, when brought to another, yield, even -in the first generation, a fair supply of self-fertilized -seeds.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_8">8</span></p> - -<p>But it may be said, granting that changed conditions -act on the sexual elements, How can two or more plants -growing close together, either in their native country or -in a garden, be differently acted on, inasmuch as they -appear to be exposed to exactly the same conditions?</p> - -<h3 id="sec_5">EXPERIMENTS IN CROSSING.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 447.</div> - -<p>In my experiments with <i>Digitalis purpurea</i>, -some flowers on a wild plant were self-fertilized, -and others were crossed with pollen from -another plant growing within two or three feet distance. -The crossed and self-fertilized plants raised from the -seeds thus obtained produced flower-stems in number as -100 to 47, and in average height as 100 to 70. Therefore, -the cross between these two plants was highly beneficial; -but how could their sexual elements have been differentiated -by exposure to different conditions? If the progenitors -of the two plants had lived on the same spot during -the last score of generations, and had never been crossed -with any plant beyond the distance of a few feet, in all -probability their offspring would have been reduced to -the same state as some of the plants in my experiments—such -as the intercrossed plants of the ninth generation -of <i>Ipomœa</i>, or the self-fertilized plants of the eighth generation -of <i>Mimulus</i>, or the offspring from flowers on the -same plant; and in this case a cross between the two -plants of <i>Digitalis</i> would have done no good. But seeds -are often widely dispersed by natural means, and one of -the above two plants, or one of their ancestors, may have -come from a distance, from a more shady or sunny, dry -or moist place, or from a different kind of soil containing -other organic seeds or inorganic matter.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_6">THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE AMONG SEEDS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 449.</div> - -<p>Seeds often lie dormant for several years -in the ground, and germinate when brought -near the surface by any means, as by burrowing animals. -They would probably be affected by the mere circumstance -of having long lain dormant; for gardeners -believe that the production of double flowers, and of -fruit, is thus influenced. Seeds, moreover, which were -matured during different seasons will have been subjected -during the whole course of their development to different -degrees of heat and moisture.</p> - -<p>It has been shown that pollen is often carried by -insects to a considerable distance from plant to plant. -Therefore, one of the parents or ancestors of our two -plants of <i>Digitalis</i> may have been crossed by a distant -plant growing under somewhat different conditions. -Plants thus crossed often produce an unusually -large number of seeds; a striking instance of this fact -is afforded by the <i>Bignonia</i>, which was fertilized by -Fritz Müller with pollen from some adjoining plants -and set hardly any seed, but, when fertilized with pollen -from a distant plant, was highly fertile. Seedlings from -a cross of this kind grow with great vigor, and transmit -their vigor to their descendants. These, therefore, -in the struggle for life, will generally beat and exterminate -the seedlings from plants which have long grown near -together under the same conditions, and will thus tend -to spread.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_7">PRACTICAL APPLICATION OF THESE VIEWS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 458.</div> - -<p>Under a practical point of view, agriculturists -and horticulturists may learn something -from the conclusions at which we have arrived. Firstly,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span> -we see that the injury from the close breeding of animals -and from the self-fertilization of plants does not necessarily -depend on any tendency to disease or weakness of -constitution common to the related parents, and only indirectly -on their relationship, in so far as they are apt to -resemble each other in all respects, including their sexual -nature. And, secondly, that the advantages of cross-fertilization -depend on the sexual elements of the parents -having become in some degree differentiated by the exposure -of their progenitors to different conditions, or from -their having intercrossed with individuals thus exposed; -or, lastly, from what we call in our ignorance spontaneous -variation. He therefore who wishes to pair closely related -animals ought to keep them under conditions as different -as possible.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 459.</div> - -<p>As some kinds of plants suffer much more -from self-fertilization than do others, so it -probably is with animals from too close interbreeding. -The effects of close interbreeding on animals, judging -again from plants, would be deterioration in general vigor, -including fertility, with no necessary loss of excellence -of form; and this seems to be the usual result.</p> - -<p>It is a common practice with horticulturists to obtain -seeds from another place having a very different soil, so -as to avoid raising plants for a long succession of generations -under the same conditions; but, with all the species -which freely intercross by the aid of insects or the wind, -it would be an incomparably better plan to obtain seeds -of the required variety, which had been raised for some -generations under as different conditions as possible, and -sow them in alternate rows with seeds matured in the old -garden. The two stocks would then intercross, with a -thorough blending of their whole organizations, and with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span> -no loss of purity to the variety; and this would yield far -more favorable results than a mere exchange of seeds. -We have seen in my experiments how wonderfully the -offspring profited in height, weight, hardiness, and fertility, -by crosses of this kind. For instance, plants of -<i>Ipomœa</i> thus crossed were to the intercrossed plants of -the same stock, with which they grew in competition, as -100 to 78 in height, and as 100 to 51 in fertility; and -plants of <i>Eschscholtzia</i> similarly compared were as 100 to -45 in fertility. In comparison with self-fertilized plants -the results are still more striking; thus cabbages derived -from a cross with a fresh stock were to the self-fertilized -as 100 to 22 in weight.</p> - -<p>Florists may learn, from the four cases which have -been fully described, that they have the power of fixing -each fleeting variety of color, if they will fertilize the -flowers of the desired kind with their own pollen for -half a dozen generations, and grow the seedlings under -the same conditions. But a cross with any other individual -of the same variety must be carefully prevented, -as each has its own peculiar constitution. After a dozen -generations of self-fertilization, it is probable that the -new variety would remain constant even if grown under -somewhat different conditions; and there would no longer -be any necessity to guard against intercrosses between -the individuals of the same variety.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_8">MARRIAGES OF FIRST COUSINS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 460.</div> - -<p>With respect to mankind, my son George -has endeavored to discover by a statistical investigation -whether the marriages of first cousins are at -all injurious, although this is a degree of relationship -which would not be objected to in our domestic animals; -and he has come to the conclusion from his own researches,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span> -and those of Dr. Mitchell, that the evidence as -to any evil thus caused is conflicting, but on the whole -points to its being very small. From the facts given in -this volume we may infer that with mankind the marriages -of nearly related persons, some of whose parents -and ancestors had lived under very different conditions, -would be much less injurious than that of persons who -had always lived in the same place and followed the same -habits of life. Nor can I see reason to doubt that the -widely different habits of life of men and women in -civilized nations, especially among the upper classes, -would tend to counterbalance any evil from marriages -between healthy and somewhat closely related persons.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_9">DEVELOPMENT OF THE TWO SEXES IN PLANTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 461.</div> - -<p>Under a theoretical point of view it is some -gain to science to know that numberless structures -in hermaphrodite plants, and probably in hermaphrodite -animals, are special adaptations for securing an -occasional cross between two individuals; and that the -advantages from such a cross depend altogether on the -beings which are united, or their progenitors, having -had their sexual elements somewhat differentiated, so -that the embryo is benefited in the same manner as is a -mature plant or animal by a slight change in its conditions -of life, although in a much higher degree.</p> - -<p>Another and more important result may be deduced -from my observations. Eggs and seeds are highly serviceable -as a means of dissemination, but we now know -that fertile eggs can be produced without the aid of the -male. There are also many other methods by which -organisms can be propagated asexually. Why then have -the two sexes been developed, and why do males exist<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span> -which can not themselves produce offspring? The answer -lies, as I can hardly doubt, in the great good which -is derived from the fusion of two somewhat differentiated -individuals; and with the exception of the lowest organisms -this is possible only by means of the sexual elements, -these consisting of cells separated from the body, containing -the germs of every part, and capable of being -fused completely together.</p> - -<p>It has been shown in the present volume that the -offspring from the union of two distinct individuals, -especially if their progenitors have been subjected to very -different conditions, have an immense advantage in height, -weight, constitutional vigor and fertility over the self-fertilized -offspring from one of the same parents. And -this fact is amply sufficient to account for the development -of the sexual elements, that is, for the genesis of -the two sexes.</p> - -<p>It is a different question why the two sexes are sometimes -combined in the same individual, and are sometimes -separated. As with many of the lowest plants and animals -the conjugation of two individuals, which are either -quite similar or in some degree different is a common -phenomenon, it seems probable, as remarked in the last -chapter, that the sexes were primordially separate. The -individual which receives the contents of the other, may -be called the female; and the other, which is often smaller -and more locomotive, may be called the male; though -these sexual names ought hardly to be applied as long as -the whole contents of the two forms are blended into -one. The object gained by the two sexes becoming united -in the same hermaphrodite form probably is to allow of -occasional or frequent self-fertilization, so as to insure -the propagation of the species, more especially in the -case of organisms affixed for life to the same spot.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span> -There does not seem to be any great difficulty in understanding -how an organism, formed by the conjugation -of two individuals which represented the two incipient -sexes, might have given rise by budding first to a monœcious -and then to an hermaphrodite form; and in the -case of animals even without budding to an hermaphrodite -form, for the bilateral structure of animals perhaps -indicates that they were aboriginally formed by the fusion -of two individuals.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_10">WHY THE SEXES HAVE BEEN RESEPARATED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 463.</div> - -<p>It is a more difficult problem why some -plants, and apparently all the higher animals, -after becoming hermaphrodites, have since had their sexes -reseparated. This separation has been attributed by some -naturalists to the advantages which follow from a division -of physiological labor. The principle is intelligible when -the same organ has to perform at the same time diverse -functions; but it is not obvious why the male and female -glands, when placed in different parts of the same compound -or simple individual, should not perform their -functions equally well as when placed in two distinct individuals. -In some instances the sexes may have been -reseparated for the sake of preventing too frequent self-fertilization; -but this explanation does not seem probable, -as the same end might have been gained by other -and simpler means, for instance, dichogamy. It may be -that the production of the male and female reproductive -elements and the maturation of the ovules was too great -a strain and expenditure of vital force for a single individual -to withstand, if endowed with a highly complex -organization; and that at the same time there was no -need for all the individuals to produce young, and consequently<span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span> -that no injury, on the contrary, good, resulted -from half of them, or the males, failing to produce offspring.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_11">COMPARATIVE FERTILITY OF MALE AND FEMALE -PLANTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">The Different -Forms of -Flowers,<br /> -page 290.</div> - -<p>Thirteen bushes (of the spindle-tree) growing -near one another in a hedge consisted of -eight females quite destitute of pollen, and -of five hermaphrodites with well-developed anthers. In -the autumn the eight females were well covered with -fruit, excepting one which bore only a moderate number. -Of the five hermaphrodites, one bore a dozen or two -fruits, and the remaining four bushes several dozen; -but their number was as nothing compared with those -on the female bushes, for a single branch, between two -and three feet in length, from one of the latter, yielded -more than any one of the hermaphrodite bushes. The -difference in the amount of fruit produced by the two -sets of bushes is all the more striking, as from the -sketches above given it is obvious that the stigmas of the -polleniferous flowers can hardly fail to receive their own -pollen; while the fertilization of the female flowers depends -on pollen being brought to them by flies and the -smaller <i>Hymenoptera</i>, which are far from being such efficient -carriers as bees.</p> - -<p>I now determined to observe more carefully during -successive seasons some bushes growing in another place -about a mile distant. As the female bushes were so -highly productive, I marked only two of them with the -letters A and B, and five polleniferous bushes with the -letters C to G. I may premise that the year 1865 was -highly favorable for the fruiting of all the bushes, especially -for the polleniferous ones, some of which were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span> -quite barren, except under such favorable conditions. -The season of 1864 was unfavorable. In 1863 the female -A produced “some fruit”; in 1864 only nine; and in -1865 ninety-seven fruit. The female B in 1863 was -“covered with fruit”; in 1864 it bore twenty-eight; -and in 1865 “innumerable very fine fruits.” I may add -that three other female trees growing close by were observed, -but only during 1863, and they then bore abundantly. -With respect to the polleniferous bushes, the one -marked C did not bear a single fruit during the years -1863 and 1864, but during 1865 it produced no less than -ninety-two fruit, which, however, were very poor. I selected -one of the finest branches with fifteen fruit, and -these contained twenty seeds, or on an average 1·33 per -fruit. I then took by hazard fifteen fruit from an adjoining -female bush, and these contained forty-three -seeds; that is, more than twice as many, or on an average -2·86 per fruit. Many of the fruits from the female -bushes included four seeds, and only one had a single -seed; whereas, not one fruit from the polleniferous -bushes contained four seeds. Moreover, when the two -lots of seeds were compared, it was manifest that those -from the female bushes were the larger. The second -polleniferous bush, D, bore in 1863 about two dozen -fruit, in 1864 only three very poor fruit, each containing -a single seed; and in 1865, twenty equally poor fruit. -Lastly, the three polleniferous bushes, E, F, and G, did -not produce a single fruit during the three years 1863, -1864, and 1865.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_12">EFFECT OF CLIMATE ON REPRODUCTION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 293.</div> - -<p>A tendency to the separation of the sexes -in the cultivated strawberry seems to be much -more strongly marked in the United States than in Europe;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span> -and this appears to be the result of the direct action -of climate on the reproductive organs. In the best account -which I have seen, it is stated that many of the -varieties in the United States consist of three forms, -namely, females, which produce a heavy crop of fruit; -of hermaphrodites, which “seldom produce other than -a very scanty crop of inferior and imperfect berries”; and -of males, which produce none. The most skillful cultivators -plant “seven rows of female plants, then one -row of hermaphrodites, and so on throughout the field.” -The males bear large, the hermaphrodites mid-sized, and -the females small flowers. The latter plants produce few -runners, while the two other forms produce many; consequently, -as has been observed both in England and in -the United States, the polleniferous forms increase rapidly -and tend to supplant the females. We may therefore -infer that much more vital force is expended in the production -of ovules and fruit than in the production of -pollen.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_13">CAUSES OF STERILITY AMONG PLANTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">The Different -Forms of -Flower,<br /> -page 345.</div> - -<p>If the sexual elements belonging to the -same form are united, the union is an illegitimate -one, and more or less sterile. With dimorphic -species two illegitimate unions, and with trimorphic -species twelve are possible. There is reason to believe -that the sterility of these unions has not been specially -acquired, but follows as an incidental result from the -sexual elements of the two or three forms having been -adapted to act on one another in a particular manner, -so that any other kind of union is inefficient, like that -between distinct species. Another and still more remarkable -incidental result is that the seedlings from an illegitimate -union are often dwarfed and more or less completely<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span> -barren, like hybrids from the union of two widely -distinct species.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_14">AN “IDEAL TYPE” OR INEVITABLE MODIFICATION?</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Fertilization -of Orchids -by Insects,<br /> -page 245.</div> - -<p>It is interesting to look at one of the magnificent -exotic species (orchids), or, indeed, at -one of our humblest forms, and observe how -profoundly it has been modified, as compared with all -ordinary flowers—with its great labellum, formed of one -petal and two petaloid stamens; with its singular pollen-masses, -hereafter to be referred to; with its column -formed of seven cohering organs, of which three alone -perform their proper function, namely, one anther and -two generally confluent stigmas; with the third stigma -modified into the rostellum and incapable of being fertilized; -and with three of the anthers no longer functionally -active, but serving either to protect the pollen of the -fertile anther or to strengthen the column, or existing -as mere rudiments, or entirely suppressed. What an -amount of modification, cohesion, abortion, and change -of function do we here see! Yet hidden in that column, -with its surrounding petals and sepals, we know that -there are fifteen groups of vessels, arranged three within -three, in alternate order, which probably have been preserved -to the present time from being developed at a very -early period of growth, before the shape or existence of -any part of the flower is of importance for the well-being -of the plant.</p> - -<p>Can we feel satisfied by saying that each orchid was -created, exactly as we now see it, on a certain “ideal -type”; that the omnipotent Creator, having fixed on one -plan for the whole order, did not depart from this plan; -that he, therefore, made the same organ to perform diverse<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span> -functions—often of trifling importance compared -with their proper function—converted other organs into -mere purposeless rudiments, and arranged all as if they -had to stand separate, and then made them cohere? Is -it not a more simple and intelligible view that all the -<i>Orchideæ</i> owe what they have in common to descent -from some monocotyledonous plant, which, like so many -other plants of the same class, possessed fifteen organs, -arranged alternately, three within three, in five whorls; -and that the now wonderfully changed structure of the -flower is due to a long course of slow modification—each -modification having been preserved which was useful to -the plant, during the incessant changes to which the organic -and inorganic world has been exposed?</p> - -<h3 id="sec_15">SPECIAL ADAPTATIONS TO A CHANGING PURPOSE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Fertilization -of Orchids,<br /> -page 282.</div> - -<p>It has, I think, been shown that the <i>Orchideæ</i> -exhibit an almost endless diversity of -beautiful adaptations. When this or that part -has been spoken of as adapted for some special purpose, it -must not be supposed that it was originally always formed -for this sole purpose. The regular course of events seems -to be, that a part which originally served for one purpose -becomes adapted by slow changes for widely different -purposes. To give an instance: in all the <i>Ophreæ</i>, -the long and nearly rigid caudicle manifestly serves for -the application of the pollen-grains to the stigma, when -the pollinia are transported by insects to another flower; -and the anther opens widely in order that the pollinium -should be easily withdrawn; but, in the <i>Bee ophrys</i>, the -caudicle, by a slight increase in length and decrease in its -thickness, and by the anther opening a little more widely, -becomes specially adapted for the very different purpose<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span> -of self-fertilization, through the combined aid of the -weight of the pollen-mass and the vibration of the flower -when moved by the wind. Every gradation between -these two states is possible—of which we have a partial -instance in <i>O. aranifera</i>.</p> - -<p>Again, the elasticity of the pedicel of the pollinium -in some <i>Vandeæ</i> is adapted to free the pollen-masses from -their anther-cases; but, by a further slight modification, -the elasticity of the pedicel becomes specially adapted to -shoot out the pollinium with considerable force, so as to -strike the body of the visiting insect. The great cavity -in the labellum of many <i>Vandeæ</i> is gnawed by insects, -and thus attracts them; but in <i>Mormodes ignea</i> it is -greatly reduced in size, and serves in chief part to keep -the labellum in its new position on the summit of the -column. From the analogy of many plants we may infer -that a long, spur-like nectary is primarily adapted to -secrete and hold a store of nectar; but in many orchids -it has so far lost this function that it contains fluid only -in the intercellular spaces. In those orchids in which -the nectary contains both free nectar and fluid in the -intercellular spaces, we can see how a transition from the -one state to the other could be effected, namely, by less -and less nectar being secreted from the inner membrane, -with more and more retained within the intercellular -spaces. Other analogous cases could be given.</p> - -<p>Although an organ may not have been originally -formed for some special purpose, if it now serves for this -end, we are justified in saying that it is specially adapted -for it. On the same principle, if a man were to make a -machine for some special purpose, but were to use old -wheels, springs, and pulleys, only slightly altered, the -whole machine, with all its parts, might be said to be -specially contrived for its present purpose. Thus throughout<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span> -nature almost every part of each living being has -probably served, in a slightly modified condition, for -diverse purposes, and has acted in the living machinery -of many ancient and distinct specific forms.</p> - -<p>In my examination of orchids, hardly any fact has -struck me so much as the endless diversities of structure—the -prodigality of resources—for gaining the very same -end, namely, the fertilization of one flower by pollen -from another plant. This fact is to a large extent intelligible -on the principle of natural selection. As all -the parts of a flower are co-ordinated, if slight variations -in any one part were preserved from being beneficial to -the plant, then the other parts would generally have to -be modified in some corresponding manner. But these -latter parts might not vary at all, or they might not vary -in a fitting manner, and these other variations, whatever -their nature might be, which tended to bring all the parts -into more harmonious action with one another, would be -preserved by natural selection.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_16">AN ILLUSTRATION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 284.</div> - -<p>To give a simple illustration: in many -orchids the ovarium (but sometimes the foot-stalk) -becomes for a period twisted, causing the labellum -to assume the position of a lower petal, so that insects -can easily visit the flower; but from slow changes in the -form or position of the petals, or from new sorts of insects -visiting the flowers, it might be advantageous to -the plant that the labellum should resume its normal -position on the upper side of the flower, as is actually -the case with <i>Malaxis paludosa</i>, and some species of -<i>Catasetum</i>, etc. This change, it is obvious, might be -simply effected by the continued selection of varieties -which had their ovaria less and less twisted; but, if the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span> -plant only afforded varieties with the ovarium more -twisted, the same end could be attained by the selection -of such variations, until the flower was turned completely -round on its axis. This seems to have actually -occurred with <i>Malaxis paludosa</i>, for the labellum has acquired -its present upward position by the ovarium being -twisted twice as much as is usual.</p> - -<p>Again, we have seen that in most <i>Vandeæ</i> there is a -plain relation between the depth of the stigmatic chamber -and the length of the pedicel, by which the pollen-masses -are inserted; now, if the chamber became slightly less -deep from any change in the form of the column, or -other unknown cause, the mere shortening of the pedicel -would be the simplest corresponding change; but, if the -pedicel did not happen to vary in shortness, the slightest -tendency to its becoming bowed from elasticity, as in -<i>Phalænopsis</i>, or to a backward hygrometric movement, -as in one of the <i>Maxillarias</i>, would be preserved, and the -tendency would be continually augmented by selection; -thus the pedicel, as far as its action is concerned, would -be modified in the same manner as if it had been shortened. -Such processes carried on during many thousand -generations in various ways, would create an endless diversity -of co-adapted structures in the several parts of -the flower for the same general purpose. This view -affords, I believe, the key which partly solves the problem -of the vast diversity of structure adapted for closely -analogous ends in many large groups of organic beings.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_17">AS INTERESTING ON THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT AS -ON THAT OF DIRECT INTERPOSITION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 285.</div> - -<p>The more I study nature, the more I become -impressed, with ever-increasing force, -that the contrivances and beautiful adaptations slowly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span> -acquired through each part occasionally varying in a -slight degree but in many ways, with the preservation of -those variations which were beneficial to the organism -under complex and ever-varying conditions of life, transcend -in an incomparable manner the contrivances and -adaptations which the most fertile imagination of man -could invent.</p> - -<p>The use of each trifling detail of structure is far from -a barren search to those who believe in natural selection. -When a naturalist casually takes up the study of an organic -being, and does not investigate its whole life (imperfect -though that study will ever be), he naturally -doubts whether each trifling point can be of any use, or, -indeed, whether it be due to any general law. Some -naturalists believe that numberless structures have been -created for the sake of mere variety and beauty—much -as a workman would make different patterns. I, for -one, have often and often doubted whether this or that -detail of structure in many of the <i>Orchideæ</i> and other -plants could be of any service; yet, if of no good, these -structures could not have been modeled by the natural -preservation of useful variations; such details can only -be vaguely accounted for by the direct action of the conditions -of life, or the mysterious laws of correlated growth.</p> - -<div class="sidenote">Fertilization -of Orchids,<br /> -page 2.</div> - -<p>This treatise affords me also an opportunity -of attempting to show that the study of organic -beings may be as interesting to an observer -who is fully convinced that the structure of each -is due to secondary laws as to one who views every trifling -detail of structure as the result of the direct interposition -of the Creator.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_18">THE SLEEP OF THE PLANTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">The Power -of Movement -in Plants,<br /> -page 280.</div> - -<p>The so-called sleep of leaves is so conspicuous -a phenomenon that it was observed as early -as the time of Pliny; and since Linnæus published -his famous essay, “Somnus Plantarum,” it has -been the subject of several memoirs. Many flowers close -at night, and these are likewise said to sleep; but we are -not here concerned with their movements, for although -effected by the same mechanism as in the case of young -leaves, namely, unequal growth on the opposite sides (as -first proved by Pfeffer), yet they differ essentially in being -excited chiefly by changes of temperature instead of light; -and in being effected, as far as we can judge, for a different -purpose. Hardly any one supposes that there is any -real analogy between the sleep of animals and that of -plants, whether of leaves or flowers. It seems, therefore, -advisable to give a distinct name to the so-called sleep-movements -of plants. These have also generally been confounded, -under the term “periodic,” with the slight daily -rise and fall of leaves, as described in the fourth chapter; -and this makes it all the more desirable to give some distinct -name to sleep-movements. Nyctitropism and nyctitropic, -i. e., night-turning, may be applied both to leaves -and flowers, and will be occasionally used by us; but it -would be best to confine the term to leaves.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 281.</div> - -<p>Leaves, when they go to sleep, move either -upward or downward, or, in the case of the -leaflets of compound leaves, forward, that is, toward the -apex of the leaf, or backward, that is, toward its base; or, -again, they may rotate on their own axis without moving -either upward or downward. But in almost every -case the plane of the blade is so placed as to stand nearly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span> -or quite vertically at night. Therefore the apex, or the -base, or either lateral edge, may be directed toward the -zenith. Moreover, the upper surface of each leaf, and -more especially of each leaflet, is often brought into -close contact with that of the opposite one; and this is -sometimes effected by singularly complicated movements. -This fact suggests that the upper surface requires more -protection than the lower one. For instance, the terminal -leaflet in trifolium, after turning up at night so as -to stand vertically, often continues to bend over until the -upper surface is directed downward, while the lower surface -is fully exposed to the sky; and an arched roof is -thus formed over the two lateral leaflets, which have their -upper surfaces pressed closely together. Here we have -the unusual case of one of the leaflets not standing vertically, -or almost vertically, at night.</p> - -<p>Considering that leaves in assuming their nyctitropic -positions often move through an angle of 90°; that the -movement is rapid in the evening; that in some cases it -is extraordinarily complicated; that with certain seedlings, -old enough to bear true leaves, the cotyledons move -vertically upward at night, while at the same time the -leaflets move vertically downward; and that in the same -genus the leaves or cotyledons of some species move -upward, while those of other species move downward—from -these and other such facts, it is hardly possible to -doubt that plants must derive some great advantage from -such remarkable powers of movement.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_19">SELF-PROTECTION DURING SLEEP.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 284.</div> - -<p>The fact that the leaves of many plants -place themselves at night in widely different -positions from what they hold during the day, but with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span> -the one point in common, that their upper surfaces avoid -facing the zenith, often with the additional fact that -they come into close contact with opposite leaves or leaflets, -clearly indicates, as it seems to us, that the object -gained is the protection of the upper surfaces from being -chilled at night by radiation. There is nothing improbable -in the upper surface needing protection more than -the lower, as the two differ in function and structure. -All gardeners know that plants suffer from radiation. It -is this, and not cold winds, which the peasants of Southern -Europe fear for their olives. Seedlings are often protected -from radiation by a very thin covering of straw; -and fruit-trees on walls by a few fir-branches, or even by -a fishing-net, suspended over them. There is a variety -of the gooseberry, the flowers of which, from being produced -before the leaves, are not protected by them from -radiation, and consequently often fail to yield fruit. An -excellent observer has remarked that one variety of the -cherry has the petals of its flowers much curled backward, -and after a severe frost all the stigmas were killed; -while, at the same time, in another variety with incurved -petals, the stigmas were not in the least injured.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 285.</div> - -<p>We are far from doubting that an additional -advantage may be thus gained; and -we have observed with several plants, for instance, <i>Desmodium -gyrans</i>, that while the blade of the leaf sinks -vertically down at night, the petiole rises, so that the -blade has to move through a greater angle in order to -assume its vertical position than would otherwise have -been necessary; but with the result that all the leaves -on the same plant are crowded together, as if for mutual -protection.</p> - -<p>We doubted at first whether radiation would affect in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span> -any important manner objects so thin as are many cotyledons -and leaves, and more especially affect differently -their upper and lower surfaces; for, although the temperature -of their upper surfaces would undoubtedly fall -when freely exposed to a clear sky, yet we thought that -they would so quickly acquire by conduction the temperature -of the surrounding air, that it could hardly make -any sensible difference to them whether they stood horizontally, -and radiated into the open sky, or vertically, -and radiated chiefly in a lateral direction toward neighboring -plants and other objects. We endeavored, therefore, -to ascertain something on this head, by preventing -the leaves of several plants from going to sleep, and by -exposing to a clear sky, when the temperature was beneath -the freezing-point, these as well as the other leaves -on the same plants, which had already assumed their -nocturnal vertical position. Our experiments show that -leaves thus compelled to remain horizontal at night suffered -much more injury from frost than those which were -allowed to assume their normal vertical position. It may, -however, be said that conclusions drawn from such observations -are not applicable to sleeping plants, the inhabitants -of countries where frosts do not occur. But in -every country, and at all seasons, leaves must be exposed -to nocturnal chills through radiation, which might be in -some degree injurious to them, and which they would escape -by assuming a vertical position.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote">The Power -of Movement -in Plants,<br /> -page 403.</div> - -<p>Any one who had never observed continuously -a sleeping plant would naturally suppose -that the leaves moved only in the evening -when going to sleep, and in the morning when awaking; -but he would be quite mistaken, for we have found no -exception to the rule that leaves which sleep continue to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span> -move during the whole twenty-four hours; they move, -however, more quickly when going to sleep and when -awaking than at other times.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_20">INFLUENCE OF LIGHT UPON PLANTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">The Power -of Movement -in Plants,<br /> -page 565.</div> - -<p>The extreme sensitiveness of certain seedlings -to light is highly remarkable. The -cotyledons of <i>Phalaris</i> became curved toward -a distant lamp, which emitted so little light that a pencil -held vertically close to the plants did not cast any -shadow which the eye could perceive on a white card. -These cotyledons, therefore, were affected by a difference -in the amount of light on their two sides, which the eye -could not distinguish. The degree of their curvature -within a given time toward a lateral light did not correspond -at all strictly with the amount of light which -they received; the light not being at any time in excess. -They continued for nearly half an hour to bend toward a -lateral light, after it had been extinguished. They bend -with remarkable precision toward it, and this depends on -the illumination of one whole side, or on the obscuration -of the whole opposite side. The difference in the amount -of light which plants at any time receive in comparison -with what they have shortly before received seems in all -cases to be the chief exciting cause of those movements -which are influenced by light. Thus seedlings brought -out of darkness bend toward a dim lateral light, sooner -than others which had previously been exposed to daylight. -We have seen several analogous cases with the -nyctitropic movements of leaves. A striking instance -was observed in the case of the periodic movements of -the cotyledons of a cassia: in the morning a pot was -placed in an obscure part of a room, and all the cotyledons -rose up closed; another pot had stood in the sunlight,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span> -and the cotyledons of course remained expanded; -both pots were now placed close together in the middle -of the room, and the cotyledons which had been exposed -to the sun immediately began to close, while the others -opened; so that the cotyledons in the two pots moved in -exactly opposite directions while exposed to the same -degree of light.</p> - -<p>We found that if seedlings, kept in a dark place, were -laterally illuminated by a small wax-taper for only two -or three minutes at intervals of about three quarters of -an hour, they all became bowed to the point where the -taper had been held. We felt much surprised at this -fact, and, until we had read Wiesner’s observations, we -attributed it to the after-effects of the light; but he has -shown that the same degree of curvature in a plant may -be induced in the course of an hour by several interrupted -illuminations lasting altogether for twenty minutes as -by a continuous illumination of sixty minutes. We believe -that this case, as well as our own, may be explained -by the excitement from light being due not so much to -its actual amount, as to the difference in amount from -that previously received; and in our case there were repeated -alternations from complete darkness to light. In -this and in several of the above-specified respects, light -seems to act on the tissues of plants almost in the same -manner as it does on the nervous system of animals.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_21">INFLUENCE OF GRAVITATION UPON PLANTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 567.</div> - -<p>Gravitation excites plants to bend away -from the center of the earth, or toward it, or -to place themselves in a transverse position with respect -to it. Although it is impossible to modify in any direct -manner the attraction of gravity, yet its influence could -be moderated indirectly, in the several ways described in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span> -the tenth chapter; and under such circumstances the -same kind of evidence as that given in the chapter on -heliotropism showed in the plainest manner that apogeotropic -and geotropic, and probably diageotropic movements, -are all modified forms of circumnutation.</p> - -<p>Different parts of the same plant and different species -are affected by gravitation in widely different degrees and -manners. Some plants and organs exhibit hardly a trace -of its action. Young seedlings, which, as we know, circumnutate -rapidly, are eminently sensitive; and we have -seen the hypocotyl of <i>Beta</i> bending upward through 109° -in three hours and eight minutes. The after-effects of -apogeotropism last for above half an hour; and horizontally-laid -hypocotyls are sometimes thus carried temporarily -beyond an upright position. The benefits derived -from geotropism, apogeotropism, and diageotropism, are -generally so manifest that they need not be specified. -With the flower-peduncles of <i>Oxalis</i>, epinasty causes them -to bend down, so that the ripening pods may be protected -by the calyx from the rain. Afterward they are -carried upward by apogeotropism in combination with -hyponasty, and are thus enabled to scatter their seeds -over a wider space. The capsules and flower-heads of -some plants are bowed downward through geotropism, -and they then bury themselves in the earth for the protection -and slow maturation of the seeds. This burying -process is much facilitated by the rocking movement due -to circumnutation.</p> - -<p>In the case of the radicles of several, probably of all -seedling plants, sensitiveness to gravitation is confined to -the tip, which transmits an influence to the adjoining -upper part, causing it to bend toward the center of the -earth. That there is transmission of this kind was proved -in an interesting manner when horizontally extended<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span> -radicles of the bean were exposed to the attraction of -gravity for an hour or an hour and a half, and their tips -were then amputated. Within this time no trace of curvature -was exhibited, and the radicles were now placed -pointing vertically downward; but an influence had already -been transmitted from the tip to the adjoining -part, for it soon became bent to one side, in the same -manner as would have occurred had the radicle remained -horizontal and been still acted on by geotropism. Radicles -thus treated continued to grow out horizontally for -two or three days, until a new tip was reformed; and -this was then acted on by geotropism, and the radicle -became curved perpendicularly downward.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_22">THE POWER OF DIGESTION IN PLANTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Insectivorous -Plants,<br /> -page 85.</div> - -<p>As we have seen that nitrogenous fluids act -very differently on the leaves of <i>Drosera</i> from -non-nitrogenous fluids, and as the leaves remain -clasped for a much longer time over various organic -bodies than over inorganic bodies, such as bits of glass, cinder, -wood, etc., it becomes an interesting inquiry whether -they can only absorb matter already in solution, or render -it soluble; that is, have the power of digestion. We -shall immediately see that they certainly have this power, -and that they act on albuminous compounds in exactly -the same manner as does the gastric juice of mammals; -the digested matter being afterward absorbed. This fact, -which will be clearly proved, is a wonderful one in the -physiology of plants.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 86.</div> - -<p>It may be well to premise, for the sake of -any reader who knows nothing about the digestion -of albuminous compounds by animals, that this -is effected by means of a ferment, pepsin, together with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span> -weak hydrochloric acid, though almost any acid will -serve. Yet neither pepsin nor an acid by itself has -any such power. We have seen that when the glands -of the disk are excited by the contact of any object, especially -of one containing nitrogenous matter, the outer -tentacles and often the blade become inflected; the leaf -being thus converted into a temporary cup or stomach. -At the same time the discal glands secrete more copiously, -and the secretion becomes acid. Moreover, they transmit -some influence to the glands of the exterior tentacles, -causing them to pour forth a more copious secretion, -which also becomes acid or more acid than it was before.</p> - -<p>As this result is an important one, I will give the -evidence. The secretion of many glands on thirty leaves, -which had not been in any way excited, was tested with -litmus-paper; and the secretion of twenty-two of these -leaves did not in the least affect the color, whereas that of -eight caused an exceedingly feeble and sometimes doubtful -tinge of red. Two other old leaves, however, which -appeared to have been inflected several times, acted much -more decidedly on the paper. Particles of clean glass -were then placed on five of the leaves, cubes of albumen -on six, and bits of raw meat on three, on none of which -was the secretion at this time in the least acid. After -an interval of twenty-four hours, when almost all the -tentacles on these fourteen leaves had become more or -less inflected, I again tested the secretion, selecting glands -which had not as yet reached the center or touched any -object, and it was now plainly acid. The degree of -acidity of the secretion varied somewhat on the glands -of the same leaf. On some leaves a few tentacles did -not, from some unknown cause, become inflected, as -often happens; and in five instances their secretion was -found not to be in the least acid; while the secretion of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span> -the adjoining and inflected tentacles on the same leaf was -decidedly acid. With leaves excited by particles of glass -placed on the central glands, the secretion which collects -on the disk beneath them was much more strongly acid -than that poured forth from the exterior tentacles, which -were as yet only moderately inflected. When bits of albumen -(and this is naturally alkaline) or bits of meat -were placed on the disk, the secretion collected beneath -them was likewise strongly acid. As raw meat moistened -with water is slightly acid, I compared its action on litmus-paper -before it was placed on the leaves, and afterward -when bathed in the secretion; and there could not -be the least doubt that the latter was very much more -acid. I have indeed tried hundreds of times the state of -the secretion on the disks of leaves which were inflected -over various objects, and never failed to find it acid. We -may, therefore, conclude that the secretion from unexcited -leaves, though extremely viscid, is not acid or -only slightly so, but that it becomes acid, or much more -strongly so, after the tentacles have begun to bend over -any inorganic or organic object; and still more strongly -acid after the tentacles have remained for some time -closely clasped over any object.</p> - -<p>I may here remind the reader that the secretion appears -to be to a certain extent antiseptic, as it checks the -appearance of mold and infusoria, thus preventing for a -time the discoloration and decay of such substances as the -white of an egg, cheese, etc. It therefore acts like the -gastric juice of the higher animals, which is known to -arrest putrefaction by destroying the microzymes.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 98.</div> - -<p>Cubes of about one twentieth of an inch -(1·27 millimetre) of moderately roasted meat -were placed on five leaves, which became in twelve hours<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span> -closely inflected. After forty-eight hours I gently opened -one leaf, and the meat now consisted of a minute central -sphere, partially digested, and surrounded by a thick envelope -of transparent viscid fluid. The whole, without -being much disturbed, was removed and placed under the -microscope. In the central part the transverse striæ on -the muscular fibers were quite distinct; and it was interesting -to observe how gradually they disappeared, when -the same fiber was traced into the surrounding fluid. -They disappeared by the striæ being replaced by transverse -lines formed of excessively minute dark points, -which toward the exterior could be seen only under a -very high power; and ultimately these points were lost.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 134.</div> - -<p>Finally, the experiments recorded in this -chapter show us that there is a remarkable -accordance in the power of digestion between the gastric -juice of animals, with its pepsin and hydrochloric acid, -and the secretion of <i>Drosera</i> with its ferment and acid belonging -to the acetic series. We can, therefore, hardly -doubt that the ferment in both cases is closely similar.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_23">DIVERSE MEANS BY WHICH PLANTS GAIN THEIR SUBSISTENCE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Insectivorous -Plants,<br /> -page 452.</div> - -<p>Ordinary plants of the higher classes procure -the requisite inorganic elements from the -soil by means of their roots, and absorb carbonic -acid from the atmosphere by means of their leaves and -stems. But we have seen in a previous part of this work -that there is a class of plants which digest and afterward -absorb animal matter, namely, all the <i>Droseraceæ</i>, <i>Pinguicula</i>, -and, as discovered by Dr. Hooker, <i>Nepenthes</i>, and -to this class other species will almost certainly soon be<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span> -added. These plants can dissolve matter out of certain -vegetable substances, such as pollen, seeds, and bits of -leaves. No doubt their glands likewise absorb the salts -of ammonia brought to them by the rain. It has also -been shown that some other plants can absorb ammonia -by their glandular hairs; and these will profit by that -brought to them by the rain. There is a second class of -plants which, as we have just seen, can not digest, but -absorb, the products of the decay of the animals which -they capture, namely, <i>Utricularia</i> and its close allies; -and, from the excellent observations of Dr. Mellichamp -and Dr. Canby, there can scarcely be a doubt that <i>Sarracenia</i> -and <i>Darlingtonia</i> may be added to this class, -though the fact can hardly be considered as yet fully -proved. There is a third class of plants which feed, as -is now generally admitted, on the products of the decay -of vegetable matter, such as the bird’s-nest orchid (<i>Neottia</i>), -etc. Lastly, there is the well-known fourth class -of parasites (such as the mistletoe), which are nourished -by the juices of living plants. Most, however, of the -plants belonging to these four classes obtain part of their -carbon, like ordinary species, from the atmosphere. Such -are the diversified means, as far as at present known, by -which higher plants gain their subsistence.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_24">HOW A PLANT PREYS UPON ANIMALS.</h3> - -<p><i>The genus described is Genlisea ornata.</i></p> - -<div class="sidenote">Insectivorous -Plants,<br /> -page 446.</div> - -<p>The utricle is formed by a slight enlargement -of the narrow blade of the leaf. A hollow -neck, no less than fifteen times as long as -the utricle itself, forms a passage from the transverse slit-like -orifice into the cavity of the utricle. A utricle which -measured 1/36 of an inch (·795 millimetre) in its longer<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span> -diameter had a neck 15/36 (10·583 millimetres) in length, -and 1/100 of an inch (·254 millimetre) in breadth. On -each side of the orifice there is a long spiral arm, or tube; -the structure of which will be best understood by the following -illustration: Take a narrow ribbon and wind it -spirally round a thin cylinder, so that the edges come -into contact along its whole length; then pinch up the two -edges so as to form a little crest, which will, of course, -wind spirally round the cylinder, like a thread round a -screw. If the cylinder is now removed, we shall have a -tube like one of the spiral arms. The two projecting edges -are not actually united, and a needle can be pushed in easily -between them. They are indeed in many places a little -separated, forming narrow entrances into the tube; but -this may be the result of the drying of the specimens. -The lamina of which the tube is formed seems to be a -lateral prolongation of the lip of the orifice; and the -spiral line between the two projecting edges is continuous -with the corner of the orifice. If a fine bristle is pushed -down one of the arms, it passes into the top of the hollow -neck. Whether the arms are open or closed at their extremities -could not be determined, as all the specimens -were broken; nor does it appear that Dr. Warming ascertained -this point.</p> - -<p>So much for the external structure. Internally the -lower part of the utricle is covered with spherical papillæ, -formed of four cells (sometimes eight, according to Dr. -Warming), which evidently answer to the quadrifid processes -within the bladders of <i>Utricularia</i>. These papillæ -extend a little way up the dorsal and ventral surfaces -of the utricle; and a few, according to Warming may -be found in the upper part. This upper region is covered -by many transverse rows, one above the other, of -short, closely approximate hairs, pointing downward.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span> -These hairs have broad bases, and their tips are formed -by a separate cell. They are absent in the lower part of -the utricle where the papillæ abound. The neck is likewise -lined throughout its whole length with transverse -rows of long, thin, transparent hairs, having broad bulbous -bases, with similarly constructed sharp points. They -arise from little projecting ridges, formed of rectangular -epidermic cells. The hairs vary a little in length, but -their points generally extend down to the row next below; -so that, if the neck is split open and laid flat, the -inner surface resembles a paper of pins—the hairs representing -the pins, and the little transverse ridges representing -the folds of paper through which the pins are -thrust. These rows of hairs are indicated in the previous -figure by numerous transverse lines crossing the neck. -The inside of the neck is also studded with papillæ; -those in the lower part are spherical and formed of four -cells, as in the lower part of the utricle; those in the -upper part are formed of two cells, which are much elongated -downward beneath their points of attachment. -These two-celled papillæ apparently correspond with the -bifid process in the upper part of the bladders of <i>Utricularia</i>. -The narrow transverse orifice is situated between -the bases of the two spiral arms. No valve could be -detected here, nor was any such structure seen by Dr. -Warming. The lips of the orifice are armed with many -short, thick, sharply pointed, somewhat incurved hairs -or teeth.</p> - -<p>The two projecting edges of the spirally-wound lamina, -forming the arms, are provided with short incurved hairs -or teeth, exactly like those on the lips. These project -inward at right angles to the spiral line of junction between -the two edges. The inner surface of the lamina -supports two-celled, elongated papillæ, resembling those<span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span> -in the upper part of the neck, but differing slightly from -them, according to Warming, in their footstalks being -formed by prolongations of large epidermic cells; whereas -the papillæ within the neck rest on small cells sunk -amid the larger ones. These spiral arms form a conspicuous -difference between the present genus and <i>Utricularia</i>.</p> - -<p>Lastly, there is a bundle of spiral vessels which, running -up the lower part of the linear leaf, divides close -beneath the utricle. One branch extends up the dorsal -and the other up the ventral side of both the utricle and -neck. Of these two branches, one enters one spiral arm, -and the other branch the other arm.</p> - -<p>The utricles contained much <i xml:lang="fr" lang="fr">débris</i>, or dirty matter, -which seemed organic, though no distinct organisms could -be recognized. It is, indeed, scarcely possible that any -object could enter the small orifice and pass down the -long, narrow neck, except a living creature. Within the -necks, however, of some specimens, a worm, with retracted -horny jaws, the abdomen of some articulate animal, and -specks of dirt, probably the remnants of other minute -creatures, were found. Many of the papillæ within both -the utricles and necks were discolored, as if they had absorbed -matter.</p> - -<p>From this description it is sufficiently obvious how -genlisea secures its prey. Small animals entering the -narrow orifice—but what induces them to enter is not -known any more than in the case of <i>Utricularia</i>—would -find their egress rendered difficult by the sharp incurved -hairs on the lips, and, as soon as they passed some way -down the neck, it would be scarcely possible for them to -return, owing to the many transverse rows of long, straight, -downward-pointing hairs, together with the ridges from -which these project. Such creatures would, therefore,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span> -perish either within the neck or utricle; and the quadrifid -and bifid papillæ would absorb matter from their decayed -remains. The transverse rows of hairs are so numerous -that they seem superfluous merely for the sake of preventing -the escape of prey, and, as they are thin and -delicate, they probably serve as additional absorbents, in -the same manner as the flexible bristles on the infolded -margins of the leaves of aldrovanda. The spiral arms, -no doubt, act as accessory traps. Until fresh leaves are -examined, it can not be told whether the line of junction -of the spirally-wound lamina is a little open along -its whole course or only in parts, but a small creature -which forced its way into the tube at any point -would be prevented from escaping by the incurved hairs, -and would find an open path down the tube into the -neck, and so into the utricle. If the creature perished -within the spiral arms, its decaying remains would be absorbed -and utilized by the bifid papillæ. We thus see -that animals are captured by genlisea, not by means of -an elastic valve, as with the foregoing species, but by a -contrivance resembling an eel-trap, though more complex.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="II">II.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE PART PLAYED BY WORMS IN THE -HISTORY OF THIS PLANET.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="sidenote">The Formation -of Vegetable -Mold -through the -Action of -Earthworms,<br /> -page 305.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">Worms</span> have played a more important part -in the history of the world than most persons -would at first suppose. In almost all humid -countries they are extraordinarily numerous, -and for their size possess great muscular -power. In many parts of England a weight of more than -ten tons (10,516 kilogrammes) of dry earth annually -passes through their bodies and is brought to the surface -on each acre of land; so that the whole superficial bed -of vegetable mold passes through their bodies in the -course of every few years. From the collapsing of the -old burrows the mold is in constant though slow movement, -and the particles composing it are thus rubbed together. -By these means fresh surfaces are continually -exposed to the action of the carbonic acid in the soil, -and of the humus-acids which appear to be still more -efficient in the decomposition of rocks. The generation -of the humus-acids is probably hastened during the digestion -of the many half-decayed leaves which worms consume. -Thus the particles of earth, forming the superficial -mold, are subjected to conditions eminently favorable -for their decomposition and disintegration. Moreover,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span> -the particles of the softer rocks suffer some amount -of mechanical trituration in the muscular gizzards of -worms, in which small stones serve as mill-stones.</p> - -<p>The finely levigated castings, when brought to the -surface in a moist condition, flow during rainy weather -down any moderate slope; and the smaller particles are -washed far down even a gently inclined surface. Castings -when dry often crumble into small pellets, and these -are apt to roll down any sloping surface. Where the -land is quite level and is covered with herbage, and where -the climate is humid so that much dust can not be blown -away, it appears at first sight impossible that there should -be any appreciable amount of subaërial denudation; but -worm-castings are blown, especially while moist and viscid, -in one uniform direction by the prevalent winds -which are accompanied by rain. By these several means -the superficial mold is prevented from accumulating to a -great thickness; and a thick bed of mold checks in many -ways the disintegration of the underlying rocks and fragments -of rock.</p> - -<p>The removal of worm-castings by the above means -leads to results which are far from insignificant. It has -been shown that a layer of earth, ·2 of an inch in thickness, -is in many places annually brought to the surface -per acre; and if a small part of this amount flows, or -rolls, or is washed, even for a short distance down every -inclined surface, or is repeatedly blown in one direction, -a great effect will be produced in the course of ages. It -was found by measurements and calculations that on a -surface with a mean inclination of 9° 26’, 2·4 cubic inches -of earth which had been ejected by worms crossed, in the -course of a year, a horizontal line one yard in length; so -that 240 cubic inches would cross a line a hundred yards -in length. This latter amount in a damp state would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span> -weigh eleven and a half pounds. Thus a considerable -weight of earth is continually moving down each side of -every valley, and will in time reach its bed. Finally, this -earth will be transported by the streams flowing in the -valleys into the ocean, the great receptacle for all matter -denuded from the land. It is known from the amount -of sediment annually delivered into the sea by the Mississippi, -that its enormous drainage-area must on an average -be lowered ·00263 of an inch each year; and this would -suffice in four and a half million years to lower the whole -drainage-area to the level of the sea-shore. So that, if a -small fraction of the layer of fine earth, ·2 of an inch in -thickness, which is annually brought to the surface by -worms, is carried away, a great result can not fail to be -produced within a period which no geologist considers -extremely long.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_25">THEY PRESERVE VALUABLE RUINS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 308.</div> - -<p>Archæologists ought to be grateful to -worms, as they protect and preserve for an -indefinitely long period every object, not liable to decay, -which is dropped on the surface of the land, by burying -it beneath their castings. Thus, also, many elegant and -curious tesselated pavements and other ancient remains -have been preserved; though no doubt the worms have -in these cases been largely aided by earth washed and -blown from the adjoining land, especially when cultivated. -The old tesselated pavements have, however, -often suffered by having subsided unequally from being -unequally undermined by the worms. Even old massive -walls may be undermined and subside; and no building -is in this respect safe, unless the foundations lie six or -seven feet beneath the surface, at a depth at which worms<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span> -can not work. It is probable that many monoliths and -some old walls have fallen down from having been undermined -by worms.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_26">THEY PREPARE THE GROUND FOR SEED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 309.</div> - -<p>Worms prepare the ground in an excellent -manner for the growth of fibrous-rooted plants -and for seedlings of all kinds. They periodically expose -the mold to the air, and sift it so that no stones larger -than the particles which they can swallow are left in it. -They mingle the whole intimately together, like a gardener -who prepares fine soil for his choicest plants. In -this state it is well fitted to retain moisture and to absorb -all soluble substances, as well as for the process of nitrification. -The bones of dead animals, the harder parts of -insects, the shells of land-mollusks, leaves, twigs, etc., -are before long all buried beneath the accumulating castings -of worms, and are thus brought in a more or less -decayed state within reach of the roots of plants. Worms -likewise drag an infinite number of dead leaves and other -parts of plants into their burrows, partly for the sake of -plugging them up and partly as food.</p> - -<p>The leaves which are dragged into the burrows as -food, after being torn into the finest shreds, partially digested, -and saturated with the intestinal and urinary secretions, -are commingled with much earth. This earth -forms the dark-colored, rich humus which almost everywhere -covers the surface of the land with a fairly well-defined -layer or mantle. Von Hensen placed two worms -in a vessel eighteen inches in diameter, which was filled -with sand, on which fallen leaves were strewed; and -these were soon dragged into their burrows to a depth of -three inches. After about six weeks an almost uniform -layer of sand, a centimetre (·4 inch) in thickness, was<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span> -converted into humus by having passed through the alimentary -canals of these two worms. It is believed by -some persons that worm-burrows, which often penetrate -the ground almost perpendicularly to a depth of five or -six feet, materially aid in its drainage; notwithstanding -that the viscid castings piled over the mouths of the burrows -prevent or check the rain-water directly entering -them. They allow the air to penetrate deeply into the -ground. They also greatly facilitate the downward passage -of roots of moderate size; and these will be nourished -by the humus with which the burrows are lined. Many -seeds owe their germination to having been covered by castings; -and others buried to a considerable depth beneath -accumulated castings lie dormant, until at some future -time they are accidentally uncovered and germinate.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 313.</div> - -<p>When we behold a wide, turf-covered expanse, -we should remember that its smoothness, -on which so much of its beauty depends, is mainly -due to all the inequalities having been slowly leveled by -worms. It is a marvelous reflection that the whole of -the superficial mold over any such expanse has passed, -and will again pass, every few years through the bodies -of worms. The plow is one of the most ancient and most -valuable of man’s inventions; but long before he existed -the land was in fact regularly plowed, and still continues -to be thus plowed, by earth-worms. It may be doubted -whether there are many other animals which have played -so important a part in the history of the world as have -these lowly organized creatures. Some other animals, -however, still more lowly organized, namely corals, have -done far more conspicuous work in having constructed -innumerable reefs and islands in the great oceans; but -these are almost confined to the tropical zones.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_27">INTELLIGENCE OF WORMS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 91.</div> - -<p>We can hardly escape from the conclusion -that worms show some degree of intelligence -in their manner of plugging up their burrows. Each -particular object is seized in too uniform a manner, and -from causes which we can generally understand, for the -result to be attributed to mere chance. That every object -has not been drawn in by its pointed end, may be -accounted for by labor having been saved through some -being inserted by their broader or thicker ends. No -doubt worms are led by instinct to plug up their burrows; -and it might have been expected that they would have -been led by instinct how best to act in each particular -case, independently of intelligence. We see how difficult -it is to judge whether intelligence comes into play, for -even plants might sometimes be thought to be thus directed; -for instance, when displaced leaves redirect their -upper surfaces toward the light by extremely complicated -movements and by the shortest course. With animals, -actions appearing due to intelligence may be performed -through inherited habit without any intelligence, although -aboriginally thus acquired. Or the habit may have been -acquired through the preservation and inheritance of -beneficial variations of some other habit; and in this -case the new habit will have been acquired independently -of intelligence throughout the whole course of its development. -There is no <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">a priori</i> improbability in worms -having acquired special instincts through either of these -two latter means. Nevertheless, it is incredible that instincts -should have been developed in reference to objects, -such as the leaves or petioles of foreign plants, wholly unknown -to the progenitors of the worms which act in the -described manner. Nor are their actions so unvarying -or inevitable as are most true instincts.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span></p> - -<p>As worms are not guided by special instincts in each -particular case, though possessing a general instinct to -plug up their burrows, and, as chance is excluded, the -next most probable conclusion seems to be that they try -in many different ways to draw in objects, and at last succeed -in some one way. But it is surprising that an animal -so low in the scale as a worm should have the capacity -for acting in this manner, as many higher animals have -no such capacity.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 95.</div> - -<p>Mr. Romanes, who has specially studied the -minds of animals, believes that we can safely -infer intelligence only when we see an individual profiting -by its own experience. Now, if worms try to drag -objects into their burrows first in one way and then in -another, until they at last succeed, they profit at least in -each particular instance by experience.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 98.</div> - -<p>One alternative alone is left, namely, that -worms, although standing low in the scale of -organization, possess some degree of intelligence. This -will strike every one as very improbable; but it may be -doubted whether we know enough about the nervous system -of the lower animals to justify our natural distrust -of such a conclusion. With respect to the small size of -the cerebral ganglia, we should remember what a mass of -inherited knowledge, with some power of adapting means -to an end, is crowded into the minute brain of a worker-ant.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="III">III.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE LAWS OF VARIABILITY WITH RESPECT -TO ANIMALS AND PLANTS.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="sidenote">The Variation -of Animals -and -Plants under -Domestication,<br /> -vol. i, -page 3.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">I shall</span> in this volume treat, as fully as my -materials permit, the whole subject of variation -under domestication. We may thus hope -to obtain some light, little though it be, on the -causes of variability, on the laws which govern -it—such as the direct action of climate and food, the -effects of use and disuse, and of correlation of growth—and -on the amount of change to which domesticated organisms -are liable.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Although man does not cause variability and can not -even prevent it, he can select, preserve, and accumulate -the variations given to him by the hand of Nature almost -in any way which he chooses; and thus he can certainly -produce a great result. Selection may be followed either -methodically and intentionally, or unconsciously and unintentionally. -Man may select and preserve each successive -variation, with the distinct intention of improving and -altering a breed, in accordance with a preconceived idea; -and by thus adding up variations, often so slight as to -be imperceptible by an uneducated eye, he has effected -wonderful changes and improvements. It can, also, be -clearly shown that man, without any intention or thought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span> -of improving the breed, by preserving in each successive -generation the individuals which he prizes most, and -by destroying the worthless individuals, slowly, though -surely, induces great changes. As the will of man thus -comes into play, we can understand how it is that domesticated -breeds show adaptation to his wants and pleasures. -We can further understand how it is that domestic -races of animals and cultivated races of plants often exhibit -an abnormal character, as compared with natural -species; for they have been modified not for their own -benefit, but for that of man.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_28">INHERITED EFFECT OF CHANGED HABITS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br />page 5.</div> - -<p>When we compare the individuals of the -same variety or subvariety of our older cultivated -plants and animals, one of the first points -which strikes us is, that they generally differ more from -each other than do the individuals of any one species or -variety in a state of nature. And if we reflect on the -vast diversity of the plants and animals which have been -cultivated, and which have varied during all ages under -the most different climates and treatment, we are driven to -conclude that this great variability is due to our domestic -productions having been raised under conditions of life -not so uniform as, and somewhat different from, those to -which the parent species had been exposed under nature.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 8.</div> - -<p>Changed habits produce an inherited effect, -as in the period of the flowering of plants -when transported from one climate to another. With -animals the increased use or disuse of parts has had a -more marked influence; thus I find in the domestic duck -that the bones of the wing weigh less and the bones of -the leg more, in proportion to the whole skeleton, than<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span> -do the same bones in the wild-duck; and this change may -be safely attributed to the domestic duck flying much less, -and walking more, than its wild parents. The great and -inherited development of the udders in cows and goats in -countries where they are habitually milked, in comparison -with these organs in other countries, is probably another -instance of the effects of use. Not one of our domestic -animals can be named which has not in some country -drooping ears; and the view which has been suggested -that the drooping is due to the disease of the muscles of -the ear, from the animals being seldom much alarmed, -seems probable.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 9.</div> - -<p>From facts collected by Heusinger, it appears -that white sheep and pigs are injured -by certain plants, while dark-colored individuals escape, -Professor Wyman has recently communicated to me a -good illustration of this fact: on asking some farmers in -Virginia how it was that all their pigs were black, they -informed him that the pigs ate the paint-root (<i>Lachnanthes</i>), -which colored their bones pink, and which -caused the hoofs of all but the black varieties to drop -off; and one of the “crackers” (i. e., Virginia squatters) -added, “We select the black members of a litter for raising, -as they alone have a good chance of living.” Hairless -dogs have imperfect teeth; long-haired and coarse-haired -animals are apt to have, as is asserted, long or -many horns; pigeons with feathered feet have skin between -their outer toes; pigeons with short beaks have -small feet, and those with long beaks large feet. Hence, -if man goes on selecting, and thus augmenting, any peculiarity, -he will almost certainly modify unintentionally -other parts of the structure, owing to the mysterious laws -of correlation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_29">EFFECTS OF THE USE AND DISUSE OF PARTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 108.</div> - -<p>From the facts alluded to in the first chapter, -I think there can be no doubt that use in -our domestic animals has strengthened and -enlarged certain parts, and disuse diminished them, and -that such modifications are inherited. Under free nature -we have no standard of comparison by which to judge of -the effects of long-continued use or disuse, for we know -not the parent forms; but many animals possess structures -which can be best explained by the effects of disuse. As -Professor Owen has remarked, there is no greater anomaly -in nature than a bird that can not fly; yet there are several -in this state. The logger-headed duck of South -America can only flap along the surface of the water, and -has its wings in nearly the same condition as the domestic -Aylesbury duck: it is a remarkable fact that the young -birds, according to Mr. Cunningham, can fly, while the -adults have lost this power. As the larger ground-feeding -birds seldom take flight, except to escape danger, it is -probable that the nearly wingless condition of several -birds, now inhabiting or which lately inhabited several -oceanic islands, tenanted by no beast of prey, has been -caused by disuse. The ostrich, indeed, inhabits continents, -and is exposed to danger from which it can not -escape by flight, but it can defend itself by kicking its -enemies as efficiently as many quadrupeds. We may believe -that the progenitor of the ostrich genus had habits -like those of the bustard, and that, as the size and weight -of its body were increased during successive generations, -its legs were used more, and its wings less, until they became -incapable of flight.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 109.</div> - -<p>The insects in Madeira which are not -ground-feeders, and which, as certain flower-feeding -<i>Coleoptera</i> and <i>Lepidoptera</i>, must habitually use -their wings to gain their subsistence, have, as Mr. Wollaston -suspects, their wings not at all reduced, but even -enlarged. This is quite compatible with the action of -natural selection. For, when a new insect first arrived on -the island, the tendency of natural selection to enlarge or -to reduce the wings would depend on whether a greater -number of individuals were saved by successfully battling -with the winds, or by giving up the attempt and rarely -or never flying. As with mariners shipwrecked near a -coast, it would have been better for the good swimmers if -they had been able to swim still farther, whereas it would -have been better for the bad swimmers if they had not -been able to swim at all and had stuck to the wreck.</p> - -<p>The eyes of moles and of some burrowing rodents are -rudimentary in size, and in some cases are quite covered -by skin and fur. This state of the eyes is probably due -to gradual reduction from disuse, but aided, perhaps, by -natural selection. In South America a burrowing rodent—the -tuco-tuco, or ctenomys—is even more subterranean -in its habits than the mole; and I was assured by a Spaniard, -who had often caught them, that they were frequently -blind. One which I kept alive was certainly in -this condition, the cause, as appeared on dissection, having -been inflammation of the nictitating membrane. As -frequent inflammation of the eyes must be injurious to -any animal, and as eyes are certainly not necessary to animals -having subterranean habits, a reduction in their size, -with the adhesion of the eyelids and growth of fur over -them, might in such case be an advantage; and, if so, -natural selection would aid the effects of disuse.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_30">VAGUE ORIGIN OF OUR DOMESTIC ANIMALS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 13.</div> - -<p>In the case of most of our anciently domesticated -animals and plants, it is not possible -to come to any definite conclusion whether -they are descended from one or several wild species. The -argument mainly relied on by those who believe in the -multiple origin of our domestic animals is, that we find -in the most ancient times, on the monuments of Egypt, -and in the lake-habitations of Switzerland, much diversity -in the breeds; and that some of these ancient breeds -closely resemble or are even identical with, those still -existing. But this only throws far backward the history -of civilization, and shows that animals were domesticated -at a much earlier period than has hitherto been supposed. -The lake-inhabitants of Switzerland cultivated several -kinds of wheat and barley, the pea, the poppy for oil, and -flax; and they possessed several domesticated animals. -They also carried on commerce with other nations. All -this clearly shows, as Heer has remarked, that they had -at this early age progressed considerably in civilization; -and this again implies a long-continued previous period -of less advanced civilization, during which the domesticated -animals, kept by different tribes in different -districts, might have varied and given rise to distinct -races. Since the discovery of flint tools in the superficial -formations of many parts of the world, all geologists believe -that barbarian man existed at an enormously remote -period; and we know that at the present day there is -hardly a tribe so barbarous as not to have domesticated at -least the dog.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>The origin of most of our domestic animals will probably -forever remain vague.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 12.</div> - -<p>In attempting to estimate the amount of -structural difference between allied domestic -races, we are soon involved in doubt, from not knowing -whether they are descended from one or several parent -species. This point, if it could be cleared up, would be -interesting; if, for instance, it could be shown that the -greyhound, bloodhound, terrier, spaniel, and bull-dog, -which we all know propagate their kind truly, were the -offspring of any single species. Then such facts would -have great weight in making us doubt about the immutability -of the many closely allied natural species—for -instance, of the many foxes—inhabiting different quarters -of the world.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_31">DESCENT OF THE DOMESTIC PIGEON.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 17.</div> - -<p>Great as are the differences between the -breeds of the pigeon, I am fully convinced that -the common opinion of naturalists is correct, -namely, that all are descended from the rock-pigeon -(<i>Columba livia</i>), including under this term several geographical -races or sub-species, which differ from each -other in the most trifling respects. As several of the reasons -which have led me to this belief are in some degree -applicable in other cases, I will here briefly give them. -If the several breeds are not varieties, and have not proceeded -from the rock-pigeon, they must have descended -from at least seven or eight aboriginal stocks; for it is -impossible to make the present domestic breeds by the -crossing of any lesser number: how, for instance, could -a pouter be produced by crossing two breeds unless one -of the parent-stocks possessed the characteristic enormous -crop? The supposed aboriginal stocks must all have been -rock-pigeons—that is, they did not breed or willingly -perch on trees. But besides <i>C. livia</i>, with its geographical<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span> -sub-species, only two or three other species of rock-pigeons -are known, and these have not any of the characters of -the domestic breeds. Hence the supposed aboriginal -stocks must either still exist in the countries where they -were originally domesticated, and yet be unknown to ornithologists—and -this, considering their size, habits, and -remarkable characters, seems improbable—or they must -have become extinct in the wild state. But birds breeding -on precipices, and good fliers, are unlikely to be exterminated; -and the common rock-pigeon, which has the -same habits with the domestic breeds, has not been exterminated -even on several of the smaller British islets, or -on the shores of the Mediterranean. Hence the supposed -extermination of so many species having similar habits -with the rock-pigeon seems a very rash assumption. Moreover, -the several above-named domesticated breeds have -been transported to all parts of the world, and therefore -some of them must have been carried back again into -their native country; but not one has become wild or -feral, though the dovecot-pigeon, which is the rock-pigeon -in a very slightly altered state, has become feral in several -places. Again, all recent experience shows that it is difficult -to get wild animals to breed freely under domestication; -yet, on the hypothesis of the multiple origin of our -pigeons, it must be assumed that at least seven or eight -species were so thoroughly domesticated in ancient times -by half-civilized man as to be quite prolific under confinement.</p> - -<p>An argument of great weight, and applicable in several -other cases, is, that the above-specified breeds, though -agreeing generally with the wild rock-pigeon in constitution, -habits, voice, coloring, and in most parts of their -structure, yet are certainly highly abnormal in other parts; -we may look in vain through the whole great family of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span> -<i>Columbidæ</i> for a beak like that of the English carrier, or -that of the short-faced tumbler, or barb; for reversed -feathers like those of the Jacobin; for a crop like that of -the pouter; for tail-feathers like those of the fantail. -Hence it must be assumed not only that half-civilized -man succeeded in thoroughly domesticating several species, -but that he intentionally or by chance picked out -extraordinarily abnormal species; and, further, that these -very species have since all become extinct or unknown. -So many strange contingencies are improbable in the -highest degree.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_32">ORIGIN OF THE DOG.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants under -Domestication,<br /> -vol. i, page 15.</div> - -<p>The first and chief point of interest in this -chapter is, whether the numerous domesticated -varieties of the dog have descended from a single -wild species, or from several. Some authors -believe that all have descended from the wolf, or -from the jackal, or from an unknown and extinct species. -Others again believe, and this of late has been the favorite -tenet, that they have descended from several species, -extinct and recent, more or less commingled together. -We shall probably never be able to ascertain their origin -with certainty. Paleontology does not throw much light -on the question, owing, on the one hand, to the close -similarity of the skulls of extinct as well as living wolves -and jackals, and owing, on the other hand, to the great -dissimilarity of the skulls of the several breeds of the -domestic dogs. It seems, however, that remains have -been found in the later tertiary deposits more like those -of a large dog than of a wolf, which favors the belief of -De Blainville that our dogs are the descendants of a -single extinct species. On the other hand, some authors -go so far as to assert that every chief domestic breed must<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span> -have had its wild prototype. This latter view is extremely -improbable: it allows nothing for variation; it passes -over the almost monstrous character of some of the -breeds; and it almost necessarily assumes that a large -number of species have become extinct since man domesticated -the dog; whereas we plainly see that wild members -of the dog-family are extirpated by human agency -with much difficulty; even so recently as 1710 the wolf -existed in so small an island as Ireland.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 18.</div> - -<p>At a period between four and five thousand -years ago, various breeds—viz., pariah dogs, -greyhounds, common hounds, mastiffs, house-dogs, lap-dogs, -and turnspits—existed, more or less closely resembling -our present breeds. But there is not sufficient evidence -that any of these ancient dogs belonged to the same -identical sub-varieties with our present dogs. As long as -man was believed to have existed on this earth only about -six thousand years, this fact of the great diversity of the -breeds at so early a period was an argument of much -weight that they had proceeded from several wild sources, -for there would not have been sufficient time for their divergence -and modification. But now that we know, from -the discovery of flint tools imbedded with the remains of -extinct animals, in districts which have since undergone -great geographical changes, that man has existed for an -incomparably longer period, and bearing in mind that -the most barbarous nations possess domestic dogs, the -argument from insufficient time falls away greatly in -value.</p> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 26.</div> - -<p>From this resemblance of the half-domesticated -dogs in several countries to the wild -species still living there—from the facility with which -they can often be crossed together—from even half-tamed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span> -animals being so much valued by savages—and from the -other circumstances previously remarked on which favor -their domestication, it is highly probable that the domestic -dogs of the world are descended from two well-defined -species of wolf (viz., <i>C. lupus</i> and <i>C. latrans</i>), and from -two or three other doubtful species (namely, the European, -Indian, and North African wolves); from at least -one or two South American canine species; from several -races or species of jackal; and perhaps from one or more -extinct species.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_33">ORIGIN OF THE HORSE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants under -Domestication,<br /> -vol. i, page 51.</div> - -<p>The history of the horse is lost in antiquity. -Remains of this animal in a domesticated condition -have been found in the Swiss lake-dwellings, -belonging to the Neolithic period. At -the present time the number of breeds is great, as may -be seen by consulting any treatise on the horse. Looking -only to the native ponies of Great Britain, those of the -Shetland Isles, Wales, the New Forest, and Devonshire -are distinguishable; and so it is, among other instances, -with each separate island in the great Malay Archipelago. -Some of the breeds present great differences in size, shape -of ears, length of mane, proportions of the body, form of -the withers and hind-quarters, and especially in the head. -Compare the race-horse, dray-horse, and a Shetland pony -in size, configuration, and disposition; and see how much -greater the difference is than between the seven or eight -other living species of the genus <i>Equus</i>.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 52.</div> - -<p>Horses have often been observed, according -to M. Gaudry, to possess a trapezium and -a rudiment of a fifth metacarpal bone, so that “one sees<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span> -appearing by monstrosity, in the foot of the horse, structures -which normally exist in the foot of the hipparion”—an -allied and extinct animal. In various countries horn-like -projections have been observed on the frontal bones -of the horse: in one case described by Mr. Percival they -arose about two inches above the orbital processes, and -were “very like those in a calf from five to six months -old,” being from half to three quarters of an inch in -length.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_34">CAUSES OF MODIFICATIONS IN THE HORSE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 54.</div> - -<p>With respect to the causes of the modifications -which horses have undergone, the conditions -of life seem to produce a considerable direct effect. -Mr. D. Forbes, who has had excellent opportunities of -comparing the horses of Spain with those of South -America, informs me that the horses of Chili, which -have lived under nearly the same conditions as their -progenitors in Andalusia, remain unaltered, while the -Pampas horses and the Puno ponies are considerably -modified. There can be no doubt that horses become -greatly reduced in size and altered in appearance by living -on mountains and islands; and this apparently is -due to want of nutritious or varied food. Every one -knows how small and rugged the ponies are on the -northern islands and on the mountains of Europe. Corsica -and Sardinia have their native ponies; and there -were, or still are, on some islands on the coast of Virginia, -ponies like those of the Shetland Islands, which -are believed to have originated through exposure to unfavorable -conditions. The Puno ponies, which inhabit -the lofty regions of the Cordillera, are, as I hear from -Mr. D. Forbes, strange little creatures, very unlike their -Spanish progenitors. Farther south, in the Falkland<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span> -Islands, the offspring of the horses imported in 1764 -have already so much deteriorated in size and strength, -that they are unfitted for catching wild cattle with the -lasso; so that fresh horses have to be brought for this -purpose from La Plata at a great expense. The reduced -size of the horses bred on both southern and northern -islands, and on several mountain-chains, can hardly have -been caused by the cold, as a similar reduction has occurred -on the Virginian and Mediterranean islands.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 56.</div> - -<p>It is scarcely possible to doubt that the -long-continued selection of qualities serviceable -to man has been the chief agent in the formation of -the several breeds of the horse. Look at a dray-horse, -and see how well adapted he is to draw heavy weights, -and how unlike in appearance to any allied wild animal. -The English race-horse is known to be derived from the -commingled blood of Arabs, Turks, and Barbs; but selection, -which was carried on during very early times in -England, together with training, have made him a very -different animal from his parent stocks.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_35">“MAKING THE WORKS OF GOD A MERE MOCKERY.”</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 130.</div> - -<p>We see several distinct species of the horse-genus -becoming, by simple variation, striped -on the legs like a zebra, or striped on the -shoulders like an ass. In the horse we see this tendency -strong whenever a dun tint appears—a tint that approaches -to that of the general coloring of the other species -of the genus. The appearance of the stripes is not -accompanied by any change of form or by any other new -character. We see this tendency to become striped most -strongly displayed in hybrids from between several of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span> -most distinct species. Now observe the case of the several -breeds of pigeons: they are descended from a pigeon -(including two or three sub-species or geographical races) -of a bluish color, with certain bars and other marks; and, -when any breed assumes by simple variation a bluish tint, -these bars and other marks invariably reappear; but without -any other change of form or character. When the -oldest and truest breeds of various colors are crossed, we -see a strong tendency for the blue tint and bars and marks -to reappear in the mongrels. I have stated that the most -probable hypothesis to account for the reappearance of -very ancient characters is—that there is a <i>tendency</i> in -the young of each successive generation to produce the -long-lost character, and that this tendency, from unknown -causes, sometimes prevails. And we have just seen that -in several species of the horse-genus the stripes are either -plainer or appear more commonly in the young than in -the old. Call the breeds of pigeons, some of which have -bred true for centuries, species; and how exactly parallel -is the case with that of the species of the horse-genus! -For myself, I venture confidently to look back thousands -on thousands of generations, and I see an animal striped -like a zebra, but perhaps otherwise very differently constructed, -the common parent of our domestic horse -(whether or not it be descended from one or more wild -stocks), of the ass, the hemionus, quagga, and zebra.</p> - -<p>He who believes that each equine species was independently -created, will, I presume, assert that each species -has been created with a tendency to vary, both under -nature and under domestication, in this particular manner, -so as often to become striped like the other species of -the genus; and that each has been created with a strong -tendency, when crossed with species inhabiting distant -quarters of the world, to produce hybrids resembling in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span> -their stripes, not their own parents, but other species of -the genus. To admit this view is, as it seems to me, to -reject a real for an unreal, or at least for an unknown, -cause. It makes the works of God a mere mockery and -deception; I would almost as soon believe with the old -and ignorant cosmogonists, that fossil shells had never -lived, but had been created in stone so as to mock the -shells living on the sea-shore.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_36">VARIABILITY OF CULTIVATED PLANTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants,<br /> -vol. i, page 322.</div> - -<p>I shall not enter into so much detail on -the variability of cultivated plants as in the -case of domesticated animals. The subject is -involved in much difficulty. Botanists have generally -neglected cultivated varieties, as beneath their notice. In -several cases the wild prototype is unknown or doubtfully -known; and in other cases it is hardly possible to distinguish -between escaped seedlings and truly wild plants, so -that there is no safe standard of comparison by which to -judge of any supposed amount of change. Not a few -botanists believe that several of our anciently cultivated -plants have become so profoundly modified that it is not -possible now to recognize their aboriginal parent-forms. -Equally perplexing are the doubts whether some of them -are descended from one species, or from several inextricably -commingled by crossing and variation. Variations -often pass into, and can not be distinguished from, monstrosities; -and monstrosities are of little significance for -our purpose. Many varieties are propagated solely by -grafts, buds, layers, bulbs, etc., and frequently it is not -known how far their peculiarities can be transmitted by -seminal generation.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 325.</div> - -<p>From innumerable experiments made -through dire necessity by the savages of every -land, with the results handed down by tradition, the nutritious, -stimulating, and medicinal properties of the -most unpromising plants were probably first discovered. -It appears, for instance, at first an inexplicable fact that -untutored man, in three distant quarters of the world, -should have discovered, among a host of native plants, -that the leaves of the tea-plant and mattee, and the berries -of the coffee, all included a stimulating and nutritious -essence, now known to be chemically the same. We can -also see that savages suffering from severe constipation -would naturally observe whether any of the roots which -they devoured acted as aperients. We probably owe our -knowledge of the uses of almost all plants to man having -originally existed in a barbarous state, and having been -often compelled by severe want to try as food almost -everything which he could chew and swallow.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_37">SAVAGE WISDOM IN THE CULTIVATION OF PLANTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 326.</div> - -<p>The savage inhabitants of each land, having -found out by many and hard trials what -plants were useful, or could be rendered useful by various -cooking processes, would after a time take the first step -in cultivation by planting them near their usual abodes. -Livingstone states that the savage Batokas sometimes left -wild fruit-trees standing in their gardens, and occasionally -even planted them, “a practice seen nowhere else -among the natives.” But Du Chaillu saw a palm and -some other wild fruit-trees which had been planted; and -these trees were considered private property. The next -step in cultivation, and this would require but little forethought, -would be to sow the seeds of useful plants; and,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span> -as the soil near the hovels of the natives would often be -in some degree manured, improved varieties would sooner -or later arise. Or a wild and unusually good variety of a -native plant might attract the attention of some wise old -savage; and he would transplant it, or sow its seed. -That superior varieties of wild fruit-trees occasionally are -found is certain, as in the case of the American species of -hawthorns, plums, cherries, grapes, and hickories, specified -by Professor Asa Gray.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 336.</div> - -<p>We now know that man was sufficiently -civilized to cultivate the ground at an immensely -remote period; so that wheat might have been -improved long ago up to that standard of excellence -which was possible under the then existing state of agriculture. -One small class of facts supports this view of -the slow and gradual improvement of our cereals. In the -most ancient lake-habitations of Switzerland, when men -employed only flint-tools, the most extensively cultivated -wheat was a peculiar kind, with remarkably small ears -and grains. “While the grains of the modern forms are -in section from seven to eight millimetres in length, the -larger grains from the lake-habitations are six, seldom -seven, and the smaller ones only four. The ear is thus -much narrower, and the spikelets stand out more horizontally, -than in our present forms.” So again with barley, -the most ancient and most extensively cultivated -kind had small ears, and the grains were “smaller, -shorter, and nearer to each other, than in that now -grown; without the husk they were two and one half -lines long, and scarcely one and one half broad, while -those now grown have a length of three lines, and almost -the same in breadth.” These small-grained varieties of -wheat and barley are believed by Heer to be the parent-forms<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span> -of certain existing allied varieties, which have supplanted -their early progenitors.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_38">UNKNOWN LAWS OF INHERITANCE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 10.</div> - -<p>The laws governing inheritance are for the -most part unknown. No one can say why the -same peculiarity in different individuals of the -same species, or in different species, is sometimes inherited -and sometimes not so; why the child often reverts in certain -characters to its grandfather or grandmother or more -remote ancestor; why a peculiarity is often transmitted -from one sex to both sexes, or to one sex alone, more commonly -but not exclusively to the like sex. It is a fact of -some importance to us that peculiarities appearing in the -males of our domestic breeds are often transmitted either -exclusively, or in a much greater degree, to the males -alone. A much more important rule, which I think may -be trusted, is that, at whatever period of life a peculiarity -first appears, it tends to reappear in the offspring at a -corresponding age, though sometimes earlier. In many -cases this could not be otherwise: thus the inherited peculiarities -in the horns of cattle could appear only in the -offspring when nearly mature; peculiarities in the silk-worm -are known to appear at the corresponding caterpillar -or cocoon stage. But hereditary diseases and some -other facts make me believe that the rule has a wider extension, -and that, when there is no apparent reason why -a peculiarity should appear at any particular age, yet that -it does tend to appear in the offspring at the same period -at which it first appeared in the parent. I believe this -rule to be of the highest importance in explaining the -laws of embryology. These remarks are, of course, confined -to the first <em>appearance</em> of the peculiarity, and not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span> -to the primary cause which may have acted on the ovules -or on the male element; in nearly the same manner as -the increased length of the horns in the offspring from a -short-horned cow by a long-horned bull, though appearing -late in life, is clearly due to the male element.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Variation of -Animals and -Plants,<br /> -vol. i, page 445.</div> - -<p>If animals and plants had never been domesticated, -and wild ones alone had been observed, -we should probably never have heard -the saying that “like begets like.” The proposition would -have been as self-evident as that all the buds on the same -tree are alike, though neither proposition is strictly true. -For, as has often been remarked, probably no two individuals -are identically the same. All wild animals recognize -each other, which shows that there is some difference -between them; and, when the eye is well practiced, the -shepherd knows each sheep, and man can distinguish a -fellow-man out of millions on millions of other men.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 446.</div> - -<p>The subject of inheritance is wonderful. -When a new character arises, whatever -its nature may be, it generally tends to be inherited, -at least in a temporary and sometimes in a most persistent -manner. What can be more wonderful than that some -trifling peculiarity, not primordially attached to the species, -should be transmitted through the male or female -sexual cells, which are so minute as not to be visible -to the naked eye, and afterward through the incessant -changes of a long course of development, undergone either -in the womb or in the egg, and ultimately appear in the -offspring when mature, or even when quite old, as in the -case of certain diseases? Or, again, what can be more -wonderful than the well-ascertained fact that the minute -ovule of a good milking-cow will produce a male, from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span> -whom a cell, in union with an ovule, will produce a -female, and she, when mature, will have large mammary -glands, yielding an abundant supply of milk, and even -milk of a particular quality? Nevertheless, the real subject -of surprise is, as Sir H. Holland has well remarked, -not that a character should be inherited, but that any -should ever fail to be inherited.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_39">LAWS OF INHERITANCE THAT ARE FAIRLY WELL ESTABLISHED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants,<br />vol. ii, page 61.</div> - -<p>Though much remains obscure with respect -to inheritance, we may look at the following -laws as fairly well established: Firstly, a tendency -in every character, new and old, to be transmitted -by seminal and bud generation, though often counteracted -by various known and unknown causes. Secondly, reversion -or atavism, which depends on transmission and -development being distinct powers: it acts in various -degrees and manners through both seminal and bud generation. -Thirdly, prepotency of transmission, which may be -confined to one sex, or be common to both sexes. Fourthly, -transmission, as limited by sex, generally to the same -sex in which the inherited character first appeared; and -this in many, probably most cases, depends on the new -character having first appeared at a rather late period of -life. Fifthly, inheritance at corresponding periods of -life, with some tendency to the earlier development of the -inherited character. In these laws of inheritance, as displayed -under domestication, we see an ample provision for -the production, through variability and natural selection, -of new specific forms.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_40">INHERITED PECULIARITIES IN MAN.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants,<br />vol. i, page 450.</div> - -<p>Gait, gestures, voice, and general bearing, -are all inherited, as the illustrious Hunter and -Sir A. Carlisle have insisted. My father communicated -to me some striking instances, in one of which -a man died during the early infancy of his son, and my -father, who did not see this son until grown up and out -of health, declared that it seemed to him as if his old -friend had risen from the grave, with all his highly peculiar -habits and manners. Peculiar manners pass into -tricks, and several instances could be given of their inheritance; -as in the case, often quoted, of the father who -generally slept on his back, with his right leg crossed over -the left, and whose daughter, while an infant in the -cradle, followed exactly the same habit, though an attempt -was made to cure her. I will give one instance -which has fallen under my own observation, and which is -curious from being a trick associated with a peculiar state -of mind, namely, pleasurable emotion. A boy had the -singular habit, when pleased, of rapidly moving his fingers -parallel to each other, and, when much excited, of -raising both hands, with the fingers still moving, to the -sides of his face on a level with the eyes: when this boy -was almost an old man, he could still hardly resist this -trick when much pleased, but from its absurdity concealed -it. He had eight children. Of these, a girl, when -pleased, at the age of four and a half years, moved her -fingers in exactly the same way, and, what is still odder, -when much excited, she raised both her hands, with her -fingers still moving, to the sides of her face, in exactly -the same manner as her father had done, and sometimes -even still continued to do so when alone. I never heard -of any one, excepting this one man and his little daughter,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span> -who had this strange habit; and certainly imitation -was in this instance out of the question.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_41">INHERITED DISEASES.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants,<br />vol. ii, page 54.</div> - -<p>Large classes of diseases usually appear at -certain ages, such as St. Vitus’s dance in youth, -consumption in early mid-life, gout later, and -apoplexy still later; and these are naturally inherited at -the same period. But, even in diseases of this class, instances -have been recorded, as with St. Vitus’s dance, -showing that an unusually early or late tendency to the disease -is inheritable. In most cases the appearance of any -inherited disease is largely determined by certain critical -periods in each person’s life, as well as by unfavorable -conditions. There are many other diseases, which are -not attached to any particular period, but which certainly -tend to appear in the child at about the same age at which -the parent was first attacked. An array of high authorities, -ancient and modern, could be given in support of -this proposition. The illustrious Hunter believed in it; -and Piorry cautions the physician to look closely to the -child at the period when any grave inheritable disease -attacked the parent. Dr. Prosper Lucas, after collecting -facts from every source, asserts that affections of all kinds, -though not related to any particular period of life, tend -to reappear in the offspring at whatever period of life they -first appeared in the progenitor.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 55.</div> - -<p>Esquirol gives several striking instances of -insanity coming on at the same age as that of -a grandfather, father, and son, who all committed suicide -near their fiftieth year. Many other cases could be given, -as of a whole family who became insane at the age of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span> -forty. Other cerebral affections sometimes follow the -same rule—for instance, epilepsy and apoplexy. A woman -died of the latter disease when sixty-three years old; one -of her daughters at forty-three, and the other at sixty-seven: -the latter had twelve children, who all died from -tubercular meningitis. I mention this latter case because -it illustrates a frequent occurrence, namely, a change in -the precise nature of an inherited disease, though still -affecting the same organ.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Two brothers, their father, their paternal uncles, seven -cousins, and their paternal grandfather, were all similarly -affected by a skin-disease, called pityriasis versicolor; -“the disease, strictly limited to the males of the family -(though transmitted through the females), usually appeared -at puberty, and disappeared at about the age of -forty or forty-five years.” The second case is that of four -brothers, who, when about twelve years old, suffered -almost every week from severe headaches, which were -relieved only by a recumbent position in a dark room. -Their father, paternal uncles, paternal grandfather, and -grand-uncles all suffered in the same way from headaches, -which ceased at the age of fifty-four or fifty-five in all -those who lived so long. None of the females of the -family were affected.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_42">CAUSES OF NON-INHERITANCE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants,<br />vol. i, page 470.</div> - -<p>A large number of cases of non-inheritance -are intelligible on the principle that a strong -tendency to inheritance does exist, but that it -is overborne by hostile or unfavorable conditions of life. -No one would expect that our improved pigs, if forced -during several generations to travel about and root in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span> -ground for their own subsistence, would transmit, as truly -as they now do, their short muzzles and legs, and their -tendency to fatten. Dray-horses assuredly would not -long transmit their great size and massive limbs, if compelled -to live in a cold, damp, mountainous region; we -have, indeed, evidence of such deterioration in the horses -which have run wild on the Falkland Islands. European -dogs in India often fail to transmit their true character. -Our sheep in tropical countries lose their wool in a few -generations. There seems also to be a close relation between -certain peculiar pastures and the inheritance of an -enlarged tail in fat-tailed sheep, which form one of the -most ancient breeds in the world. With plants, we have -seen that tropical varieties of maize lose their proper -character in the course of two or three generations, when -cultivated in Europe; and conversely so it is with European -varieties cultivated in Brazil. Our cabbages, which -here come so true by seed, can not form heads in hot -countries. According to Carrière, the purple-leafed beech -and barberry transmit their character by seed far less -truly in certain districts than in others. Under changed -circumstances, periodical habits of life soon fail to be -transmitted, as the period of maturity in summer and -winter wheat, barley, and vetches. So it is with animals: -for instance, a person, whose statement I can trust, procured -eggs of Aylesbury ducks from that town, where -they are kept in houses, and are reared as early as possible -for the London market; the ducks bred from these eggs -in a distant part of England, hatched their first brood on -January 24th, while common ducks, kept in the same yard -and treated in the same manner, did not hatch till the -end of March; and this shows that the period of hatching -was inherited. But the grandchildren of these Aylesbury -ducks completely lost their habit of early incubation,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span> -and hatched their eggs at the same time with the -common ducks of the same place.</p> - -<p>Many cases of non-inheritance apparently result from -the conditions of life continually inducing fresh variability. -We have seen that when the seeds of pears, plums, -apples, etc., are sown, the seedlings generally inherit some -degree of family likeness. Mingled with these seedlings, -a few, and sometimes many, worthless, wild-looking plants -commonly appear, and their appearance may be attributed -to the principle of reversion. But scarcely a single seedling -will be found perfectly to resemble the parent-form; -and this may be accounted for by constantly recurring -variability induced by the conditions of life.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_43">STEPS BY WHICH DOMESTIC RACES HAVE BEEN PRODUCED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 22.</div> - -<p>Some effect may be attributed to the direct -and definite action of the external conditions -of life, and some to habit; but he would be a -bold man who would account by such agencies for the -differences between a dray and race horse, a greyhound -and blood-hound, a carrier and tumbler pigeon. One of -the most remarkable features in our domesticated races is -that we see in them adaptation, not, indeed, to the animal’s -or plant’s own good, but to man’s use or fancy. -Some variations useful to him have probably arisen suddenly, -or by one step; many botanists, for instance, believe -that the fuller’s teasel, with its hooks, which can not -be rivaled by any mechanical contrivance, is only a variety -of the wild <i>Dipsacus</i>; and this amount of change may -have suddenly arisen in a seedling. So it has probably -been with the turnspit-dog; and this is known to have -been the case with the ancon sheep. But when we compare -the dray-horse and race-horse, the dromedary and camel,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span> -the various breeds of sheep fitted either for cultivated -land or mountain-pasture, with the wool of one breed -good for one purpose, and that of another breed for another -purpose; when we compare the many breeds of -dogs, each good for man in different ways; when we compare -the game-cock, so pertinacious in battle, with other -breeds so little quarrelsome, with “everlasting layers” -which never desire to sit, and with the bantam, so small -and elegant; when we compare the host of agricultural, -culinary, orchard, and flower-garden races of plants, most -useful to man at different seasons and for different purposes, -or so beautiful in his eyes—we must, I think, look -further than to mere variability. We can not suppose -that all the breeds were suddenly produced as perfect and -as useful as we now see them; indeed, in many cases, -we know that this has not been their history. The key -is man’s power of accumulative selection: Nature gives -successive variations; man adds them up in certain directions -useful to him. In this sense he may be said to have -made for himself useful breeds.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 23.</div> - -<p>If selection consisted merely in separating -some very distinct variety, and breeding from -it, the principle would be so obvious as hardly to be worth -notice; but its importance consists in the great effect -produced by the accumulation in one direction, during -successive generations, of differences absolutely inappreciable -by an uneducated eye—differences which I for one -have vainly attempted to appreciate. Not one man in a -thousand has accuracy of eye and judgment sufficient to -become an eminent breeder. If gifted with these qualities, -and he studies his subject for years, and devotes his -lifetime to it with indomitable perseverance, he will succeed, -and may make great improvements; if he wants<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span> -any of these qualities, he will assuredly fail. Few would -readily believe in the natural capacity and years of practice -requisite to become even a skillful pigeon-fancier.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_44">UNCONSCIOUS SELECTION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 25.</div> - -<p>A man who intends keeping pointers naturally -tries to get as good dogs as he can, and -afterward breeds from his own best dogs, but -he has no wish or expectation of permanently altering the -breed. Nevertheless, we may infer that this process, continued -during centuries, would improve and modify any -breed, in the same way as Bakewell, Collins, etc., by this -very same process, only carried on more methodically, did -greatly modify, even during their lifetimes, the forms -and qualities of their cattle. Slow and insensible changes -of this kind can never be recognized unless actual measurements -or careful drawings of the breeds in question -have been made long ago, which may serve for comparison. -In some cases, however, unchanged or but little -changed individuals of the same breed exist in less civilized -districts, where the breed has been less improved. -There is reason to believe that King Charles’s spaniel has -been unconsciously modified to a large extent since the -time of that monarch. Some highly competent authorities -are convinced that the setter is directly derived from -the spaniel, and has probably been slowly altered from it. -It is known that the English pointer has been greatly -changed within the last century, and in this case the -change has, it is believed, been chiefly effected by crosses -with the fox-hound; but what concerns us is, that the -change has been effected unconsciously and gradually, -and yet so effectually, that, though the old Spanish -pointer certainly came from Spain, Mr. Borrow has not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span> -seen, as I am informed by him, any native dog in Spain -like our pointer.</p> - -<p>By a similar process of selection, and by careful training, -English race-horses have come to surpass in fleetness -and size the parent Arabs, so that the latter, by the regulations -for the Goodwood races, are favored in the weights -which they carry. Lord Spencer and others have shown -how the cattle of England have increased in weight and -in early maturity, compared with the stock formerly kept -in this country.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 26.</div> - -<p>If there exist savages so barbarous as never -to think of the inherited character of the offspring -of their domestic animals, yet any one animal particularly -useful to them, for any special purpose, would -be carefully preserved during famines and other accidents, -to which savages are so liable, and such choice -animals would thus generally leave more offspring than -the inferior ones; so that in this case there would be a -kind of unconscious selection going on. We see the -value set on animals even by the barbarians of Tierra del -Fuego, by their killing and devouring their old women, -in times of dearth, as of less value than their dogs.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_45">ADAPTATION OF ANIMALS TO THE FANCIES OF MAN.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 28.</div> - -<p>On the view here given of the important -part which selection by man has played, it becomes -at once obvious how it is that our domestic races -show adaptation in their structure or in their habits to -man’s wants or fancies. We can, I think, further understand -the frequently abnormal character of our domestic -races, and likewise their differences being so great in external -characters, and relatively so slight in internal parts<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span> -or organs. Man can hardly select, or only with much -difficulty, any deviation of structure excepting such as -is externally visible; and, indeed, he rarely cares for -what is internal. He can never act by selection, excepting -on variations which are first given to him in some -slight degree by nature. No man would ever try to make -a fantail till he saw a pigeon with a tail developed in -some slight degree in an unusual manner, or a pouter till -he saw a pigeon with a crop of somewhat unusual size; -and the more abnormal or unusual any character was -when it first appeared, the more likely it would be to -catch his attention. But to use such an expression as -trying to make a fantail is, I have no doubt, in most -cases, utterly incorrect. The man who first selected a -pigeon with a slightly larger tail, never dreamed what -the descendants of that pigeon would become through -long-continued, partly unconscious and partly methodical, -selection. Perhaps the parent-bird of all fantails -had only fourteen tail-feathers somewhat expanded, like -the present Java fantail, or like individuals of other and -distinct breeds, in which as many as seventeen tail-feathers -have been counted. Perhaps the first pouter-pigeon -did not inflate its crop much more than the turbit now -does the upper part of its œsophagus—a habit which is -disregarded by all fanciers, as it is not one of the points -of the breed.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_46">DOUBTFUL SPECIES.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 36.</div> - -<p>The forms which possess in some considerable -degree the character of species, but which -are so closely similar to other forms, or are so -closely linked to them by intermediate gradations, that -naturalists do not like to rank them as distinct species, -are in several respects the most important for us. We<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span> -have every reason to believe that many of these doubtful -and closely allied forms have permanently retained their -characters for a long time; for as long, as far as we know, -as have good and true species. Practically, when a naturalist -can unite by means of intermediate links any two -forms, he treats the one as a variety of the other; ranking -the most common, but sometimes the one first described, -as the species, and the other as the variety. But -cases of great difficulty, which I will not here enumerate, -sometimes arise in deciding whether or not to rank one -form as a variety of another, even when they are closely -connected by intermediate links; nor will the commonly-assumed -hybrid nature of the intermediate forms always -remove the difficulty. In very many cases, however, one -form is ranked as a variety of another, not because the -intermediate links have actually been found, but because -analogy leads the observer to suppose either that they do -now somewhere exist, or may formerly have existed; and -here a wide door for the entry of doubt and conjecture is -opened.</p> - -<p>Hence, in determining whether a form should be -ranked as a species or a variety, the opinion of naturalists -having sound judgment and wide experience seems the -only guide to follow. We must, however, in many cases, -decide by a majority of naturalists, for few well-marked -and well-known varieties can be named which have not -been ranked as species by at least some competent -judges.</p> - -<p>That varieties of this doubtful nature are far from -uncommon can not be disputed. Compare the several -floras of Great Britain, of France, or of the United States, -drawn up by different botanists, and see what a surprising -number of forms have been ranked by one botanist as -good species, and by another as mere varieties. Mr. H.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span> -C. Watson, to whom I lie under deep obligation for assistance -of all kinds, has marked for me one hundred and -eighty-two British plants, which are generally considered -as varieties, but which have all been ranked by botanists -as species; and in making this list he has omitted many -trifling varieties, but which nevertheless have been ranked -by some botanists as species, and he has entirely omitted -several highly polymorphic genera. Under genera, including -the most polymorphic forms, Mr. Babington gives -two hundred and fifty-one species, whereas Mr. Bentham -gives only one hundred and twelve—a difference of one -hundred and thirty-nine doubtful forms!</p> - -<h3 id="sec_47">SPECIES AN ARBITRARY TERM.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 41.</div> - -<p>Certainly no clear line of demarkation has -as yet been drawn between species and sub-species—that -is, the forms which in the opinion of some -naturalists come very near to, but do not quite arrive at, -the rank of species; or, again, between sub-species and -well-marked varieties, or between lesser varieties and individual -differences. These differences blend into each -other by an insensible series; and a series impresses the -mind with the idea of an actual passage.</p> - -<p>Hence I look at individual differences, though of -small interest to the systematist, as of the highest importance -for us, as being the first steps toward such slight -varieties as are barely thought worth recording in works -on natural history. And I look at varieties which are in -any degree more distinct and permanent as steps toward -more strongly-marked and permanent varieties; and at -the latter, as leading to sub-species, and then to species. -The passage from one stage of difference to another may, -in many cases, be the simple result of the nature of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span> -organism, and of the different physical conditions to -which it has long been exposed; but with respect to the -more important and adaptive characters, the passage from -one stage of difference to another may be safely attributed -to the cumulative action of natural selection, hereafter -to be explained, and to the effects of the increased -use or disuse of parts. A well-marked variety may therefore -be called an incipient species; but whether this belief -is justifiable must be judged by the weight of the -various facts and considerations to be given throughout -this work.</p> - -<p>It need not be supposed that all varieties or incipient -species attain the rank of species. They may become extinct, -or they may endure as varieties for very long periods, -as has been shown to be the case by Mr. Wollaston -with the varieties of certain fossil land-shells in Madeira, -and with plants by Gaston de Saporta. If a variety were -to flourish so as to exceed in numbers the parent species, -it would then rank as the species, and the species as the -variety; or it might come to supplant and exterminate -the parent species; or both might coexist, and both rank -as independent species. But we shall hereafter return to -this subject.</p> - -<p>From these remarks it will be seen that I look at the -term species as one arbitrarily given, for the sake of convenience, -to a set of individuals closely resembling each -other, and that it does not essentially differ from the -term variety, which is given to less distinct and more -fluctuating forms. The term variety, again, in comparison -with mere individual differences, is also applied arbitrarily, -for convenience’ sake.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_48">THE TRUE PLAN OF CREATION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 425.</div> - -<p>When the views advanced by me in this -volume, and by Mr. Wallace, or when analogous -views on the origin of species are generally -admitted, we can dimly foresee that there will be a considerable -revolution in natural history. Systematists will be -able to pursue their labors as at present; but they will not -be incessantly haunted by the shadowy doubt whether -this or that form be a true species.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 426.</div> - -<p>Hereafter we shall be compelled to acknowledge -that the only distinction between species -and well-marked varieties is, that the latter are known, or -believed, to be connected at the present day by intermediate -gradations, whereas species were formerly thus connected. -Hence, without rejecting the consideration of the -present existence of intermediate gradations between any -two forms, we shall be led to weigh more carefully and to -value higher the actual amount of difference between them. -It is quite possible that forms now generally acknowledged -to be merely varieties may hereafter be thought worthy of -specific names; and in this case scientific and common -language will come into accordance. In short, we shall -have to treat species in the same manner as those naturalists -treat genera who admit that genera are merely artificial -combinations made for convenience. This may not -be a cheering prospect; but we shall at least be freed -from the vain search for the undiscovered and undiscoverable -essence of the term species.</p> - -<p>The other and more general departments of natural -history will rise greatly in interest. The terms used by -naturalists, of affinity, relationship, community of type, -paternity, morphology, adaptive characters, rudimentary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span> -and aborted organs, etc., will cease to be metaphorical, -and will have a plain signification. When we no longer -look at an organic being as a savage looks at a ship, as -something wholly beyond his comprehension; when we -regard every production of nature as one which has had -a long history; when we contemplate every complex -structure and instinct as the summing up of many contrivances, -each useful to the possessor, in the same way -as any great mechanical invention is the summing up of -the labor, the experience, the reason, and even the blunders -of numerous workmen; when we thus view each -organic being, how far more interesting—I speak from -experience—does the study of natural history become!</p> - -<p>A grand and almost untrodden field of inquiry will be -opened, on the causes and laws of variation, on correlation, -on the effects of use and disuse, on the direct action -of external conditions, and so forth. The study of -domestic productions will rise immensely in value. A -new variety raised by man will be a more important and -interesting subject for study than one more species added -to the infinitude of already recorded species. Our classifications -will come to be, as far as they can be so made, -genealogies, and will then truly give what may be called -the plan of creation.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="IV">IV.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 50.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">A struggle</span> for existence inevitably follows -from the high rate at which all organic -beings tend to increase. Every being, which -during its natural lifetime produces several eggs or seeds, -must suffer destruction during some period of its life, -and during some season or occasional year, otherwise, on -the principle of geometrical increase, its numbers would -quickly become so inordinately great that no country -could support the product. Hence, as more individuals -are produced than can possibly survive, there must in -every case be a struggle for existence, either one individual -with another of the same species, or with the individuals -of distinct species, or with the physical conditions -of life. It is the doctrine of Malthus applied with -manifold force to the whole animal and vegetable kingdoms; -for in this case there can be no artificial increase -of food, and no prudential restraint from marriage. Although -some species may be now increasing, more or less -rapidly, in numbers, all can not do so, for the world -would not hold them.</p> - -<p>There is no exception to the rule that every organic -being naturally increases at so high a rate, that, if not -destroyed, the earth would soon be covered with the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span> -progeny of a single pair. Even slow-breeding man has -doubled in twenty-five years, and at this rate, in less than -a thousand years, there would literally not be standing-room -for his progeny. Linnæus has calculated that if an -annual plant produced only two seeds—and there is no -plant so unproductive as this—and their seedlings next -year produced two, and so on, then in twenty years there -would be a million plants. The elephant is reckoned the -slowest breeder of all known animals, and I have taken -some pains to estimate its probable minimum rate of -natural increase; it will be safest to assume that it begins -breeding when thirty years old, and goes on breeding till -ninety years old, bringing forth six young in the interval, -and surviving till one hundred years old; if this be so, -after a period of from seven hundred and forty to seven -hundred and fifty years, there would be nearly nineteen -million elephants alive, descended from the first pair.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_49">DEATH INEVITABLE IN THE FIGHT FOR LIFE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 52.</div> - -<p>In a state of nature almost every full-grown -plant annually produces seed, and among -animals there are very few which do not annually pair. -Hence we may confidently assert that all plants and animals -are tending to increase at a geometrical ratio, that -all would rapidly stock every station in which they could -anyhow exist, and that this geometrical tendency to increase -must be checked by destruction at some period of -life. Our familiarity with the larger domestic animals -tends, I think, to mislead us: we see no great destruction -falling on them, but we do not keep in mind that thousands -are annually slaughtered for food, and that in a -state of nature an equal number would have somehow to -be disposed of.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span></p> - -<p>The only difference between organisms which annually -produce eggs or seeds by the thousand and those which -produce extremely few is, that the slow breeders would -require a few more years to people, under favorable conditions, -a whole district, let it be ever so large. The condor -lays a couple of eggs and the ostrich a score, and yet -in the same country the condor may be the more numerous -of the two; the Fulmar petrel lays but one egg, yet -it is believed to be the most numerous bird in the world. -One fly deposits hundreds of eggs, and another, like the -<i>Hippobosca</i>, a single one; but this difference does not -determine how many individuals of the two species can -be supported in a district. A large number of eggs is of -some importance to those species which depend on a fluctuating -amount of food, for it allows them rapidly to increase -in number. But the real importance of a large -number of eggs or seeds is to make up for much destruction -at some period of life; and this period in the great -majority of cases is an early one. If an animal can in -any way protect its own eggs or young, a small number -may be produced, and yet the average stock be fully kept -up; but, if many eggs or young are destroyed, many must -be produced, or the species will become extinct. It would -suffice to keep up the full number of a tree, which lived -on an average for a thousand years, if a single seed were -produced once in a thousand years, supposing that this -seed were never destroyed, and could be insured to germinate -in a fitting place. So that, in all cases, the average -number of any animal or plant depends only indirectly -on the number of its eggs or seeds.</p> - -<p>In looking at Nature, it is most necessary to keep the -foregoing considerations always in mind—never to forget -that every single organic being may be said to be striving -to the utmost to increase in numbers; that each lives by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span> -a struggle at some period of its life; that heavy destruction -inevitably falls either on the young or old during -each generation or at recurrent intervals. Lighten any -check, mitigate the destruction ever so little, and the -number of the species will almost instantaneously increase -to any amount.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_50">“INEXPLICABLE ON THE THEORY OF CREATION.”</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 413.</div> - -<p>As each species tends by its geometrical -rate of reproduction to increase inordinately -in number, and as the modified descendants -of each species will be enabled to increase by as much as -they become more diversified in habits and structure, so -as to be able to seize on many and widely different places -in the economy of nature, there will be a constant tendency -in natural selection to preserve the most divergent -offspring of any one species. Hence, during a long-continued -course of modification, the slight differences characteristic -of varieties of the same species tend to be augmented -into the greater differences characteristic of the -species of the same genus. New and improved varieties -will inevitably supplant and exterminate the older, -less improved, and intermediate varieties; and thus species -are rendered to a large extent defined and distinct -objects. Dominant species belonging to the larger groups -within each class tend to give birth to new and dominant -forms; so that each large group tends to become still -larger, and at the same time more divergent in character. -But, as all groups can not thus go on increasing in size, -for the world would not hold them, the more dominant -groups beat the less dominant. This tendency in the -large groups to go on increasing in size and diverging in -character, together with the inevitable contingency of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span> -much extinction, explains the arrangement of all the -forms of life in groups subordinate to groups, all within -a few great classes, which has prevailed throughout all -time. This grand fact of the grouping of all organic -beings under what is called the Natural System is utterly -inexplicable on the theory of creation.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_51">OBSCURE CHECKS TO INCREASE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 53.</div> - -<p>The causes which check the natural tendency -of each species to increase are most obscure. -Look at the most vigorous species; by -as much as it swarms in numbers, by so much will it -tend to increase still further. We know not exactly what -the checks are even in a single instance. Nor will this -surprise any one who reflects how ignorant we are on this -head, even in regard to mankind, although so incomparably -better known than any other animal.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Eggs or very young animals seem generally to suffer -most, but this is not invariably the case. With plants -there is a vast destruction of seeds, but, from some observations -which I have made it appears that the seedlings -suffer most from germinating in ground already thickly -stocked with other plants. Seedlings, also, are destroyed -in vast numbers by various enemies; for instance, on a -piece of ground three feet long and two wide, dug and -cleared, and where there could be no choking from other -plants, I marked all the seedlings of our native weeds as -they came up, and out of 357 no less than 295 were destroyed, -chiefly by slugs and insects. If turf which has -long been mown, and the case would be the same with -turf closely browsed by quadrupeds, be let to grow, the -more vigorous plants gradually kill the less vigorous,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span> -though fully grown plants; thus out of twenty species -growing on a little plot of mown turf (three feet by four) -nine species perished, from the other species being allowed -to grow up freely.</p> - -<p>The amount of food for each species, of course, gives -the extreme limit to which each can increase; but very -frequently it is not the obtaining food, but the serving as -prey to other animals, which determines the average -number of a species. Thus, there seems to be little doubt -that the stock of partridges, grouse, and hares on any -large estate depends chiefly on the destruction of vermin. -If not one head of game were shot during the next twenty -years in England, and, at the same time, if no vermin -were destroyed, there would, in all probability, be less -game than at present, although hundreds of thousands of -game animals are now annually shot. On the other hand, -in some cases, as with the elephant, none are destroyed -by beasts of prey; for even the tiger in India most rarely -dares to attack a young elephant protected by its dam.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_52">CLIMATE AS A CHECK TO INCREASE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 54.</div> - -<p>Climate plays an important part in determining -the average numbers of a species, and -periodical seasons of extreme cold or drought seem to be -the most effective of all checks. I estimated (chiefly from -the greatly reduced numbers of nests in the spring) that -the winter of 1854–’55 destroyed four fifths of the birds -in my own grounds; and this is a tremendous destruction, -when we remember that ten per cent is an extraordinarily -severe mortality from epidemics with man. The -action of climate seems at first sight to be quite independent -of the struggle for existence; but, in so far as -climate chiefly acts in reducing food, it brings on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span> -most severe struggle between the individuals, whether of -the same or of distinct species, which subsist on the same -kind of food. Even when climate—for instance, extreme -cold—acts directly, it will be the least vigorous individuals, -or those which have got least food through the advancing -winter, which will suffer most. When we travel from -south to north, or from a damp region to a dry, we invariably -see some species gradually getting rarer and rarer, -and finally disappearing; and, the change of climate being -conspicuous, we are tempted to attribute the whole -effect to its direct action. But this is a false view: we -forget that each species, even where it most abounds, is -constantly suffering enormous destruction at some period -of its life, from enemies or from competitors for the same -place and food; and, if these enemies or competitors be -in the least degree favored by any slight change of climate, -they will increase in numbers; and, as each area is already -fully stocked with inhabitants, the other species must -decrease. When we travel southward and see a species -decreasing in numbers, we may feel sure that the cause -lies quite as much in other species being favored as in -this one being hurt. So it is when we travel northward, -but in a somewhat lesser degree, for the number of species -of all kinds, and therefore of competitors, decreases -northward; hence, in going northward, or in ascending a -mountain, we far oftener meet with stunted forms, due -to the <em>directly</em> injurious action of climate, than we do -in proceeding southward or in descending a mountain. -When we reach the Arctic regions, or snow-capped summits, -or absolute deserts, the struggle for life is almost -exclusively with the elements.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_53">INFLUENCE OF INSECTS IN THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 56.</div> - -<p>In several parts of the world insects determine -the existence of cattle. Perhaps Paraguay -offers the most curious instance of this; for here neither -cattle nor horses nor dogs have ever run wild, though they -swarm southward and northward in a feral state; and -Azara and Rengger have shown that this is caused by the -greater number in Paraguay of a certain fly, which lays its -eggs in the navels of these animals when first born. The -increase of these flies, numerous as they are, must be habitually -checked by some means, probably by other parasitic -insects. Hence, if certain insectivorous birds were to -decrease in Paraguay, the parasitic insects would probably -increase; and this would lessen the number of the navel-frequenting -flies; then cattle and horses would become -feral, and this would certainly greatly alter (as indeed I -have observed in parts of South America) the vegetation: -this again would largely affect the insects, and this, as we -have just seen in Staffordshire, the insectivorous birds, -and so onward in ever-increasing circles of complexity. -Not that under nature the relations will ever be as simple -as this. Battle within battle must be continually recurring -with varying success; and yet in the long run the -forces are so nicely balanced that the face of Nature remains -for long periods of time uniform, though assuredly -the merest trifle would give the victory to one organic -being over another. Nevertheless, so profound is our -ignorance, and so high our presumption, that we marvel -when we hear of the extinction of an organic being; and, -as we do not see the cause, we invoke cataclysms to desolate -the world, or invent laws on the duration of the -forms of life!</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 57.</div> - -<p>Nearly all our orchidaceous plants absolutely -require the visits of insects to remove -their pollen-masses and thus to fertilize them. I find -from experiments that humble-bees are almost indispensable -to the fertilization of the heart’s-ease (<i>Viola tricolor</i>), -for other bees do not visit this flower. I have also found -that the visits of bees are necessary for the fertilization of -some kinds of clover: for instance, 20 heads of Dutch -clover (<i>Trifolium repens</i>) yielded 2,290 seeds, but 20 other -heads protected from bees produced not one. Again, 100 -heads of red clover (<i>T. pratense</i>) produced 2,700 seeds, -but the same number of protected heads produced not a -single seed. Humble-bees alone visit red clover, as other -bees can not reach the nectar. It has been suggested that -moths may fertilize the clovers; but I doubt whether they -could do so in the case of the red clover, from their weight -not being sufficient to depress the wing-petals. Hence we -may infer as highly probable that, if the whole genus of -humble-bees became extinct or very rare in England, the -heart’s-ease and red clover would become very rare, or -wholly disappear. The number of humble-bees in any -district depends in a great measure on the number of -field-mice, which destroy their combs and nests; and -Colonel Newman, who has long attended to the habits -of humble-bees, believes that “more than two thirds -of them are thus destroyed all over England.” Now, -the number of mice is largely dependent, as every one -knows, on the number of cats; and Colonel Newman -says, “Near villages and small towns I have found -the nests of humble-bees more numerous than elsewhere, -which I attribute to the number of cats that -destroy the mice.” Hence it is quite credible that the -presence of a feline animal in large numbers in a district -might determine, through the intervention first of mice<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span> -and then of bees, the frequency of certain flowers in -that district!</p> - -<h3 id="sec_54">NO SUCH THING AS CHANCE IN THE RESULT OF THE -STRUGGLE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 58.</div> - -<p>When we look at the plants and bushes -clothing an entangled bank, we are tempted to -attribute their proportional numbers and kinds to what -we call chance. But how false a view is this! Every -one has heard that, when an American forest is cut down, -a very different vegetation springs up; but it has been -observed that ancient Indian ruins in the Southern United -States, which must formerly have been cleared of trees, -now display the same beautiful diversity and proportion -of kinds as in the surrounding virgin forest. What a -struggle must have gone on during long centuries between -the several kinds of trees, each annually scattering its -seeds by the thousand; what war between insect and insect—between -insects, snails, and other animals with birds -and beasts of prey—all striving to increase, all feeding on -each other, or on the trees, their seeds and seedlings, or -on the other plants which first clothed the ground and -thus checked the growth of the trees! Throw up a handful -of feathers, and all fall to the ground according to -definite laws; but how simple is the problem where each -shall fall compared to that of the action and reaction of -the innumerable plants and animals which have determined, -in the course of centuries, the proportional numbers -and kinds of trees now growing on the old Indian -ruins!</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 61.</div> - -<p>It is good thus to try in imagination to give -to any one species an advantage over another. -Probably in no single instance should we know what to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span> -do. This ought to convince us of our ignorance on the -mutual relations of all organic beings—a conviction as -necessary as it is difficult to acquire. All that we can -do is to keep steadily in mind that each organic being is -striving to increase in a geometrical ratio; that each at -some period of its life, during some season of the year, -during each generation or at intervals, has to struggle for -life and to suffer great destruction. When we reflect on -this struggle, we may console ourselves with the full belief -that the war of nature is not incessant, that no fear -is felt, that death is generally prompt, and that the vigorous, -the healthy, and the happy survive and multiply.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="V">V.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">NATURAL SELECTION: OR, THE SURVIVAL -OF THE FITTEST.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Variation of -Animals and -Plants under -Domestication,<br /> -vol. i, page 6.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">The</span> preservation, during the battle for -life, of varieties which possess any advantage -in structure, constitution, or instinct, I have -called Natural Selection; and Mr. Herbert -Spencer has well expressed the same idea by -the Survival of the Fittest. The term “natural selection” -is in some respects a bad one, as it seems to imply -conscious choice; but this will be disregarded after a little -familiarity. No one objects to chemists speaking of -“elective affinity”; and certainly an acid has no more -choice in combining with a base than the conditions of -life have in determining whether or not a new form be -selected or preserved. The term is so far a good one as -it brings into connection the production of domestic races -by man’s power of selection and the natural preservation -of varieties and species in a state of nature. For brevity -sake I sometimes speak of natural selection as an intelligent -power; in the same way as astronomers speak of the -attraction of gravity as ruling the movements of the -planets, or as agriculturists speak of man making domestic -races by his power of selection. In the one case, as in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span> -the other, selection does nothing without variability, and -this depends in some manner on the action of the surrounding -circumstances in the organism. I have, also, -often personified the word Nature; for I have found it -difficult to avoid this ambiguity; but I mean by nature -only the aggregate action and product of many natural -laws, and by laws only the ascertained sequence of events.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_55">AN INVENTED HYPOTHESIS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants,<br />vol. i, page 9.</div> - -<p>In scientific investigations it is permitted -to invent any hypothesis, and if it explains -various large and independent classes of facts -it rises to the rank of a well-grounded theory. The undulations -of the ether and even its existence are hypothetical, -yet every one now admits the undulatory theory -of light. The principle of natural selection may be looked -at as a mere hypothesis, but rendered in some degree -probable by what we positively know of the variability of -organic beings in a state of nature—by what we positively -know of the struggle for existence, and the consequent -almost inevitable preservation of favorable variations—and -from the analogical formation of domestic races. -Now, this hypothesis may be tested—and this seems to me -the only fair and legitimate manner of considering the -whole question—by trying whether it explains several -large and independent classes of facts; such as the geological -succession of organic beings, their distribution in -past and present times, and their mutual affinities and -homologies. If the principle of natural selection does -explain these and other large bodies of facts, it ought to -be received. On the ordinary view of each species having -been independently created, we gain no scientific explanation -of any one of these facts. We can only say that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span> -it has so pleased the Creator to command that the past -and present inhabitants of the world should appear in a -certain order and in certain areas; that he has impressed -on them the most extraordinary resemblances, and has -classed them in groups subordinate to groups. But by -such statements we gain no new knowledge; we do not -connect together facts and laws; we explain nothing.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 12.</div> - -<p>These facts have as yet received no explanation -on the theory of independent creation; -they can not be grouped together under one point of view, -but each has to be considered as an ultimate fact. As the -first origin of life on this earth, as well as the continued -life of each individual, is at present quite beyond the -scope of science, I do not wish to lay much stress on the -greater simplicity of the view of a few forms or of only -one form having been originally created, instead of innumerable -miraculous creations having been necessary -at innumerable periods; though this more simple view -accords well with Maupertuis’s philosophical axiom of -“least action.”</p> - -<h3 id="sec_56">HOW FAR THE THEORY MAY BE EXTENDED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 13.</div> - -<p>In considering how far the theory of natural -selection may be extended—that is, in determining -from how many progenitors the inhabitants of -the world have descended—we may conclude that at least -all the members of the same class have descended from a -single ancestor. A number of organic beings are included -in the same class, because they present, independently of -their habits of life, the same fundamental type of structure, -and because they graduate into each other. Moreover, -members of the same class can in most cases be -shown to be closely alike at an early embryonic age.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span> -These facts can be explained on the belief of their descent -from a common form; therefore it may be safely -admitted that all the members of the same class are -descended from one progenitor. But as the members -of quite distinct classes have something in common in -structure and much in common in constitution, analogy -would lead us one step further, and to infer as probable -that all living creatures are descended from a single prototype.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent of -Man, part I.,<br /> -page 61.</div> - -<p>Thus a large yet undefined extension may -safely be given to the direct and indirect results -of natural selection; but I now admit, -after reading the essay by Nägeli on plants, and the remarks -by various authors with respect to animals, more -especially those recently made by Professor Broca, that in -the earlier editions of my “Origin of Species” I perhaps -attributed too much to the action of natural selection or -the survival of the fittest. I have altered the fifth edition -of the “Origin” so as to confine my remarks to adaptive -changes of structure; but I am convinced, from the light -gained during even the last few years, that very many -structures which now appear to us useless will hereafter -be proved to be useful, and will therefore come -within the range of natural selection. Nevertheless, I -did not formerly consider sufficiently the existence of -structures, which, as far as we can at present judge, are -neither beneficial nor injurious; and this I believe to be -one of the greatest oversights as yet detected in my work. -I may be permitted to say, as some excuse, that I had -two distinct objects in view: firstly, to show that species -had not been separately created; and, secondly, that natural -selection had been the chief agent of change, though -largely aided by the inherited effects of habit, and slightly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span> -by the direct action of the surrounding conditions. I -was not, however, able to annul the influence of my -former belief, then almost universal, that each species -had been purposely created; and this led to my tacit -assumption that every detail of structure, excepting rudiments, -was of some special, though unrecognized, service. -Any one with this assumption in his mind would naturally -extend too far the action of natural selection, either -during past or present times. Some of those who admit -the principle of evolution, but reject natural selection, -seem to forget, when criticising my book, that I had the -above two objects in view; hence if I have erred in giving -to natural selection great power, which I am very far -from admitting, or in having exaggerated its power, -which is in itself probable, I have at least, as I hope, -done good service in aiding to overthrow the dogma of -separate creations.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_57">IS THERE ANY LIMIT TO WHAT SELECTION CAN EFFECT?</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants,<br />vol. ii, page 228.</div> - -<p>The foregoing discussion naturally leads to -the question, What is the limit to the possible -amount of variation in any part or quality, -and, consequently, is there any limit to what selection -can effect? Will a race-horse ever be reared fleeter than -Eclipse? Can our prize cattle and sheep be still further -improved? Will a gooseberry ever weigh more than that -produced by “London” in 1852? Will the beet-root in -France yield a greater percentage of sugar? Will future -varieties of wheat and other grain produce heavier crops -than our present varieties? These questions can not be -positively answered; but it is certain that we ought to -be cautious in answering them by a negative. In some -lines of variation the limit has probably been reached.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span> -Youatt believes that the reduction of bone in some of our -sheep has already been carried so far that it entails great -delicacy of constitution.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 229.</div> - -<p>No doubt there is a limit beyond which -the organization can not be modified compatibly -with health or life. The extreme degree of fleetness, -for instance, of which a terrestrial animal is capable, -may have been acquired by our present race-horses; but, -as Mr. Wallace has well remarked, the question that interests -us “is not whether indefinite and unlimited change -in any or all directions is possible, but whether such -differences as do occur in nature could have been produced -by the accumulation of varieties by selection.” -And in the case of our domestic productions, there can -be no doubt that many parts of the organization, to -which man has attended, have been thus modified to a -greater degree than the corresponding parts in the natural -species of the same genera or even families. We see this -in the form and size of our light and heavy dogs or -horses, in the beak and many other characters of our -pigeons, in the size and quality of many fruits, in comparison -with the species belonging to the same natural -groups.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_58">HAS ORGANIZATION ADVANCED?</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br />page 308.</div> - -<p>The problem whether organization on the -whole has advanced is in many ways excessively -intricate. The geological record, at all -times imperfect, does not extend far enough back to -show with unmistakable clearness that within the known -history of the world organization has largely advanced. -Even at the present day, looking to members of the same -class, naturalists are not unanimous which forms ought<span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span> -to be ranked as highest: thus, some look at the selaceans -or sharks, from their approach in some important points -of structure to reptiles, as the highest fish; others look -at the teleosteans as the highest. The ganoids stand -intermediate between the selaceans and teleosteans; the -latter at the present day are largely preponderant in -number; but formerly selaceans and ganoids alone existed; -and in this case, according to the standard of -highness chosen, so will it be said that fishes have advanced -or retrograded in organization. To attempt to -compare members of distinct types in the scale of highness -seems hopeless; who will decide whether a cuttle-fish -be higher than a bee—that insect which the great -Von Baer believed to be “in fact more highly organized -than a fish, although upon another type”? In the complex -struggle for life it is quite credible that crustaceans, -not very high in their own class, might beat cephalopods, -the highest mollusks; and such crustaceans, -though not highly developed, would stand very high in -the scale of invertebrate animals, if judged by the most -decisive of all trials—the law of battle. Besides these -inherent difficulties in deciding which forms are the most -advanced in organization, we ought not solely to compare -the highest members of a class at any two periods—though -undoubtedly this is one and perhaps the most important -element in striking a balance—but we ought to compare -all the members, high and low, at the two periods. At -an ancient epoch the highest and lowest molluscoidal animals, -namely, cephalopods and brachiopods, swarmed in -numbers; at the present time both groups are greatly -reduced, while others, intermediate in organization, have -largely increased; consequently some naturalists maintain -that mollusks were formerly more highly developed -than at present; but a stronger case can be made out on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span> -the opposite side, by considering the vast reduction of -brachiopods, and the fact that our existing cephalopods, -though few in number, are more highly organized than -their ancient representatives. We ought also to compare -the relative proportional numbers at any two periods of -the high and low classes throughout the world; if, for -instance, at the present day fifty thousand kinds of vertebrate -animals exist, and if we knew that at some former -period only ten thousand kinds existed, we ought -to look at this increase in number in the highest class, -which implies a great displacement of lower forms, as a -decided advance in the organization of the world. We -thus see how hopelessly difficult it is to compare with perfect -fairness, under such extremely complex relations, the -standard of organization of the imperfectly-known faunas -of successive periods.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 121.</div> - -<p>There may truly be said to be a constant -struggle going on between, on the one hand, -the tendency to reversion to a less perfect -state, as well as an innate tendency to new variations, -and, on the other hand, the power of steady selection to -keep the breed true. In the long run selection gains the -day, and we do not expect to fail so completely as to -breed bird as coarse as a common tumbler-pigeon from a -good short-faced strain. But, as long as selection is rapidly -going on, much variability in the parts undergoing modification -may always be expected.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_59">A HIGHER WORKMANSHIP THAN MAN’S.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 65.</div> - -<p>As man can produce, and certainly has -produced, a great result by his methodical and -unconscious means of selection, what may not -natural selection affect? Man can act only on external<span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span> -and visible characters: Nature, if I may be allowed to -personify the natural preservation or survival of the fittest, -cares nothing for appearances, except in so far as -they are useful to any being. She can act on every internal -organ, on every shade of constitutional difference, on -the whole machinery of life. Man selects only for his -own good: Nature only for that of the being which she -tends. Every selected character is fully exercised by her, -as is implied by the fact of their selection. Man keeps -the natives of many climates in the same country; he -seldom exercises each selected character in some peculiar -and fitting manner; he feeds a long and a short beaked -pigeon on the same food; he does not exercise a long-backed -or long-legged quadruped in any peculiar manner; -he exposes sheep with long and short wool to the same -climate. He does not allow the most vigorous males to -struggle for the females. He does not rigidly destroy all -inferior animals, but protects during each varying season, -as far as lies in his power, all his productions. He often -begins his selection by some half-monstrous form; or at -least by some modification prominent enough to catch -the eye or to be plainly useful to him. Under nature, the -slightest differences of structure or constitution may well -turn the nicely-balanced scale in the struggle for life, and -so be preserved. How fleeting are the wishes and efforts -of man! how short his time! and consequently how poor -will be his results, compared with those accumulated by -Nature during whole geological periods! Can we wonder, -then, that Nature’s productions should be far “truer” -in character than man’s productions; that they should be -infinitely better adapted to the most complex conditions -of life, and should plainly bear the stamp of far higher -workmanship?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span></p> - -<p>It may metaphorically be said that natural selection is -daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, the -slightest variations: rejecting those that are bad, preserving -and adding up all that are good; silently and -insensibly working, <em>whenever and wherever opportunity -offers</em>, at the improvement of each organic being in relation -to its organic and inorganic conditions of life. We -see nothing of these slow changes in progress, until the -hand of Time has marked the lapse of ages, and then so -imperfect is our view into long-past geological ages that -we see only that the forms of life are now different from -what they formerly were.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 66.</div> - -<p>Although natural selection can act only -through and for the good of each being, yet -characters and structures, which we are apt to consider -as of very trifling importance, may thus be acted on. -When we see leaf-eating insects green and bark-feeders -mottled-gray, the Alpine ptarmigan white in winter, the -red-grouse the color of heather, we must believe that -these tints are of service to these birds and insects in -preserving them from danger. Grouse, if not destroyed -at some period of their lives, would increase in countless -numbers; they are known to suffer largely from birds of -prey; and hawks are guided by eye-sight to their prey—so -much so, that on parts of the Continent persons are -warned not to keep white pigeons, as being the most -liable to destruction. Hence natural selection might be -effective in giving the proper color to each kind of grouse, -and in keeping that color, when once acquired, true and -constant. Nor ought we to think that the occasional -destruction of an animal of any particular color would -produce little effect: we should remember how essential<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span> -it is in a flock of white sheep to destroy a lamb with the -faintest trace of black.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_60">WHY HABITS AND STRUCTURE ARE NOT IN AGREEMENT.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 142.</div> - -<p>He who believes that each being has been -created as we now see it must occasionally -have felt surprise when he has met with an -animal having habits and structure not in agreement. -What can be plainer than that the webbed feet of ducks -and geese are formed for swimming? Yet there are upland -geese with webbed feet which rarely go near the water; -and no one except Audubon has seen the frigate-bird, -which has all its four toes webbed, alight on the surface -of the ocean. On the other hand, grebes and coots are -eminently aquatic, although their toes are only bordered -by membrane. What seems plainer than that the long -toes, not furnished with membrane, of the <i>Grallatores</i>, -are formed for walking over swamps and floating plants?—the -water-hen and land-rail are members of this order, -yet the first is nearly as aquatic as the coot, and the -second nearly as terrestrial as the quail or partridge. In -such cases, and many others could be given, habits have -changed without a corresponding change of structure. -The webbed feet of the upland goose may be said to have -become almost rudimentary in function, though not in -structure. In the frigate-bird, the deeply-scooped membrane -between the toes shows that structure has begun to -change.</p> - -<p>He who believes in separate and innumerable acts of -creation may say that in these cases it has pleased the -Creator to cause a being of one type to take the place of -one belonging to another type; but this seems to me only -restating the fact in dignified language. He who believes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span> -in the struggle for existence and in the principle of natural -selection, will acknowledge that every organic being -is constantly endeavoring to increase in numbers; and -that if any one being varies ever so little, either in habits -or structure, and thus gains an advantage over some -other inhabitant of the same country, it will seize on the -place of that inhabitant, however different that may be -from its own place. Hence it will cause him no surprise -that there should be geese and frigate-birds with webbed -feet, living on the dry land and rarely alighting on the -water; that there should be long-toed corn-crakes, living -in meadows instead of in swamps; that there should be -woodpeckers where hardly a tree grows; that there should -be diving thrushes and diving <i>Hymenoptera</i>, and petrels -with the habits of auks.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_61">NO MODIFICATION IN ONE SPECIES DESIGNED FOR THE -GOOD OF ANOTHER.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 162.</div> - -<p>Natural selection can not possibly produce -any modification in a species exclusively for -the good of another species; though throughout -nature one species incessantly takes advantage of, and -profits by, the structures of others. But natural selection -can and does often produce structures for the direct injury -of other animals, as we see in the fang of the adder, -and in the ovipositor of the ichneumon, by which its eggs -are deposited in the living bodies of other insects. If it -could be proved that any part of the structure of any one -species had been formed for the exclusive good of another -species, it would annihilate my theory, for such could not -have been produced through natural selection. Although -many statements may be found in works on natural history -to this effect, I can not find even one which seems to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span> -me of any weight. It is admitted that the rattlesnake -has a poison-fang for its own defense, and for the destruction -of its prey; but some authors suppose that at -the same time it is furnished with a rattle for its own injury, -namely, to warn its prey. I would almost as soon -believe that the cat curls the end of its tail when preparing -to spring, in order to warn the doomed mouse. It is -a much more probable view that the rattlesnake uses its -rattle, the cobra expands its frill, and the puff-adder -swells while hissing so loudly and harshly, in order to -alarm the many birds and beasts which are known to -attack even the most venomous species. Snakes act on -the same principle which makes the hen ruffle her feathers -and expand her wings when a dog approaches her -chickens; but I have not space here to enlarge on the -many ways by which animals endeavor to frighten away -their enemies.</p> - -<p>Natural selection will never produce in a being any -structure more injurious than beneficial to that being, for -natural selection acts solely by and for the good of each. -No organ will be formed, as Paley has remarked, for the -purpose of causing pain or for doing an injury to its possessor. -If a fair balance be struck between the good and -evil caused by each part, each will be found on the whole -advantageous. After the lapse of time, under changing -conditions of life, if any part comes to be injurious, it -will be modified; or, if it be not so, the being will become -extinct as myriads have become extinct.</p> - -<p>Natural selection tends only to make each organic -being as perfect as, or slightly more perfect than, the -other inhabitants of the same country with which it comes -into competition. And we see that this is the standard -of perfection attained under nature. The endemic productions -of New Zealand, for instance, are perfect one<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span> -compared with another; but they are now rapidly yielding -before the advancing legions of plants and animals -introduced from Europe. Natural selection will not produce -absolute perfection, nor do we always meet, as far -as we can judge, with this high standard under nature. -The correction for the aberration of light is said by Müller -not to be perfect even in that most perfect organ, the -human eye.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 67.</div> - -<p>Natural selection will modify the structure -of the young in relation to the parent, and of -the parent in relation to the young. In social animals it -will adapt the structure of each individual for the benefit -of the whole community, if the community profits by -the selected change. What natural selection can not do -is, to modify the structure of one species, without giving -it any advantage, for the good of another species; and, -though statements to this effect may be found in works -of natural history, I can not find one case which will bear -investigation. A structure used only once in an animal’s -life, if of high importance to it, might be modified to any -extent by natural selection; for instance, the great jaws -possessed by certain insects, used exclusively for opening -the cocoon, or the hard tip to the beak of unhatched -birds, used for breaking the egg. It has been asserted -that, of the best short-beaked tumbler-pigeons, a greater -number perish in the egg than are able to get out of it, -so that fanciers assist in the act of hatching. Now, if -Nature had to make the beak of a full-grown pigeon very -short for the bird’s own advantage, the process of modification -would be very slow, and there would be simultaneously -the most rigorous selection of all the young birds -within the egg, which had the most powerful and hardest -beaks, for all with weak beaks would inevitably perish;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span> -or, more delicate and more easily broken shells might be -selected, the thickness of the shell being known to vary -like every other structure.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_62">ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE ACTION OF NATURAL SELECTION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 70.</div> - -<p>In order to make it clear how, as I believe, -natural selection acts, I must beg permission -to give one or two imaginary illustrations. -Let us take the case of a wolf, which preys on various -animals, securing some by craft, some by strength, and -some by fleetness; and let us suppose that the fleetest -prey, a deer for instance, had from any change in the -country increased in numbers, or that other prey had decreased -in numbers, during that season of the year when -the wolf was hardest pressed for food. Under such circumstances -the swiftest and slimmest wolves would have -the best chance of surviving, and so be preserved or selected—provided -always that they retained strength to -master their prey at this or some other period of the year, -when they were compelled to prey on other animals. I -can see no more reason to doubt that this would be the -result, than that man should be able to improve the fleetness -of his greyhounds by careful and methodical selection, -or by that kind of unconscious selection which follows -from each man trying to keep the best dogs without -any thought of modifying the breed. I may add that, -according to Mr. Pierce, there are two varieties of the -wolf inhabiting the Catskill Mountains in the United -States, one with a light greyhound-like form, which pursues -deer, and the other more bulky, with shorter legs, -which more frequently attacks the shepherd’s flocks.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_107">107</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 73.</div> - -<p>Certain plants excrete sweet juice, apparently -for the sake of eliminating something injurious -from the sap: this is effected, for instance, by -glands at the base of the stipules in some <i>Leguminosæ</i>, -and at the backs of the leaves of the common laurel. -This juice, though small in quantity, is greedily sought -by insects; but their visits do not in any way benefit the -plant. Now, let us suppose that the juice or nectar was -excreted from the inside of the flowers of a certain number -of plants of any species. Insects in seeking the nectar -would get dusted with pollen, and would often transport -it from one flower to another. The flowers of two distinct -individuals of the same species would thus get -crossed; and the act of crossing, as can be fully proved, -gives rise to vigorous seedlings, which consequently would -have the best chance of flourishing and surviving. The -plants which produced flowers with the largest glands or -nectaries, excreting most nectar, would oftenest be visited -by insects, and would oftenest be crossed; and so in the -long run would gain the upper hand and form a local -variety. The flowers, also, which had their stamens and -pistils placed, in relation to the size and habits of the -particular insect which visited them, so as to favor in any -degree the transportal of the pollen, would likewise be -favored. We might have taken the case of insects visiting -flowers for the sake of collecting pollen instead of -nectar; and, as pollen is formed for the sole purpose of -fertilization, its destruction appears to be a simple loss -to the plant; yet if a little pollen were carried, at first -occasionally and then habitually, by the pollen-devouring -insects from flower to flower, and a cross thus -effected, although nine tenths of the pollen were destroyed, -it might still be a great gain to the plant to -be thus robbed; and the individuals which produced<span class="pagenum" id="Page_108">108</span> -more and more pollen, and had larger anthers, would -be selected.</p> - -<p>When our plant, by the above process long continued, -had been rendered highly attractive to insects, they would, -unintentionally on their part, regularly carry pollen from -flower to flower.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_63">DIVERGENCE OF CHARACTER.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 86.</div> - -<p>According to my view, varieties are species -in the process of formation, or are, as I have -called them, incipient species. How, then, does the -lesser difference between varieties become augmented into -the greater difference between species? That this does -habitually happen, we must infer from most of the innumerable -species throughout nature presenting well-marked -differences; whereas varieties, the supposed prototypes -and parents of future well-marked species, present -slight and ill-defined differences. Mere chance, as -we may call it, might cause one variety to differ in some -character from its parents, and the offspring of this variety -again to differ from its parent in the very same -character and in a greater degree; but this alone would -never account for so habitual and large a degree of -difference as that between the species of the same -genus.</p> - -<p>As has always been my practice, I have sought light -on this head from our domestic productions. We shall -here find something analogous. It will be admitted that -the production of races so different as short-horn and -Hereford cattle, race and cart horses, the several breeds -of pigeons, etc., could never have been effected by the -mere chance accumulation of similar variations during -many successive generations. In practice, a fancier is,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_109">109</span> -for instance, struck by a pigeon having a slightly shorter -beak; another fancier is struck by a pigeon having a -rather longer beak; and, on the acknowledged principle -that “fanciers do not and will not admire a medium -standard, but like extremes,” they both go on (as has -actually occurred with the sub-breeds of the tumbler-pigeon) -choosing and breeding from birds with longer -and longer beaks, or with shorter and shorter beaks. -Again, we may suppose that, at an early period of history, -the men of one nation or district required swifter horses, -while those of another required stronger and bulkier -horses. The early differences would be very slight; but, -in the course of time, from the continued selection of -swifter horses in the one case, and of stronger ones in the -other, the differences would become greater, and would -be noted as forming two sub-breeds. Ultimately, after -the lapse of centuries, these sub-breeds would become -converted into two well-established and distinct breeds. -As the differences became greater, the inferior animals -with intermediate characters, being neither very swift -nor very strong, would not have been used for breeding, -and will thus have tended to disappear. Here, then, we -see in man’s productions the action of what may be called -the principle of divergence, causing differences, at first -barely appreciable, steadily to increase, and the breeds to -diverge in character, both from each other and from their -common parent.</p> - -<p>But how, it may be asked, can any analogous principle -apply in nature? I believe it can and does apply -most efficiently (though it was a long time before I saw -how), from the simple circumstance that the more diversified -the descendants from any one species become in -structure, constitution, and habits, by so much will they -be better enabled to seize on many and widely diversified<span class="pagenum" id="Page_110">110</span> -places in the polity of nature, and so be enabled to increase -in numbers.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 89.</div> - -<p>The advantage of diversification of structure -in the inhabitants of the same region is, -in fact, the same as that of the physiological division of -labor in the organs of the same individual body—a subject -so well elucidated by Milne-Edwards. No physiologist -doubts that a stomach adapted to digest vegetable -matter alone, or flesh alone, draws most nutriment from -these substances. So in the general economy of any land, -the more widely and perfectly the animals and plants are -diversified for different habits of life, so will a greater -number of individuals be capable of there supporting -themselves. A set of animals, with their organization -but little diversified, could hardly compete with a set more -perfectly diversified in structure. It may be doubted, -for instance, whether the Australian marsupials, which -are divided into groups differing but little from each -other, and feebly representing, as Mr. Waterhouse and -others have remarked, our carnivorous, ruminant, and -rodent mammals, could successfully compete with these -well-developed orders. In the Australian mammals, we -see the process of diversification in an early and incomplete -stage of development.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_64">EVOLUTION OF THE HUMAN EYE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 143.</div> - -<p>To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable -contrivances for adjusting the focus -to different distances, for admitting different -amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and -chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural -selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_111">111</span> -degree. When it was first said that the sun stood still -and the world turned round, the common sense of mankind -declared the doctrine false; but the old saying of -<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">Vox populi vox Dei</i>, as every philosopher knows, can not -be trusted in science.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 145.</div> - -<p>Within the highest division of the animal -kingdom, namely, the <i>Vertebrata</i>, we can start -from an eye so simple that it consists, as in the lancelet, -of a little sac of transparent skin, furnished with a nerve -and lined with pigment, but destitute of any other apparatus. -In fishes and reptiles, as Owen has remarked, -“the range of gradations of dioptric structures is very -great.” It is a significant fact that even in man, according -to the high authority of Virchow, the beautiful -crystalline lens is formed in the embryo by an accumulation -of epidermic cells, lying in a sac-like fold -of the skin; and the vitreous body is formed from embryonic -subcutaneous tissue. To arrive, however, at a -just conclusion regarding the formation of the eye, with -all its marvelous yet not absolutely perfect characters, it -is indispensable that the reason should conquer the imagination; -but I have felt the difficulty far too keenly -to be surprised at others hesitating to extend the principle -of natural selection to so startling a length.</p> - -<p>It is scarcely possible to avoid comparing the eye with -a telescope. We know that this instrument has been perfected -by the long-continued efforts of the highest human -intellects; and we naturally infer that the eye has been -formed by a somewhat analogous process. But may not -this inference be presumptuous? Have we any right to -assume that the Creator works by intellectual powers like -those of man? If we must compare the eye to an optical -instrument, we ought in imagination to take a thick<span class="pagenum" id="Page_112">112</span> -layer of transparent tissue, with spaces filled with fluid, -and with a nerve sensitive to light beneath, and then suppose -every part of this layer to be continually changing -slowly in density, so as to separate into layers of different -densities and thicknesses, placed at different distances -from each other, and with the surfaces of each layer slowly -changing in form. Further, we must suppose that there -is a power, represented by natural selection or the survival -of the fittest, always intently watching each slight -alteration in the transparent layers; and carefully preserving -each which, under varied circumstances, in any -way or in any degree, tends to produce a distincter image. -We must suppose each new state of the instrument to be -multiplied by the million; each to be preserved until a -better one is produced, and then the old ones to be all -destroyed. In living bodies, variation will cause the -slight alterations, generation will multiply them almost -infinitely, and natural selection will pick out with unerring -skill each improvement. Let this process go on for -millions of years; and during each year on millions of -individuals of many kinds; and may we not believe that -a living optical instrument might thus be formed as superior -to one of glass as the works of the Creator are to -those of man?</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_113">113</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="VI">VI.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION OF ORGANIC -BEINGS.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 320.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">We</span> are thus brought to the question which -has been largely discussed by naturalists, namely, -whether species have been created at one or -more points of the earth’s surface. Undoubtedly there -are many cases of extreme difficulty in understanding how -the same species could possibly have migrated from some -one point to the several distant and isolated points where -now found. Nevertheless the simplicity of the view that -each species was first produced within a single region -captivates the mind. He who rejects it rejects the <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">vera -causa</i> of ordinary generation with subsequent migration, -and calls in the agency of a miracle. It is universally -admitted that in most cases the area inhabited by a -species is continuous; and that, when a plant or animal -inhabits two points so distant from each other, or with an -interval of such a nature, that the space could not have -been easily passed over by migration, the fact is given as -something remarkable and exceptional. The incapacity -of migrating across a wide sea is more clear in the case of -terrestrial mammals than perhaps with any other organic -beings; and, accordingly, we find no inexplicable instances -of the same mammals inhabiting distant points<span class="pagenum" id="Page_114">114</span> -of the world. No geologist feels any difficulty in Great -Britain possessing the same quadrupeds with the rest of -Europe, for they were no doubt once united. But, if the -same species can be produced at two separate points, why -do we not find a single mammal common to Europe and -Australia or South America? The conditions of life are -nearly the same, so that a multitude of European animals -and plants have become naturalized in America and Australia; -and some of the aboriginal plants are identically -the same at these distant points of the northern and -southern hemispheres. The answer, as I believe, is, that -mammals have not been able to migrate, whereas some -plants, from their varied means of dispersal, have migrated -across the wide and broken interspaces. The -great and striking influence of barriers of all kinds is -intelligible only on the view that the great majority of -species have been produced on one side, and have not been -able to migrate to the opposite side. Some few families, -many sub-families, very many genera, and a still greater -number of sections of genera, are confined to a single -region: and it has been observed by several naturalists -that the most natural genera, or those genera in which -the species are most closely related to each other, are -generally confined to the same country, or, if they have -a wide range, that their range is continuous. What a -strange anomaly it would be, if a directly opposite rule -were to prevail, when we go down one step lower in the -series, namely, to the individuals of the same species, and -these had not been, at least at first, confined to some one -region!</p> - -<p>Hence it seems to me, as it has to many other naturalists, -that the view of each species having been produced -in one area alone, and having subsequently migrated from -that area as far as its powers of migration and subsistence<span class="pagenum" id="Page_115">115</span> -under past and present conditions permitted, is the most -probable. Undoubtedly many cases occur, in which we -can not explain how the same species could have passed -from one point to the other. But the geographical and -climatal changes, which have certainly occurred within -recent geological times, must have rendered discontinuous -the formerly continuous range of many species. So that -we are reduced to consider whether the exceptions to continuity -of range are so numerous and of so grave a nature -that we ought to give up the belief, rendered probable -by general considerations, that each species has been produced -within one area, and has migrated thence as far as -it could.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_65">ISOLATED CONTINENTS NEVER WERE UNITED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 324.</div> - -<p>Whenever it is fully admitted, as it will -some day be, that each species has proceeded -from a single birthplace, and when in the -course of time we know something definite about the -means of distribution, we shall be enabled to speculate -with security on the former extension of the land. But -I do not believe that it will ever be proved that within -the recent period most of our continents which now -stand quite separate have been continuously, or almost -continuously, united with each other, and with the many -existing oceanic islands. Several facts in distribution, -such as the great difference in the marine faunas on the -opposite sides of almost every continent, the close relation -of the tertiary inhabitants of several lands and even -seas to their present inhabitants, the degree of affinity -between the mammals inhabiting islands with those of -the nearest continent, being in part determined (as we -shall hereafter see) by the depth of the intervening ocean, -these and other such facts are opposed to the admission<span class="pagenum" id="Page_116">116</span> -of such prodigious geographical revolutions within the -recent period as are necessary on the view advanced by -Forbes and admitted by his followers. The nature and -relative proportions of the inhabitants of oceanic islands -are likewise opposed to the belief of their former continuity -with continents. Nor does the almost universally -volcanic composition of such islands favor the admission -that they are the wrecks of sunken continents; if they -had originally existed as continental mountain-ranges, -some at least of the islands would have been formed, like -other mountain-summits, of granite, metamorphic schists, -old fossiliferous and other rocks, instead of consisting of -mere piles of volcanic matter.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_66">MEANS OF DISPERSAL.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 326.</div> - -<p>Living birds can hardly fail to be highly -effective agents in the transportation of seeds. -I could give many facts showing how frequently birds of -many kinds are blown by gales to vast distances across -the ocean. We may safely assume that under such circumstances -their rate of flight would often be thirty-five -miles an hour; and some authors have given a far higher -estimate. I have never seen an instance of nutritious -seeds passing through the intestines of a bird; but hard -seeds of fruit pass uninjured through even the digestive -organs of a turkey. In the course of two months I -picked up in my garden twelve kinds of seeds out of the -excrement of small birds, and these seemed perfect, and -some of them, which were tried, germinated. But the -following fact is more important: the crops of birds do -not secrete gastric juice, and do not, as I know by trial, -injure in the least the germination of seeds; now, after -a bird has found and devoured a large supply of food, it<span class="pagenum" id="Page_117">117</span> -is positively asserted that all the grains do not pass into -the gizzard for twelve or even eighteen hours. A bird in -this interval might easily be blown to the distance of five -hundred miles, and hawks are known to look out for -tired birds, and the contents of their torn crops might -thus readily get scattered. Some hawks and owls bolt -their prey whole, and, after an interval of from twelve -to twenty hours, disgorge pellets, which, as I know from -experiments made in the Zoölogical Gardens, include -seeds capable of germination. Some seeds of the oat, -wheat, millet, canary, hemp, clover, and beet germinated -after having been from twelve to twenty-one hours in the -stomachs of different birds of prey; and two seeds of -beet grew after having been thus retained for two days -and fourteen hours. Fresh-water fish, I find, eat seeds -of many land and water plants: fish are frequently devoured -by birds, and thus the seeds might be transported -from place to place. I forced many kinds of seeds into -the stomachs of dead fish, and then gave their bodies to -fishing-eagles, storks, and pelicans; these birds, after an -interval of many hours, either rejected the seeds in pellets -or passed them in their excrement; and several of -these seeds retained the power of germination. Certain -seeds, however, were always killed by this process.</p> - -<p>Locusts are sometimes blown to great distances from -the land; I myself caught one three hundred and seventy -miles from the coast of Africa, and have heard of others -caught at greater distances.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 328.</div> - -<p>As icebergs are known to be sometimes -loaded with earth and stones, and have even -carried brushwood, bones, and the nest of a land-bird, it -can hardly be doubted that they must occasionally, as -suggested by Lyell, have transported seeds from one part<span class="pagenum" id="Page_118">118</span> -to another of the Arctic and Antarctic regions, and during -the Glacial period from one part of the now temperate -regions to another. In the Azores, from the large number -of plants common to Europe, in comparison with the -species on the other islands of the Atlantic, which stand -nearer to the mainland, and (as remarked by Mr. H. C. -Watson) from their somewhat northern character in -comparison with the latitude, I suspected that these -islands had been partly stocked by ice-borne seeds during -the Glacial epoch.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_67">THESE MEANS OF TRANSPORT NOT ACCIDENTAL.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 329.</div> - -<p>These means of transport are sometimes -called accidental, but this is not strictly correct; -the currents of the sea are not accidental, nor is -the direction of prevalent gales of wind. It should be -observed that scarcely any means of transport would carry -seeds for very great distances: for seeds do not retain -their vitality when exposed for a great length of time to -the action of sea-water; nor could they be long carried -in the crops or intestines of birds. These means, however, -would suffice for occasional transport across tracts -of sea some hundred miles in breadth, or from island to -island, or from a continent to a neighboring island, but -not from one distant continent to another. The floras of -distant continents would not by such means become mingled; -but would remain as distinct as they now are. The -currents, from their course, would never bring seeds from -North America to Britain, though they might and do bring -seeds from the West Indies to our western shores, where, -if not killed by their very long immersion in salt-water, -they could not endure our climate. Almost every year, -one or two land-birds are blown across the whole Atlantic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_119">119</span> -Ocean, from North America to the western shores of Ireland -and England; but seeds could be transported by these -rare wanderers only by one means, namely, by dirt adhering -to their feet or beaks, which is in itself a rare accident. -Even in this case, how small would be the chance -of a seed falling on favorable soil and coming to maturity! -But it would be a great error to argue that, because a well-stocked -island, like Great Britain, has not, as far as is -known (and it would be very difficult to prove this), received -within the last few centuries, through occasional -means of transport, immigrants from Europe or any -other continent, a poorly-stocked island, though standing -more remote from the mainland, would not receive colonists -by similar means. Out of a hundred kinds of seeds -or animals transported to an island, even if far less well-stocked -than Britain, perhaps not more than one would -be so well fitted to its new home as to become naturalized. -But this is no valid argument against what would -be effected by occasional means of transport, during the -long lapse of geological time, while the island was being -upheaved, and before it had become fully stocked with -inhabitants. On almost bare land, with few or no destructive -insects or birds living there, nearly every seed -which chanced to arrive, if fitted for the climate, would -germinate and survive.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_68">DISPERSAL DURING THE GLACIAL PERIOD.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 434.</div> - -<p>The Glacial period is defined “as a period -of great cold and of enormous extension of ice -upon the surface of the earth. It is believed that glacial -periods have occurred repeatedly during the geological -history of the earth, but the term is generally applied to -the close of the Tertiary epoch, when nearly the whole of -Europe was subjected to an Arctic climate.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_120">120</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 330.</div> - -<p>The identity of many plants and animals, -on mountain-summits, separated from each -other by hundreds of miles of lowlands, where -Alpine species could not possibly exist, is one of the most -striking cases known of the same species living at distant -points, without the apparent possibility of their having -migrated from one point to the other. It is indeed a -remarkable fact to see so many plants of the same species -living on the snowy regions of the Alps or Pyrenees, and -in the extreme northern parts of Europe; but it is far -more remarkable that the plants on the White Mountains, -in the United States of America, are all the same with -those of Labrador, and nearly all the same, as we hear -from Asa Gray, with those on the loftiest mountains of -Europe. Even as long ago as 1747 such facts led Gmelin -to conclude that the same species must have been independently -created at many distinct points; and we might -have remained in this same belief, had not Agassiz and -others called vivid attention to the Glacial period, which, -as we shall immediately see, affords a simple explanation -of these facts. We have evidence of almost every conceivable -kind, organic and inorganic, that, within a very -recent geological period, Central Europe and North America -suffered under an Arctic climate. The ruins of a -house burned by fire do not tell their tale more plainly -than do the mountains of Scotland and Wales, with their -scored flanks, polished surfaces, and perched bowlders, -of the icy streams with which their valleys were lately -filled. So greatly has the climate of Europe changed, -that in Northern Italy gigantic moraines, left by -old glaciers, are now clothed by the vine and maize. -Throughout a large part of the United States erratic -bowlders and scored rocks plainly reveal a former cold -period.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_121">121</span></p> - -<p>The former influence of the glacial climate on the distribution -of the inhabitants of Europe, as explained by -Edward Forbes, is substantially as follows. But we shall -follow the changes more readily by supposing a new glacial -period slowly to come on, and then pass away, as -formerly occurred. As the cold came on, and as each -more southern zone became fitted for the inhabitants of -the north, these would take the places of the former inhabitants -of the temperate regions. The latter, at the -same time, would travel farther and farther southward, -unless they were stopped by barriers, in which case they -would perish. The mountains would become covered -with snow and ice, and their former Alpine inhabitants -would descend to the plains. By the time that the cold -had reached its maximum, we should have an Arctic fauna -and flora, covering the central parts of Europe, as far -south as the Alps and Pyrenees, and even stretching into -Spain. The now temperate regions of the United States -would likewise be covered by Arctic plants and animals, -and these would be nearly the same with those of Europe; -for the present circumpolar inhabitants, which we suppose -to have everywhere traveled southward, are remarkably -uniform round the world.</p> - -<p>As the warmth returned, the Arctic forms would retreat -northward, closely followed up in their retreat by the -productions of the more temperate regions. And, as the -snow melted from the bases of the mountains, the Arctic -forms would seize on the cleared and thawed ground, -always ascending, as the warmth increased and the snow -still further disappeared, higher and higher, while their -brethren were pursuing their northern journey. Hence, -when the warmth had fully returned, the same species, -which had lately lived together on the European and -North American lowlands, would again be found in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_122">122</span> -Arctic regions of the Old and New Worlds, and on many -isolated mountain-summits far distant from each other.</p> - -<p>Thus we can understand the identity of many plants -at points so immensely remote as the mountains of the -United States and those of Europe.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_69">THE THEORY OF CREATION INADEQUATE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 334.</div> - -<p>As on the land, so in the waters of the sea, -a slow southern migration of a marine fauna, -which, during the Pliocene or even a somewhat earlier -period, was nearly uniform along the continuous shores of -the Polar Circle, will account, on the theory of modification, -for many closely allied forms now living in marine -areas completely sundered. Thus, I think, we can understand -the presence of some closely allied, still existing and -extinct tertiary forms on the eastern and western shores -of temperate North America; and the still more striking -fact of many closely allied crustaceans (as described in -Dana’s admirable work), some fish and other marine animals, -inhabiting the Mediterranean and the seas of Japan—these -two areas being now completely separated by the -breadth of a whole continent and by wide spaces of ocean.</p> - -<p>These cases of close relationship in species either now -or formerly inhabiting the seas on the eastern and western -shores of North America, the Mediterranean and -Japan, and the temperate lands of North America and -Europe, are inexplicable on the theory of creation. We -can not maintain that such species have been created -alike, in correspondence with the nearly similar physical -conditions of the areas; for, if we compare, for instance, -certain parts of South America with parts of South Africa -or Australia, we see countries closely similar in all their -physical conditions, with their inhabitants utterly dissimilar.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_123">123</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_70">CAUSES OF A GLACIAL CLIMATE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 336.</div> - -<p>Mr. Croll, in a series of admirable memoirs, -has attempted to show that a glacial condition -of climate is the result of various physical causes, brought -into operation by an increase in the eccentricity of the -earth’s orbit. All these causes tend toward the same end; -but the most powerful appears to be the indirect influence -of the eccentricity of the orbit upon oceanic currents. -According to Mr. Croll, cold periods regularly recur every -ten to fifteen thousand years; and these at long intervals -are extremely severe, owing to certain contingencies, of -which the most important, as Sir C. Lyell has shown, is -the relative position of the land and water. Mr. Croll -believes that the last great Glacial period occurred about -two hundred and forty thousand years ago, and endured -with slight alterations of climate for about one hundred -and sixty thousand years. With respect to more ancient -Glacial periods, several geologists are convinced from direct -evidence that such occurred during the Miocene and -Eocene formations, not to mention still more ancient formations. -But the most important result for us, arrived -at by Mr. Croll, is that, whenever the northern hemisphere -passes through a cold period, the temperature of the -southern hemisphere is actually raised, with the winters -rendered much milder, chiefly through changes in the -direction of the ocean-currents. So conversely it will be -with the northern hemisphere, while the southern passes -through a glacial period. This conclusion throws so -much light on geographical distribution that I am strongly -inclined to trust in it.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_124">124</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_71">DIFFICULTIES NOT YET REMOVED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 341.</div> - -<p>I am far from supposing that all the difficulties -in regard to the distribution and affinities -of the identical and allied species, which now live so -widely separated in the north and south, and sometimes -on the intermediate mountain-ranges, are removed on the -views above given. The exact lines of migration can not -be indicated. We can not say why certain species and -not others have migrated; why certain species have been -modified and have given rise to new forms, while others -have remained unaltered. We can not hope to explain -such facts, until we can say why one species and not another -becomes naturalized by man’s agency in a foreign -land; why one species ranges twice or thrice as far, and -is twice or thrice as common, as another species within -their own homes.</p> - -<p>Various special difficulties also remain to be solved; -for instance, the occurrence, as shown by Dr. Hooker, of -the same plants at points so enormously remote as Kerguelen -Land, New Zealand, and Fuegia; but icebergs, as -suggested by Lyell, may have been concerned in their -dispersal. The existence at these and other distant points -of the southern hemisphere of species which, though -distinct, belong to genera exclusively confined to the -south, is a more remarkable case. Some of these species -are so distinct that we can not suppose that there has -been time since the commencement of the last Glacial -period for their migration and subsequent modification to -the necessary degree. The facts seem to indicate that -distinct species belonging to the same genera have migrated -in radiating lines from a common center; and I -am inclined to look in the southern, as in the northern -hemisphere, to a former and warmer period, before the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_125">125</span> -commencement of the last Glacial period, when the Antarctic -lands, now covered with ice, supported a highly -peculiar and isolated flora. It may be suspected that, before -this flora was exterminated during the last Glacial -epoch, a few forms had been already widely dispersed to -various points of the southern hemisphere by occasional -means of transport, and by the aid, as halting-places, of -now sunken islands. Thus the southern shores of America, -Australia, and New Zealand, may have become slightly -tinted by the same peculiar forms of life.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_72">IDENTITY OF THE SPECIES OF ISLANDS WITH THOSE OF -THE MAINLAND EXPLAINED ONLY BY THIS THEORY.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 353.</div> - -<p>The most striking and important fact for -us is the affinity of the species which inhabit -islands to those of the nearest mainland, without -being actually the same. Numerous instances could -be given. The Galapagos Archipelago, situated under -the equator, lies at the distance of between five hundred -and six hundred miles from the shores of South America. -Here almost every product of the land and of the water -bears the unmistakable stamp of the American Continent. -There are twenty-six land-birds; of these, twenty-one or -perhaps twenty-three are ranked as distinct species, and -would commonly be assumed to have been here created; -yet the close affinity of most of these birds to American -species is manifest in every character, in their habits, -gestures, and tones of voice. So it is with the other animals, -and with a large proportion of the plants, as shown -by Dr. Hooker in his admirable Flora of this archipelago. -The naturalist, looking at the inhabitants of these volcanic -islands in the Pacific, distant several hundred miles -from the continent, feels that he is standing on American<span class="pagenum" id="Page_126">126</span> -land. Why should this be so? why should the species -which are supposed to have been created in the Galapagos -Archipelago, and nowhere else, bear so plainly the stamp -of affinity to those created in America? There is nothing -in the conditions of life, in the geological nature of the -islands, in their height or climate, or in the proportions -in which the several classes are associated together, which -closely resembles the conditions of the South American -coast; in fact, there is a considerable dissimilarity in all -these respects. On the other hand, there is a considerable -degree of resemblance in the volcanic nature of the -soil, in the climate, height, and size of the islands, between -the Galapagos and Cape de Verd Archipelagos; -but what an entire and absolute difference in their inhabitants! -The inhabitants of the Cape de Verd Islands -are related to those of Africa, like those of the Galapagos -to America. Facts such as these admit of no sort of explanation -on the ordinary view of independent creation; -whereas, on the view here maintained, it is obvious that -the Galapagos Islands would be likely to receive colonists -from America, whether by occasional means of transport -or (though I do not believe in this doctrine) by formerly -continuous land, and the Cape de Verd Islands from -Africa; such colonists would be liable to modification, -the principle of inheritance still betraying their original -birthplace.</p> - -<p>Many analogous facts could be given: indeed, it is an -almost universal rule that the endemic productions of -islands are related to those of the nearest continent, or of -the nearest large island. The exceptions are few, and -most of them can be explained. Thus, although Kerguelen -Land stands nearer to Africa than to America, the -plants are related, and that very closely, as we know from -Dr. Hooker’s account, to those of America: but, on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_127">127</span> -view that this island has been mainly stocked by seeds -brought with earth and stones on icebergs, drifted by the -prevailing currents, this anomaly disappears. New Zealand -in its endemic plants is much more closely related -to Australia, the nearest mainland, than to any other region: -and this is what might have been expected; but -it is also plainly related to South America, which, although -the next nearest continent, is so enormously remote -that the fact becomes an anomaly. But this difficulty -partially disappears on the view that New Zealand, -South America, and the other southern lands have been -stocked in part from a nearly intermediate though distant -point, namely, from the Antarctic islands, when they were -clothed with vegetation, during a warmer tertiary period, -before the commencement of the last Glacial period. The -affinity, which, though feeble, I am assured by Dr. Hooker -is real, between the flora of the southwestern corner of -Australia and of the Cape of Good Hope, is a far more -remarkable case; but this affinity is confined to the -plants, and will, no doubt, some day be explained.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_128">128</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="VII">VII.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">EVIDENCE OF THE DESCENT OF MAN FROM -SOME LOWER FORM.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="sidenote">The Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 5.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">He</span> who wishes to decide whether man is -the modified descendant of some pre-existing -form would probably first inquire whether -man varies, however slightly, in bodily structure and in -mental faculties; and, if so, whether the variations are -transmitted to his offspring in accordance with the laws -which prevail with the lower animals. Again, are the -variations the result, as far as our ignorance permits us to -judge, of the same general causes, and are they governed -by the same general laws, as in the case of other organisms; -for instance, by correlation, the inherited effects of -use and disuse, etc.? Is man subject to similar malconformations, -the result of arrested development, of reduplication -of parts, etc., and does he display in any of his -anomalies reversion to some former and ancient type of -structure? It might also naturally be inquired whether -man, like so many other animals, has given rise to varieties -and sub-races, differing but slightly from each other, -or to races differing so much that they must be classed -as doubtful species. How are such races distributed -over the world; and how, when crossed, do they react on -each other in the first and succeeding generations? And -so with many other points.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">129</span></p> - -<p>The inquirer would next come to the important point -whether man tends to increase at so rapid a rate as to lead -to occasional severe struggles for existence; and consequently -to beneficial variations, whether in body or mind, -being preserved, and injurious ones eliminated. Do the -races or species of men, whichever term may be applied, -encroach on and replace one another, so that some finally -become extinct? We shall see that all these questions, as -indeed is obvious in respect to most of them, must be -answered in the affirmative, in the same manner as with -the lower animals.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_73">POINTS OF CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN MAN AND THE -OTHER ANIMALS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">The Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 6.</div> - -<p>It is notorious that man is constructed on -the same general type or model as other mammals. -All the bones in his skeleton can be -compared with corresponding bones in a monkey, bat, or -seal. So it is with his muscles, nerves, blood-vessels, and -internal viscera. The brain, the most important of all -the organs, follows the same law, as shown by Huxley and -other anatomists. Bischoff, who is a hostile witness, admits -that every chief fissure and fold in the brain of man -has its analogy in that of the orang; but he adds that at -no period of development do their brains perfectly agree; -nor could perfect agreement be expected, for otherwise -their mental powers would have been the same.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Man is liable to receive from the lower animals, and -to communicate to them, certain diseases, as hydrophobia, -variola, the glanders, syphilis, cholera, herpes, etc.; -and this fact proves the close similarity of their tissues -and blood, both in minute structure and composition, far -more plainly than does their comparison under the best<span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">130</span> -microscope, or by the aid of the best chemical analysis. -Monkeys are liable to many of the same non-contagious -diseases as we are; thus Rengger, who carefully observed -for a long time the <i>Cebus Azaræ</i> in its native land, found -it liable to catarrh, with the usual symptoms, and which, -when often recurrent, led to consumption. These monkeys -suffered also from apoplexy, inflammation of the -bowels, and cataract in the eye. The younger ones when -shedding their milk-teeth often died from fever. Medicines -produced the same effect on them as on us. Many -kinds of monkeys have a strong taste for tea, coffee, and -spirituous liquors: they will also, as I have myself seen, -smoke tobacco with pleasure. Brehm asserts that the -natives of Northeastern Africa catch the wild baboons by -exposing vessels with strong beer, by which they are made -drunk. He has seen some of these animals, which he -kept in confinement, in this state; and he gives a laughable -account of their behavior and strange grimaces. On -the following morning they were very cross and dismal; -they held their aching heads with both hands, and wore -a most pitiable expression: when beer or wine was offered -them, they turned away with disgust, but relished the -juice of lemons. An American monkey, an Ateles, after -getting drunk on brandy, would never touch it again, and -thus was wiser than many men. These trifling facts -prove how similar the nerves of taste must be in monkeys -and man, and how similarly their whole nervous system -is affected.</p> - -<p>Man is infested with internal parasites, sometimes -causing fatal effects; and is plagued by external parasites, -all of which belong to the same genera or families -as those infesting other mammals, and in the case of -scabies to the same species. Man is subject, like other -mammals, birds, and even insects, to that mysterious law<span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">131</span> -which causes certain normal processes, such as gestation, -as well as the maturation and duration of various diseases, -to follow lunar periods. His wounds are repaired -by the same process of healing; and the stumps left after -the amputation of his limbs, especially during an early -embryonic period, occasionally possess some power of regeneration, -as in the lowest animals.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 9.</div> - -<p>Man is developed from an ovule, about the -125th of an inch in diameter, which differs in -no respect from the ovules of other animals. The embryo -itself at a very early period can hardly be distinguished -from that of other members of the vertebrate kingdom. -At this period the arteries run in arch-like branches, as if -to carry the blood to branchiæ which are not present in -the higher vertebrata, though the slits on the side of the -neck still remain, marking their former position. At a -somewhat later period, when the extremities are developed, -“the feet of lizards and mammals,” as the illustrious Von -Baer remarks, “the wings and feet of birds, no less than -the hands and feet of man, all arise from the same fundamental -form.” It is, says Professor Huxley, “quite in -the later stages of development that the young human -being presents marked differences from the young ape, -while the latter departs as much from the dog in its developments -as the man does. Startling as this last assertion -may appear to be, it is demonstrably true.”</p> - -<h3 id="sec_74">THE FACTS OF EMBRYOLOGY AND THE THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 386.</div> - -<p>This is one of the most important subjects -(embryology) in the whole round of natural -history. The metamorphoses of insects, with -which every one is familiar, are generally effected abruptly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">132</span> -by a few stages; but the transformations are in reality -numerous and gradual, though concealed. A certain -ephemerous insect (<i>Chlöeon</i>), during its development, -molts, as shown by Sir J. Lubbock, above twenty times, -and each time undergoes a certain amount of change; -and in this case we see the act of metamorphosis performed -in a primary and gradual manner. Many insects, -and especially certain crustaceans, show us what wonderful -changes of structure can be effected during development. -Such changes, however, reach their climax in the -so-called alternate generations of some of the lower animals. -It is, for instance, an astonishing fact that a delicate -branching coralline, studded with polypi and attached -to a submarine rock, should produce, first by budding -and then by transverse division, a host of huge floating -jelly-fishes; and that these should produce eggs, from -which are hatched swimming animalcules, which attach -themselves to rocks, and become developed into branching -corallines; and so on in an endless cycle. The belief -in the essential identity of the process of alternate generation -and of ordinary metamorphosis has been greatly -strengthened by Wagner’s discovery of the larva or maggot -of a fly, namely, the <i>Cecidomyia</i>, producing asexually -other larvæ, and these others, which finally are developed -into mature males and females, propagating their kind in -the ordinary manner by eggs.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 387.</div> - -<p>It has been already stated that various parts -in the same individual, which are exactly alike -during an early embryonic period, become widely different -and serve for widely different purposes in the adult state. -So, again, it has been shown that generally the embryos -of the most distinct species belonging to the same class are -closely similar, but become, when fully developed, widely<span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">133</span> -dissimilar. A better proof of this latter fact can not be -given than the statement by Von Baer that “the embryos -of mammalia, of birds, lizards, and snakes, probably -also of chelonia, are in their earliest states exceedingly -like one another, both as a whole and in the mode -of development of their parts; so much so, in fact, that -we can often distinguish the embryos only by their size. -In my possession are two little embryos in spirit, whose -names I have omitted to attach, and at present I am -quite unable to say to what class they belong. They may -be lizards or small birds, or very young mammalia, so -complete is the similarity in the mode of formation of -the head and trunk in these animals. The extremities, -however, are still absent in these embryos. But, even if -they had existed in the earliest stage of their development, -we should learn nothing, for the feet of lizards and -mammals, the wings and feet of birds, no less than the -hands and feet of man, all arise from the same fundamental -form.” The larvæ of most crustaceans, at corresponding -stages of development, closely resemble each -other, however different the adults may become; and so -it is with very many other animals. A trace of the law of -embryonic resemblance occasionally lasts till a rather late -age: thus birds of the same genus, and of allied genera, -often resemble each other in their immature plumage; as -we see in the spotted feathers in the young of the thrush -group. In the cat tribe, most of the species when adult -are striped or spotted in lines; and stripes or spots can -be plainly distinguished in the whelp of the lion and the -puma. We occasionally though rarely see something of -the same kind in plants; thus the first leaves of the ulex -or furze, and the first leaves of the phyllodineous acacias, -are pinnate or divided like the ordinary leaves of the -<i>Leguminosæ</i>.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">134</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_75">TWO PRINCIPLES THAT EXPLAIN THE FACTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 390.</div> - -<p>How, then, can we explain these several -facts in embryology—namely, the very general, -though not universal, difference in structure between the -embryo and the adult; the various parts in the same individual -embryo, which ultimately become very unlike and -serve for diverse purposes, being at an early period of -growth alike; the common, but not invariable, resemblance -between the embryos or larvæ of the most distinct -species in the same class; the embryo often retaining, -while within the egg or womb, structures which are of no -service to it, either at that or at a later period of life; -on the other hand, larvæ, which have to provide for their -own wants, being perfectly adapted to the surrounding -conditions; and, lastly, the fact of certain larvæ standing -higher in the scale of organization than the mature -animal into which they are developed? I believe that all -these facts can be explained as follows:</p> - -<p>It is commonly assumed, perhaps from monstrosities -affecting the embryo at a very early period, that slight -variations or individual differences necessarily appear at -an equally early period. We have little evidence on this -head, but what we have certainly points the other way; -for it is notorious that breeders of cattle, horses, and -various fancy animals, can not positively tell, until some -time after birth, what will be the merits or demerits of -their young animals. We see this plainly in our own children; -we can not tell whether a child will be tall or short, -or what its precise features will be. The question is not, -at what period of life each variation may have been -caused, but at what period the effects are displayed. The -cause may have acted, and I believe often has acted, on -one or both parents before the act of generation. It deserves<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">135</span> -notice that it is of no importance to a very young -animal, as long as it remains in its mother’s womb or in -the egg, or as long as it is nourished and protected by its -parent, whether most of its characters are acquired a -little earlier or later in life. It would not signify, for instance, -to a bird which obtained its food by having a -much-curved beak whether or not while young it possessed -a beak of this shape, as long as it was fed by its -parents.</p> - -<p>I have stated in the first chapter that at whatever age -a variation first appears in the parent, it tends to reappear -at a corresponding age in the offspring. Certain variations -can only appear at corresponding ages; for instance, -peculiarities in the caterpillar, cocoon, or imago states -of the silk-moth; or, again, in the full-grown horns of -cattle. But variations, which, for all that we can see, -might have first appeared either earlier or later in life, -likewise tend to reappear at a corresponding age in the -offspring and parent. I am far from meaning that this -is invariably the case, and I could give several exceptional -cases of variations (taking the word in the largest sense) -which have supervened at an earlier age in the child than -in the parent.</p> - -<p>These two principles, namely, that slight variations -generally appear at a not very early period of life, and are -inherited at a corresponding not early period, explain, as -I believe, all the above specified leading facts in embryology.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_76">EMBRYOLOGY AGAINST ABRUPT CHANGES.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 203.</div> - -<p>Unless we admit transformations as prodigious -as those advocated by Mr. Mivart, such -as the sudden development of the wings of -birds or bats, or the sudden conversion of a Hipparion<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">136</span> -into a horse, hardly any light is thrown by the belief in -abrupt modifications on the deficiency of connecting links -in our geological formations. But against the belief in -such abrupt changes embryology enters a strong protest. -It is notorious that the wings of birds and bats, and the -legs of horses or other quadrupeds, are undistinguishable -at an early embryonic period, and that they become differentiated -by insensibly fine steps. Embryological resemblances -of all kinds can be accounted for, as we shall -hereafter see, by the progenitors of our existing species -having varied after early youth, and having transmitted -their newly acquired characters to their offspring at a -corresponding age. The embryo is thus left almost unaffected, -and serves as a record of the past condition of -the species. Hence it is that existing species during the -early stages of their development so often resemble ancient -and extinct forms belonging to the same class. On -this view of the meaning of embryological resemblances, -and indeed on any view, it is incredible that an animal -should have undergone such momentous and abrupt transformations -as those above indicated, and yet should not -bear even a trace in its embryonic condition of any sudden -modification, every detail in its structure being developed -by insensibly fine steps.</p> - -<p>He who believes that some ancient form was transformed -suddenly through an internal force or tendency -into, for instance, one furnished with wings, will be almost -compelled to assume, in opposition to all analogy, -that many individuals varied simultaneously. It can not -be denied that such abrupt and great changes of structure -are widely different from those which most species -apparently have undergone. He will further be compelled -to believe that many structures beautifully adapted -to all the other parts of the same creature and to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">137</span> -surrounding conditions, have been suddenly produced; -and of such complex and wonderful coadaptations he -will not be able to assign a shadow of an explanation. -He will be forced to admit that these great and sudden -transformations have left no trace of their action on the -embryo. To admit all this is, as it seems to me, to enter -into the realms of miracle, and to leave those of science.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_77">RUDIMENTARY ORGANS ONLY TO BE EXPLAINED ON THE -THEORY OF DEVELOPMENT.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent of -Man,<br />page 11.</div> - -<p>Not one of the higher animals can be -named which does not bear some part in a -rudimentary condition; and man forms no exception -to the rule. Rudimentary organs must be distinguished -from those that are nascent, though in some -cases the distinction is not easy. The former are either -absolutely useless, such as the mammæ of male quadrupeds, -or the incisor teeth of ruminants which never cut -through the gums; or they are of such slight service to -their present possessors that we can hardly suppose that -they were developed under the conditions which now exist. -Organs in this latter state are not strictly rudimentary, -but they are tending in this direction. Nascent -organs, on the other hand, though not fully developed, -are of high service to their possessors, and are capable of -further development. Rudimentary organs are eminently -variable; and this is partly intelligible, as they are useless, -or nearly useless, and consequently are no longer -subjected to natural selection. They often become wholly -suppressed. When this occurs, they are nevertheless -liable to occasional reappearance through reversion—a -circumstance well worthy of attention.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">138</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 12.</div> - -<p>Rudiments of various muscles have been -observed in many parts of the human body; -and not a few muscles which are regularly present in -some of the lower animals can occasionally be detected in -man in a greatly reduced condition. Every one must -have noticed the power which many animals, especially -horses, possess of moving or twitching their skin; and -this is effected by the <i>panniculus carnosus</i>. Remnants -of this muscle in an efficient state are found in various -parts of our bodies: for instance, the muscle on the forehead, -by which the eyebrows are raised.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 13.</div> - -<p>Some few persons have the power of contracting -the superficial muscles on their scalps; -and these muscles are in a variable and partially rudimentary -condition. M. A. de Candolle has communicated -to me a curious instance of the long-continued persistence -or inheritance of this power, as well as of its unusual -development. He knows a family in which one member, -the present head of the family, could, when a youth, -pitch several heavy books from his head by the movement -of the scalp alone; and he won wagers by performing -this feat. His father, uncle, grandfather, and his three -children possess the same power to the same unusual degree. -This family became divided eight generations ago -into two branches; so that the head of the above-mentioned -branch is cousin in the seventh degree to the head -of the other branch. This distant cousin resides in another -part of France; and, on being asked whether he -possessed the same faculty, immediately exhibited his -power. This case offers a good illustration how persistent -may be the transmission of an absolutely useless -faculty, probably derived from our remote semi-human -progenitors, since many monkeys have, and frequently<span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">139</span> -use, the power of largely moving their scalps up and -down.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 23.</div> - -<p>It is well known that in the males of all -mammals, including man, rudimentary mammæ -exist. These in several instances have become well -developed, and have yielded a copious supply of milk. -Their essential identity in the two sexes is likewise shown -by their occasional sympathetic enlargement in both during -an attack of the measles.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_78">“NO OTHER EXPLANATION HAS EVER BEEN GIVEN.”</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 24.</div> - -<p>The homological construction of the whole -frame in the members of the same class is -intelligible, if we admit their descent from a common -progenitor, together with their subsequent adaptation to -diversified conditions. On any other view, the similarity -of pattern between the hand of a man or monkey, the -foot of a horse, the flipper of a seal, the wing of a bat, -etc., is utterly inexplicable. It is no scientific explanation -to assert that they have all been formed on the same -ideal plan. With respect to development, we can clearly -understand, on the principle of variations supervening at -a rather late embryonic period, and being inherited at a -corresponding period, how it is that the embryos of wonderfully -different forms should still retain, more or less -perfectly, the structure of their common progenitor. No -other explanation has ever been given of the marvelous -fact that the embryos of a man, dog, seal, bat, reptile, -etc., can at first hardly be distinguished from each other. -In order to understand the existence of rudimentary -organs, we have only to suppose that a former progenitor -possessed the parts in question in a perfect state, and that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">140</span> -under changed habits of life they became greatly reduced, -either from simple disuse or through the natural selection -of those individuals which were least encumbered with a -superfluous part, aided by the other means previously -indicated.</p> - -<p>Thus we can understand how it has come to pass that -man and all other vertebrate animals have been constructed -on the same general model, why they pass -through the same early stages of development, and why -they retain certain rudiments in common. Consequently -we ought frankly to admit their community of descent; -to take any other view is to admit that our own structure, -and that of all the animals around us, is a mere snare -laid to entrap our judgment. This conclusion is greatly -strengthened, if we look to the members of the whole -animal series, and consider the evidence derived from -their affinities or classification, their geographical distribution, -and geological succession. It is only our natural -prejudice and that arrogance which made our forefathers -declare that they were descended from demi-gods which -leads us to demur to this conclusion. But the time will -before long come when it will be thought wonderful that -naturalists, who were well acquainted with the comparative -structure and development of man and other mammals, -should have believed that each was the work of a -separate act of creation.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_79">UNITY OF TYPE EXPLAINED BY RELATIONSHIP.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 382.</div> - -<p>We have seen that the members of the same -class, independently of their habits of life, resemble -each other in the general plan of their -organization. This resemblance is often expressed by the -term “unity of type”; or by saying that the several<span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">141</span> -parts and organs in the different species of the class are -homologous. The whole subject is included under the -general term of Morphology. This is one of the most interesting -departments of natural history, and may almost -be said to be its very soul. What can be more curious -than that the hand of a man, formed for grasping, that -of a mole for digging, the leg of the horse, the paddle of -the porpoise, and the wing of the bat, should all be constructed -on the same pattern, and should include similar -bones, in the same relative positions? How curious it is, -to give a subordinate though striking instance, that the -hind-feet of the kangaroo, which are so well fitted for -bounding over the open plains, those of the climbing, -leaf-eating koala, equally well fitted for grasping the -branches of trees, those of the ground-dwelling, insect or -root eating, bandicoots, and those of some other Australian -marsupials, should all be constructed on the same extraordinary -type, namely, with the bones of the second -and third digits extremely slender and enveloped within -the same skin, so that they appear like a single toe furnished -with two claws! Notwithstanding this similarity -of pattern, it is obvious that the hind-feet of these several -animals are used for as widely different purposes as it is -possible to conceive. The case is rendered all the more -striking by the American opossums, which follow nearly -the same habits of life as some of their Australian relatives, -having feet constructed on the ordinary plan. Professor -Flower, from whom these statements are taken, -remarks in conclusion, “We may call this conformity to -type, without getting much nearer to an explanation of -the phenomenon”; and he then adds, “but is it not -powerfully suggestive of true relationship, of inheritance -from a common ancestor?”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">142</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_80">INEXPLICABLE ON THE ORDINARY VIEW OF CREATION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 384.</div> - -<p>How inexplicable are the cases of serial -homologies on the ordinary view of creation! -Why should the brain be inclosed in a box composed of -such numerous and such extraordinarily shaped pieces of -bone, apparently representing vertebræ? As Owen has remarked, -the benefit derived from the yielding of the separate -pieces in the act of parturition by mammals will by -no means explain the same construction in the skulls of -birds and reptiles. Why should similar bones have been -created to form the wing and the leg of a bat, used as -they are for such totally different purposes, namely, flying -and walking? Why should one crustacean, which -has an extremely complex mouth formed of many parts, -consequently always have fewer legs; or conversely, those -with many legs have simpler mouths? Why should the -sepals, petals, stamens, and pistils, in each flower, though -fitted for such distinct purposes, be all constructed on the -same pattern?</p> - -<p>On the theory of natural selection, we can, to a certain -extent, answer these questions. We need not here -consider how the bodies of some animals first became divided -into a series of segments, or how they became divided -into right and left sides, with corresponding organs, -for such questions are almost beyond investigation. It is, -however, probable that some serial structures are the result -of cells multiplying by division, entailing the multiplication -of the parts developed from such cells. It must -suffice for our purpose to bear in mind that an indefinite -repetition of the same part or organ is the common characteristic, -as Owen has remarked, of all low or little specialized -forms; therefore the unknown progenitor of the -Vertebrata probably possessed many vertebræ; the unknown<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">143</span> -progenitor of the Articulata, many segments; and -the unknown progenitor of flowering plants, many leaves -arranged in one or more spires. We have also formerly -seen that parts many times repeated are eminently liable -to vary, not only in number, but in form. Consequently -such parts being already present in considerable numbers, -and being highly variable, would naturally afford the -materials for adaptation to the most different purposes; -yet they would generally retain, through the force of inheritance, -plain traces of their original or fundamental -resemblance. They would retain this resemblance all the -more, as the variations, which afforded the basis for their -subsequent modification through natural selection, would -tend from the first to be similar, the parts being at an -early stage of growth alike, and being subjected to nearly -the same conditions. Such parts, whether more or less -modified, unless their common origin became wholly obscured, -would be serially homologous.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_81">DESCENT WITH MODIFICATION THE ONLY EXPLANATION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 400.</div> - -<p>In works on natural history, rudimentary -organs are generally said to have been created -“for the sake of symmetry,” or in order “to -complete the scheme of Nature.” But this is not an explanation, -merely a restatement of the fact. Nor is it -consistent with itself: thus the boa-constrictor has rudiments -of hind-limbs and of a pelvis, and if it be said that -these bones have been retained “to complete the scheme -of Nature,” why, as Professor Weismann asks, have they -not been retained by other snakes, which do not possess -even a vestige of these same bones? What would be -thought of an astronomer who maintained that the satellites -revolve in elliptic courses round their planets “for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">144</span> -the sake of symmetry,” because the planets thus revolve -round the sun? An eminent physiologist accounts for -the presence of rudimentary organs, by supposing that -they serve to excrete matter in excess, or matter injurious -to the system; but can we suppose that the minute papilla, -which often represents the pistil in male flowers, -and which is formed of mere cellular tissue, can thus act? -Can we suppose that rudimentary teeth, which are subsequently -absorbed, are beneficial to the rapidly growing -embryonic calf by removing matter so precious as phosphate -of lime? When a man’s fingers have been amputated, -imperfect nails have been known to appear on the -stumps, and I could as soon believe that these vestiges of -nails are developed in order to excrete horny matter, as -that the rudimentary nails on the fin of the manatee have -been developed for this same purpose.</p> - -<p>On the view of descent with modification, the origin -of rudimentary organs is comparatively simple; and we -can understand to a large extent the laws governing their -imperfect development.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_82">THE HISTORY OF LIFE ON THE THEORY OF DESCENT -WITH MODIFICATION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 424.</div> - -<p>Organs in a rudimentary condition plainly -show that an early progenitor had the organ -in a fully-developed condition; and this in -some cases implies an enormous amount of modification -in the descendants. Throughout whole classes various -structures are formed on the same pattern, and at a very -early age the embryos closely resemble each other. Therefore -I can not doubt that the theory of descent with modification -embraces all the members of the same great class -or kingdom. I believe that animals are descended from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">145</span> -at most only four or five progenitors, and plants from an -equal or lesser number.</p> - -<p>Analogy would lead me one step further, namely, to -the belief that all animals and plants are descended from -some one prototype. But analogy may be a deceitful -guide. Nevertheless, all living things have much in common, -in their chemical composition, their cellular structure, -their laws of growth, and their liability to injurious -influences. We see this even in so trifling a fact as that -the same poison often similarly affects plants and animals; -or that the poison secreted by the gall-fly produces -monstrous growths on the wild-rose or oak-tree. With -all organic beings, excepting, perhaps, some of the very -lowest, sexual reproduction seems to be essentially similar. -With all, as far as is at present known, the germinal -vesicle is the same; so that all organisms start from a -common origin. If we look even to the two main divisions—namely, -to the animal and vegetable kingdoms—certain -low forms are so far intermediate in character -that naturalists have disputed to which kingdom they -should be referred. As Professor Asa Gray has remarked, -“the spores and other reproductive bodies of -many of the lower algæ may claim to have first a characteristically -animal, and then an unequivocally vegetable -existence.” Therefore, on the principle of natural selection -with divergence of character, it does not seem incredible -that, from some such low and intermediate form, -both animals and plants may have been developed; and, -if we admit this, we must likewise admit that all the -organic beings which have ever lived on this earth may -be descended from some one primordial form. But this -inference is chiefly grounded on analogy, and it is immaterial -whether or not it be accepted.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">146</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 420.</div> - -<p>On the view of each organism with all its -separate parts having been specially created, -how utterly inexplicable is it that organs bearing the -plain stamp of inutility, such as the teeth in the embryonic -calf, or the shriveled wings under the soldered wing-covers -of many beetles, should so frequently occur! Nature -may be said to have taken pains to reveal her scheme -of modification, by means of rudimentary organs, of embryological -and homologous structures, but we are too -blind to understand her meaning.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_83">LETTERS RETAINED IN THE SPELLING BUT USELESS IN -PRONUNCIATION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 401.</div> - -<p>There remains, however, this difficulty. -After an organ has ceased being used, and has -become in consequence much reduced, how -can it be still further reduced in size until the merest -vestige is left; and how can it be finally quite obliterated? -It is scarcely possible that disuse can go on producing any -further effect after the organ has once been rendered -functionless. Some additional explanation is here requisite -which I can not give. If, for instance, it could be -proved that every part of the organization tends to vary -in a greater degree toward diminution than toward augmentation -of size, then we should be able to understand -how an organ which has become useless would be rendered, -independently of the effects of disuse, rudimentary, -and would at last be wholly suppressed; for the variations -toward diminished size would no longer be checked by -natural selection. The principle of the economy of -growth, explained in a former chapter, by which the materials -forming any part, if not useful to the possessor, -are saved as far as is possible, will perhaps come into play<span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">147</span> -in rendering a useless part rudimentary. But this principle -will almost necessarily be confined to the earlier -stages of the process of reduction; for we can not suppose -that a minute papilla, for instance, representing in -a male flower the pistil of the female flower, and formed -merely of cellular tissue, could be further reduced or -absorbed for the sake of economizing nutriment.</p> - -<p>Finally, as rudimentary organs, by whatever steps -they may have been degraded into their present useless -condition, are the record of a former state of things, and -have been retained solely through the power of inheritance, -we can understand, on the genealogical view of -classification, how it is that systematists, in placing organisms -in their proper places in the natural system, -have often found rudimentary parts as useful as, or even -sometimes more useful than, parts of high physiological -importance. Rudimentary organs may be compared with -the letters in a word, still retained in the spelling, but -become useless in the pronunciation, but which serve as -a clew for its derivation. On the view of descent with -modification, we may conclude that the existence of organs -in a rudimentary, imperfect, and useless condition, or -quite aborted, far from presenting a strange difficulty, as -they assuredly do on the old doctrine of creation, might -even have been anticipated in accordance with the views -here explained.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_84">MAN’S DEFICIENCY IN TAIL.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 58.</div> - -<p>According to a popular impression, the absence -of a tail is eminently distinctive of man; -but, as those apes which come nearest to him -are destitute of this organ, its disappearance does not -relate exclusively to man. The tail often differs remarkably<span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">148</span> -in length within the same genus: thus in some species -of <i>Macacus</i> it is longer than the whole body, and is -formed of twenty-four vertebræ; in others it consists of -a scarcely visible stump, containing only three or four -vertebræ. In some kinds of baboons there are twenty-five, -while in the mandrill there are ten very small stunted caudal -vertebræ, or, according to Cuvier, sometimes only five. -The tail, whether it be long or short, almost always tapers -toward the end; and this, I presume, results from the -atrophy of the terminal muscles, together with their arteries -and nerves, through disuse, leading to the atrophy -of the terminal bones. But no explanation can at present -be given of the great diversity which often occurs in its -length. Here, however, we are more specially concerned -with the complete external disappearance of the tail. -Professor Broca has recently shown that the tail in all -quadrupeds consists of two portions, generally separated -abruptly from each other; the basal portion consists of -vertebræ, more or less perfectly channeled and furnished -with apophyses like ordinary vertebræ; whereas those -of the terminal portion are not channeled, are almost -smooth, and scarcely resemble true vertebræ. A tail, -though not externally visible, is really present in man -and the anthropomorphous apes, and is constructed on -exactly the same pattern in both. In the terminal portion -the vertebræ, constituting the <i>os coccyx</i>, are quite -rudimentary, being much reduced in size and number. -In the basal portion, the vertebræ are likewise few, are -united firmly together, and are arrested in development; -but they have been rendered much broader and flatter -than the corresponding vertebræ in the tails of other animals; -they constitute what Broca calls the accessory -sacral vertebræ. These are of functional importance by -supporting certain internal parts and in other ways; and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">149</span> -their modification is directly connected with the erect or -semi-erect attitude of man and the anthropomorphous -apes. This conclusion is the more trustworthy, as Broca -formerly held a different view, which he has now abandoned. -The modification, therefore, of the basal caudal -vertebræ in man and the higher apes may have been effected, -directly or indirectly, through natural selection.</p> - -<p>But what are we to say about the rudimentary and -variable vertebræ of the terminal portion of the tail, -forming the <i>os coccyx</i>? A notion which has often been, -and will no doubt again be ridiculed, namely, that friction -has had something to do with the disappearance of -the external portion of the tail, is not so ridiculous as it -at first appears. Dr. Anderson states that the extremely -short tail of <i>Macacus brunneus</i> is formed of eleven vertebræ, -including the imbedded basal ones. The extremity -is tendinous and contains no vertebræ; this is succeeded -by five rudimentary ones, so minute that together they -are only one line and a half in length, and these are permanently -bent to one side in the shape of a hook. The -free part of the tail, only a little above an inch in length, -includes only four more small vertebræ. This short tail -is carried erect; but about a quarter of its total length is -doubled on to itself to the left; and this terminal part, -which includes the hook-like portion, serves “to fill up -the interspace between the upper divergent portion of the -callosities”; so that the animal sits on it, and thus renders -it rough and callous.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_85">POINTS OF RESEMBLANCE BETWEEN MAN AND MONKEY.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 150.</div> - -<p>As small unimportant points of resemblance -between man and the <i>Quadrumana</i> are -not commonly noticed in systematic works, -and as, when numerous, they clearly reveal our relationship,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">150</span> -I will specify a few such points. The relative position -of our features is manifestly the same; and the various -emotions are displayed by nearly similar movements -of the muscles and skin, chiefly above the eyebrows and -round the mouth. Some few expressions are, indeed, -almost the same, as in the weeping of certain kinds of -monkeys and in the laughing noise made by others, during -which the corners of the mouth are drawn backward, -and the lower eyelids wrinkled. The external ears are -curiously alike. In man the nose is much more prominent -than in most monkeys; but we may trace the commencement -of an aquiline curvature in the nose of the Hoolock -Gibbon; and this in the <i>Semnopithecus nasica</i> is carried -to a ridiculous extreme.</p> - -<p>The faces of many monkeys are ornamented with -beards, whiskers, or mustaches. The hair on the head -grows to a great length in some species of Semnopithecus; -and in the Bonnet monkey (<i>Macacus radiatus</i>) it -radiates from a point on the crown, with a parting down -the middle. It is commonly said that the forehead gives -to man his noble and intellectual appearance; but the -thick hair on the head of the Bonnet monkey terminates -downward abruptly, and is succeeded by hair so short and -fine that at a little distance the forehead, with the exception -of the eyebrows, appears quite naked. It has been -erroneously asserted that eyebrows are not present in any -monkey. In the species just named the degree of nakedness -of the forehead differs in different individuals; and -Eschricht states that in our children the limit between -the hairy scalp and the naked forehead is sometimes not -well defined; so that here we seem to have a trifling case -of reversion to a progenitor, in whom the forehead had -not as yet become quite naked.</p> - -<p>It is well known that the hair on our arms tends to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">151</span> -converge from above and below to a point at the elbow. -This curious arrangement, so unlike that in most of the -lower mammals, is common to the gorilla, chimpanzee, -orang, some species of Hylobates, and even to some few -American monkeys. But in <i>Hylobates agilis</i> the hair on -the fore-arm is directed downward or toward the wrist in -the ordinary manner; and in <i>H. lar</i> it is nearly erect, -with only a very slight forward inclination; so that in -this latter species it is in a transitional state. It can -hardly be doubted that with most mammals the thickness -of the hair on the back and its direction are adapted to -throw off the rain; even the transverse hairs on the forelegs -of a dog may serve for this end when he is coiled -up asleep. Mr. Wallace, who has carefully studied the -habits of the orang, remarks that the convergence of the -hair toward the elbow on the arms of the orang may be -explained as serving to throw off the rain, for this animal -during rainy weather sits with its arms bent, and with -the hands clasped round a branch or over its head. According -to Livingstone, the gorilla also “sits in pelting -rain with his hands over his head.” If the above explanation -is correct, as seems probable, the direction of -the hair on our own arms offers a curious record of our -former state; for no one supposes that it is now of any -use in throwing off the rain; nor, in our present erect -condition, is it properly directed for this purpose.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 152.</div> - -<p>It must not be supposed that the resemblances -between man and certain apes in the -above and many other points—such as in having a naked -forehead, long tresses on the head, etc.—are all necessarily -the result of unbroken inheritance from a common progenitor, -or of subsequent reversion. Many of these resemblances -are more probably due to analogous variation,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">152</span> -which follows, as I have elsewhere attempted to show, -from co-descended organisms having a similar constitution, -and having been acted on by like causes inducing similar -modifications. With respect to the similar direction of -the hair on the fore-arms of man and certain monkeys, -as this character is common to almost all the anthropomorphous -apes, it may probably be attributed to inheritance; -but this is not certain, as some very distinct American -monkeys are thus characterized.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_86">VARIABILITY OF MAN.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 26.</div> - -<p>It is manifest that man is now subject to -much variability. No two individuals of the -same race are quite alike. We may compare -millions of faces, and each will be distinct. There is an -equally great amount of diversity in the proportions and -dimensions of the various parts of the body, the length -of the legs being one of the most variable points. Although -in some quarters of the world an elongated skull, -and in other quarters a short skull prevails, yet there is -great diversity of shape even within the limits of the -same race, as with the aborigines of America and South -Australia—the latter a race “probably as pure and homogeneous -in blood, customs, and language as any in -existence”—and even with the inhabitants of so confined -an area as the Sandwich Islands. An eminent dentist -assures me that there is nearly as much diversity in the -teeth as in the features. The chief arteries so frequently -run in abnormal courses, that it has been found useful -for surgical purposes to calculate from 1,040 corpses how -often each course prevails. The muscles are eminently -variable: thus those of the foot were found by Professor -Turner not to be strictly alike in any two out of fifty<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">153</span> -bodies; and in some the deviations were considerable. -He adds that the power of performing the appropriate -movements must have been modified in accordance with -the several deviations. Mr. J. Wood has recorded the -occurrence of 295 muscular variations in thirty-six subjects, -and in another set of the same number no less than -558 variations, those occurring on both sides of the body -being only reckoned as one. In the last set, not one body -out of the thirty-six was “found totally wanting in departures -from the standard descriptions of the muscular -system given in anatomical text-books.” A single body -presented the extraordinary number of twenty-five distinct -abnormalities. The same muscle sometimes varies -in many ways: thus Professor Macalister describes no -less than twenty distinct variations in the <i>palmaris accessorius</i>.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_87">CAUSES OF VARIABILITY IN DOMESTICATED MAN.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 28.</div> - -<p>With respect to the causes of variability, -we are in all cases very ignorant; but we can -see that in man, as in the lower animals, they -stand in some relation to the conditions to which each -species has been exposed during several generations. Domesticated -animals vary more than those in a state of -nature; and this is apparently due to the diversified and -changing nature of the conditions to which they have -been subjected. In this respect the different races of -man resemble domesticated animals, and so do the individuals -of the same race, when inhabiting a very wide -area, like that of America. We see the influence of diversified -conditions in the more civilized nations; for the -members belonging to different grades of rank, and following -different occupations, present a greater range of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">154</span> -character than do the members of barbarous nations. -But the uniformity of savages has often been exaggerated, -and in some cases can hardly be said to exist. It is, -nevertheless, an error to speak of man, even if we look -only to the conditions to which he has been exposed, as -“far more domesticated” than any other animal. Some -savage races, such as the Australians, are not exposed to -more diversified conditions than are many species which -have a wide range. In another and much more important -respect, man differs widely from any strictly domesticated -animal; for his breeding has never long been controlled, -either by methodical or unconscious selection. -No race or body of men has been so completely subjugated -by other men as that certain individuals should be -preserved, and thus unconsciously selected, from somehow -excelling in utility to their masters. Nor have certain -male and female individuals been intentionally picked -out and matched, except in the well-known case of the -Prussian grenadiers; and in this case man obeyed, as -might have been expected, the law of methodical selection; -for it is asserted that many tall men were reared -in the villages inhabited by the grenadiers and their tall -wives. In Sparta, also, a form of selection was followed, -for it was enacted that all children should be examined -shortly after birth; the well-formed and vigorous being -preserved, the others left to perish.</p> - -<p>If we consider all the races of man as forming a single -species, his range is enormous; but some separate races, -as the Americans and Polynesians, have very wide ranges. -It is a well-known law that widely-ranging species are -much more variable than species with restricted ranges; -and the variability of man may with more truth be compared -with that of widely-ranging species than with that -of domesticated animals.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">155</span></p> - -<p>Not only does variability appear to be induced in man -and the lower animals by the same general causes, but in -both the same parts of the body are affected in a closely -analogous manner.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_88">ACTION OF CHANGED CONDITIONS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 30.</div> - -<p>This is a most perplexing subject. It can -not be denied that changed conditions produce -some, and occasionally a considerable, effect on organisms -of all kinds; and it seems at first probable that -if sufficient time were allowed this would be the invariable -result. But I have failed to obtain clear evidence in favor -of this conclusion; and valid reasons may be urged on -the other side, at least as far as the innumerable structures -are concerned, which are adapted for special ends. -There can, however, be no doubt that changed conditions -induce an almost indefinite amount of fluctuating variability, -by which the whole organization is rendered in -some degree plastic.</p> - -<p>In the United States, above one million soldiers, -who served in the late war, were measured, and the States -in which they were born and reared were recorded. -From this astonishing number of observations it is -proved that local influences of some kind act directly on -stature; and we further learn that “the State where -the physical growth has in great measure taken place, and -the State of birth, which indicates the ancestry, seem to -exert a marked influence on the stature.” For instance, -it is established that “residence in the Western States, -during the years of growth, tends to produce increase of -stature.” On the other hand, it is certain that, with -sailors, their life delays growth, as shown “by the great -difference between the statures of soldiers and sailors at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">156</span> -the ages of seventeen and eighteen years.” Mr. B. A. -Gould endeavored to ascertain the nature of the influences -which thus act on stature; but he arrived only at negative -results, namely, that they did not relate to climate, -the elevation of the land, soil, nor even “in any controlling -degree” to the abundance or the need of the comforts -of life. This latter conclusion is directly opposed to that -arrived at by Villermé, from the statistics of the height -of the conscripts in different parts of France. When we -compare the differences in stature between the Polynesian -chiefs and the lower orders within the same islands, or -between the inhabitants of the fertile volcanic and low -barren coral islands of the same ocean, or, again, between -the Fuegians on the eastern and western shores of their -country, where the means of subsistence are very different, -it is scarcely possible to avoid the conclusion that -better food and greater comfort do influence stature. But -the preceding statements show how difficult it is to arrive -at any precise result. Dr. Beddoe has lately proved that, -with the inhabitants of Britain, residence in towns and -certain occupations have a deteriorating influence on -height; and he infers that the result is to a certain extent -inherited, as is likewise the case in the United States. -Dr. Beddoe further believes that, wherever a “race attains -its maximum of physical development, it rises highest in -energy and moral vigor.”</p> - -<h3 id="sec_89">THE INHERITED EFFECTS OF THE INCREASED AND DIMINISHED -USE OF PARTS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 32.</div> - -<p>It is well known that use strengthens the -muscles in the individual, and complete disuse, -or the destruction of the proper nerve, -weakens them. When the eye is destroyed, the optic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">157</span> -nerve often becomes atrophied. When an artery is tied, -the lateral channels increase not only in diameter, but in -the thickness and strength of their coats. When one -kidney ceases to act from disease, the other increases in -size, and does double work. Bones increase not only in -thickness, but in length, from carrying a greater weight. -Different occupations, habitually followed, lead to changed -proportions in various parts of the body. Thus it was -ascertained by the United States commission that the -legs of the sailors employed in the late war were longer -by O·217 of an inch than those of the soldiers, though the -sailors were on an average shorter men; while their arms -were shorter by 1·09 of an inch, and therefore, out of -proportion, shorter in relation to their lesser height. This -shortness of the arms is apparently due to their greater -use, and is an unexpected result; but sailors chiefly use -their arms in pulling, and not in supporting weights. -With sailors, the girth of the neck and the depth of the -instep are greater, while the circumference of the chest, -waist, and hips is less, than in soldiers.</p> - -<p>Whether the several foregoing modifications would -become hereditary, if the same habits of life were followed -during many generations, is not known, but it is -probable.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 33.</div> - -<p>In infants, long before birth, the skin on -the soles of the feet is thicker than on any -other part of the body; and it can hardly be doubted that -this is due to the inherited effects of pressure during -a long series of generations.</p> - -<p>It is familiar to every one that watchmakers and engravers -are liable to be short-sighted, while men living -much out-of-doors, and especially savages, are generally -long-sighted. Short-sight and long-sight certainly tend<span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">158</span> -to be inherited. The inferiority of Europeans, in comparison -with savages, in eye-sight and in the other senses, -is no doubt the accumulated and transmitted effect of -lessened use during many generations.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 35.</div> - -<p>Although man may not have been much -modified during the latter stages of his existence -through the increased or decreased use of parts, the -facts now given show that his liability in this respect has -not been lost; and we positively know that the same law -holds good with the lower animals. Consequently we -may infer that when at a remote epoch the progenitors -of man were in a transitional state, and were changing -from quadrupeds into bipeds, natural selection would -probably have been greatly aided by the inherited effects -of the increased or diminished use of the different parts -of the body.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_90">REVERSION AS A FACTOR IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAN.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 40.</div> - -<p>In man, the canine teeth are perfectly efficient -instruments for mastication. But their -true canine character, as Owen remarks, “is -indicated by the conical form of the crown, which terminates -in an obtuse point, is convex outward and flat or -sub-concave within, at the base of which surface there is -a feeble prominence. The conical form is best expressed -in the Melanian races, especially the Australian. The -canine is more deeply implanted, and by a stronger fang -than the incisors.” Nevertheless, this tooth no longer -serves man as a special weapon for tearing his enemies -or prey; it may, therefore, as far as its proper function -is concerned, be considered as rudimentary. In every -large collection of human skulls some may be found, as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">159</span> -Häckel observes, with the canine teeth projecting considerably -beyond the others in the same manner as in the -anthropomorphous apes, but in a less degree. In these -cases, open spaces between the teeth in the one jaw are -left for the reception of the canines of the opposite jaw. -An interspace of this kind in a Caffre skull, figured by -Wagner, is surprisingly wide. Considering how few are -the ancient skulls which have been examined, compared -to recent skulls, it is an interesting fact that in at least -three cases the canines project largely; and in the Naulette -jaw they are spoken of as enormous.</p> - -<p>Of the anthropomorphous apes the males alone have -their canines fully developed; but in the female gorilla, -and in a less degree in the female orang, these teeth project -considerably beyond the others: therefore the fact, -of which I have been assured, that women sometimes -have considerably projecting canines, is no serious objection -to the belief that their occasional great development -in man is a case of reversion to an ape-like progenitor. -He who rejects with scorn the belief that the shape of his -own canines and their occasional great development in -other men are due to our early forefathers having been -provided with these formidable weapons, will probably -reveal, by sneering, the line of his descent. For, though -he no longer intends, nor has the power, to use these -teeth as weapons, he will unconsciously retract his “snarling -muscles” (thus named by Sir C. Bell), so as to expose -them ready for action, like a dog prepared to fight.</p> - -<p>Many muscles are occasionally developed in man, -which are proper to the <i>Quadrumana</i> or other mammals. -Professor Vlacovich examined forty male subjects, and -found a muscle, called by him the ischio-pubic, in nineteen -of them; in three others there was a ligament which -represented this muscle; and in the remaining eighteen<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">160</span> -no trace of it. In only two out of thirty female subjects -was this muscle developed on both sides, but in three -others the rudimentary ligament was present. This -muscle, therefore, appears to be much more common in -the male than in the female sex; and on the belief in the -descent of man from some lower form the fact is intelligible; -for it has been detected in several of the lower -animals, and in all of these it serves exclusively to aid the -male in the act of reproduction.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 43.</div> - -<p>That this unknown factor is reversion to a -former state of existence may be admitted as -in the highest degree probable. It is quite incredible that -a man should through mere accident abnormally resemble -certain apes in no less than seven of his muscles, if there -had been no genetic connection between them. On the -other hand, if man is descended from some ape-like creature, -no valid reason can be assigned why certain muscles -should not suddenly reappear after an interval of many -thousand generations, in the same manner as with horses, -asses, and mules, dark-colored stripes suddenly reappear -on the legs and shoulders, after an interval of hundreds, -or more probably of thousands, of generations.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_91">REVERSION IN THE HUMAN FAMILY.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants,<br />vol. ii, page 1.</div> - -<p>When the child resembles either grandparent -more closely than its immediate parents, -our attention is not much arrested, though in -truth the fact is highly remarkable; but when the child -resembles some remote ancestor or some distant member -in a collateral line—and in the last case we must attribute -this to the descent of all the members from a common -progenitor—we feel a just degree of astonishment. When<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">161</span> -one parent alone displays some newly-acquired and generally -inheritable character, and the offspring do not inherit -it, the cause may lie in the other parent having the -power of prepotent transmission. But when both parents -are similarly characterized, and the child does not, whatever -the cause may be, inherit the character in question, -but resembles its grandparents, we have one of the simplest -cases of reversion. We continually see another -and even more simple case of atavism, though not generally -included under this head, namely, when the son -more closely resembles his maternal than his paternal -grandsire in some male attribute, as in any peculiarity in -the beard of man, the horns of the bull, the hackles or -comb of the cock, or, as in certain diseases necessarily -confined to the male sex; for, as the mother can not possess -or exhibit such male attributes, the child must inherit -them, through her blood, from his maternal grandsire.</p> - -<p>The cases of reversion may be divided into two main -classes, which, however, in some instances, blend into one -another; namely, first, those occurring in a variety or race -which has not been crossed, but has lost by variation some -character that it formerly possessed, and which afterward -reappears. The second class includes all cases in which -an individual with some distinguishable character, a race, -or species, has at some former period been crossed, and -a character derived from this cross, after having disappeared -during one or several generations, suddenly reappears.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 21.</div> - -<p>From these facts we may perhaps infer that -the degraded state of so many half-castes is in -part due to reversion to a primitive and savage condition, -induced by the act of crossing, even if mainly due to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">162</span> -unfavorable moral conditions under which they are generally -reared.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_92">PREPOTENCE IN THE TRANSMISSION OF CHARACTER.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants,<br />vol. ii, page 40.</div> - -<p>When individuals, belonging to the same -family, but distinct enough to be recognized, -or when two well-marked races, or two species, -are crossed, the usual result, as stated in the previous -chapter, is, that the offspring in the first generation -are intermediate between their parents, or resemble -one parent in one part and the other parent in another -part. But this is by no means the invariable rule, for in -many cases it is found that certain individuals, races, and -species, are prepotent in transmitting their likeness. This -subject has been ably discussed by Prosper Lucas, but is -rendered extremely complex by the prepotency sometimes -running equally in both sexes, and sometimes more -strongly in one sex than in the other; it is likewise complicated -by the presence of secondary sexual characters, -which render the comparison of crossed breeds with their -parents difficult.</p> - -<p>It would appear that in certain families some one ancestor, -and after him others in the same family, have had -great power in transmitting their likeness through the -male line; for we can not otherwise understand how the -same features should so often be transmitted after marriages -with many females, as in the case of the Austrian -emperors; and so it was, according to Niebuhr, with the -mental qualities of certain Roman families. The famous -bull Favorite is believed to have had a prepotent influence -on the short-horn race. It has also been observed -with English race-horses that certain mares have generally -transmitted their own character, while other mares of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">163</span> -equally pure blood have allowed the character of the sire -to prevail. A famous black greyhound, Bedlamite, as I -hear from Mr. C. M. Brown, “invariably got all his puppies -black, no matter what was the color of the bitch”; -but then Bedlamite “had a preponderance of black in -his blood, both on the sire and dam side.”</p> - -<h3 id="sec_93">NATURAL SELECTION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF MAN.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 48.</div> - -<p>Man in the rudest state in which he now -exists is the most dominant animal that has -ever appeared on this earth. He has spread -more widely than any other highly organized form; and -all others have yielded before him. He manifestly owes -this immense superiority to his intellectual faculties, to -his social habits, which lead him to aid and defend his -fellows, and to his corporeal structure. The supreme -importance of these characters has been proved by the -final arbitrament of the battle for life. Through his -powers of intellect, articulate language has been evolved; -and on this his wonderful advancement has mainly depended. -As Mr. Chauncey Wright remarks: “A psychological -analysis of the faculty of language shows that -even the smallest proficiency in it might require more -brain-power than the greatest proficiency in any other -direction.” He has invented and is able to use various -weapons, tools, traps, etc., with which he defends himself, -kills or catches prey, and otherwise obtains food. -He has made rafts or canoes for fishing or crossing over to -neighboring fertile islands. He has discovered the art of -making fire, by which hard and stringy roots can be rendered -digestible, and poisonous roots or herbs innocuous. -This discovery of fire, probably the greatest ever made by -man, excepting language, dates from before the dawn of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">164</span> -history. These several inventions, by which man in the -rudest state has become so pre-eminent, are the direct -results of the development of his powers of observation, -memory, curiosity, imagination, and reason.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 50.</div> - -<p>Archæologists are convinced that an enormous -interval of time elapsed before our ancestors -thought of grinding chipped flints into smooth -tools. One can hardly doubt that a man-like animal -who possessed a hand and arm sufficiently perfect to -throw a stone with precision, or to form a flint into a -rude tool, could, with sufficient practice, as far as mechanical -skill alone is concerned, make almost anything -which a civilized man can make. The structure of the -hand in this respect may be compared with that of the -vocal organs, which in the apes are used for uttering -various signal-cries, or, as in one genus, musical cadences; -but in man the closely similar vocal organs have become -adapted through the inherited effects of use for the utterance -of articulate language.</p> - -<p>Turning now to the nearest allies of men, and therefore -to the best representatives of our early progenitors, -we find that the hands of the <i>Quadrumana</i> are constructed -on the same general pattern as our own, but are far less -perfectly adapted for diversified uses. Their hands do -not serve for locomotion so well as the feet of a dog; as -may be seen in such monkeys as the chimpanzee and -orang, which walk on the outer margins of the palms, or -on the knuckles. Their hands, however, are admirably -adapted for climbing trees. Monkeys seize thin branches -or ropes, with the thumb on one side and the fingers and -palm on the other, in the same manner as we do. They -can thus also lift rather large objects, such as the neck of -a bottle, to their mouths. Baboons turn over stones and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">165</span> -scratch up roots with their hands. They seize nuts, insects, -or other small objects with the thumb in opposition -to the fingers, and no doubt they thus extract eggs and -the young from the nests of birds. American monkeys -beat the wild oranges on the branches until the rind is -cracked, and then tear it off with the fingers of the two -hands. In a wild state they break open hard fruits with -stones. Other monkeys open mussel-shells with the two -thumbs. With their fingers they pull out thorns and -burs, and hunt for each other’s parasites. They roll -down stones, or throw them at their enemies; nevertheless, -they are clumsy in these various actions, and, as I -have myself seen, are quite unable to throw a stone with -precision.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_94">HOW MAN BECAME UPRIGHT.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 52.</div> - -<p>If it be an advantage to man to stand firmly -on his feet and to have his hands and arms -free, of which, from his pre-eminent success in -the battle of life, there can be no doubt, then I can see -no reason why it should not have been advantageous to -the progenitors of man to have become more and more -erect or bipedal. They would thus have been better able -to defend themselves with stones or clubs, to attack their -prey, or otherwise to obtain food. The best built individuals -would in the long run have succeeded best, and -have survived in larger numbers. If the gorilla and a few -allied forms had become extinct, it might have been argued, -with great force and apparent truth, that an animal -could not have been gradually converted from a -quadruped into a biped, as all the individuals in an intermediate -condition would have been miserably ill-fitted -for progression. But we know (and this is well worthy<span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">166</span> -of reflection) that the anthropomorphous apes are now -actually in an intermediate condition; and no one doubts -that they are on the whole well adapted for their conditions -of life. Thus the gorilla runs with a sidelong, -shambling gait, but more commonly progresses by resting -on its bent hands. The long-armed apes occasionally use -their arms like crutches, swinging their bodies forward -between them, and some kinds of Hylobates, without -having been taught, can walk or run upright with tolerable -quickness; yet they move awkwardly, and much less -securely than man. We see, in short, in existing monkeys -a manner of progression intermediate between that -of a quadruped and a biped; but, as an unprejudiced -judge insists, the anthropomorphous apes approach in -structure more nearly to the bipedal than to the quadrupedal -type.</p> - -<p>As the progenitors of man became more and more -erect, with their hands and arms more and more modified -for prehension and other purposes, with their feet and legs -at the same time transformed for firm support and progression, -endless other changes of structure would have -become necessary. The pelvis would have to be broadened, -the spine peculiarly curved, and the head fixed in -an altered position, all which changes have been attained -by man.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 53.</div> - -<p>The free use of the arms and hands, partly -the cause and partly the result of man’s erect -position, appears to have led in an indirect manner to -other modifications of structure. The early male forefathers -of man were, as previously stated, probably furnished -with great canine teeth; but, as they gradually -acquired the habit of using stones, clubs, or other weapons, -for fighting with their enemies or rivals, they would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">167</span> -use their jaws and teeth less and less. In this case, the -jaws, together with the teeth, would become reduced in -size, as we may feel almost sure from innumerable analogous -cases.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_95">THE BRAIN ENLARGES AS THE MENTAL FACULTIES -DEVELOP.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 54.</div> - -<p>As the various mental faculties gradually -developed themselves the brain would almost -certainly become larger. No one, I presume, -doubts that the large proportion which the size of man’s -brain bears to his body, compared to the same proportion -in the gorilla or orang, is closely connected with his -higher mental powers. We meet with closely analogous -facts with insects, for in ants the cerebral ganglia are of -extraordinary dimensions, and in all the <i>Hymenoptera</i> -these ganglia are many times larger than in the less intelligent -orders, such as beetles. On the other hand, no -one supposes that the intellect of any two animals or of -any two men can be accurately gauged by the cubic contents -of their skulls. It is certain that there may be -extraordinary mental activity with an extremely small -absolute mass of nervous matter: thus the wonderfully -diversified instincts, mental powers, and affections of ants -are notorious, yet their cerebral ganglia are not so large -as the quarter of a small pin’s head. Under this point of -view, the brain of an ant is one of the most marvelous -atoms of matter in the world, perhaps more so than the -brain of a man.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 55.</div> - -<p>The gradually increasing weight of the -brain and skull in man must have influenced -the development of the supporting spinal column, more<span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">168</span> -especially while he was becoming erect. As this change -of position was being brought about, the internal pressure -of the brain will also have influenced the form of the -skull; for many facts show how easily the skull is thus -affected. Ethnologists believe that it is modified by the -kind of cradle in which infants sleep. Habitual spasms -of the muscles and a cicatrix from a severe burn have -permanently modified the facial bones. In young persons -whose heads have become fixed either sideways or backward, -owing to disease, one of the two eyes has changed -its position, and the shape of the skull has been altered -apparently by the pressure of the brain in a new direction. -I have shown that with long-eared rabbits even so trifling -a cause as the lopping forward of one ear drags forward -almost every bone of the skull on that side; so that the -bones on the opposite side no longer strictly correspond. -Lastly, if any animal were to increase or diminish much -in general size, without any change in its mental powers, -or if the mental powers were to be much increased or -diminished, without any great change in the size of the -body, the shape of the skull would almost certainly be -altered. I infer this from my observations on domestic -rabbits, some kinds of which have become very much -larger than the wild animal, while others have retained -nearly the same size, but in both cases the brain has been -much reduced relatively to the size of the body. Now, I -was at first much surprised on finding that in all these -rabbits the skull had become elongated or dolichocephalic; -for instance, of two skulls of nearly equal breadth, -the one from a wild rabbit and the other from a large -domestic kind, the former was 3·15 and the latter 4·3 -inches in length. One of the most marked distinctions -in different races of men is that the skull in some is elongated, -and in others rounded; and here the explanation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">169</span> -suggested by the case of the rabbits may hold good; for -Welcker finds that short “men incline more to brachycephaly, -and tall men to dolichocephaly”; and tall men -may be compared with the larger and longer-bodied rabbits, -all of which have elongated skulls, or are dolichocephalic.</p> - -<p>From these several facts we can understand, to a certain -extent, the means by which the great size and more -or less rounded form of the skull have been acquired by -man; and these are characters eminently distinctive of -him in comparison with the lower animals.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_96">NAKEDNESS OF THE SKIN.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 56.</div> - -<p>Another most conspicuous difference between -man and the lower animals is the -nakedness of the skin. Whales and porpoises -(<i>Cetacea</i>), dugongs (<i>Sirenia</i>), and the hippopotamus are -naked; and this may be advantageous to them for gliding -through the water; nor would it be injurious to them -from the loss of warmth, as the species, which inhabit the -colder regions, are protected by a thick layer of blubber, -serving the same purpose as the fur of seals and otters. -Elephants and rhinoceroses are almost hairless; and, as -certain extinct species, which formerly lived under an -Arctic climate, were covered with long wool or hair, it -would almost appear as if the existing species of both -genera had lost their hairy covering from exposure to -heat. This appears the more probable, as the elephants -in India, which live on elevated and cool districts, are -more hairy than those on the lowlands. May we then -infer that man became divested of hair from having aboriginally -inhabited some tropical land? That the hair -is chiefly retained in the male sex on the chest and face,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">170</span> -and in both sexes at the junction of all four limbs with -the trunk, favors this inference—on the assumption that -the hair was lost before man became erect; for the parts -which now retain most hair would then have been most -protected from the heat of the sun. The crown of the -head, however, offers a curious exception, for at all times -it must have been one of the most exposed parts, yet it is -thickly clothed with hair. The fact, however, that the -other members of the order of <i>Primates</i>, to which man -belongs, although inhabiting various hot regions, are well -clothed with hair, generally thickest on the upper surface, -is opposed to the supposition that man became naked -through the action of the sun.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 18.</div> - -<p>The different races differ much in hairiness; -and in the individuals of the same race the -hairs are highly variable, not only in abundance, -but likewise in position: thus in some Europeans -the shoulders are quite naked, while in others they bear -thick tufts of hair. There can be little doubt that the -hairs thus scattered over the body are the rudiments of -the uniform hairy coat of the lower animals. This view -is rendered all the more probable, as it is known that -the fine, short, and pale-colored hairs on the limbs and -other parts of the body occasionally become developed -into “thick-set, long, and rather coarse dark hairs,” -when abnormally nourished near old-standing inflamed -surfaces.</p> - -<p>I am informed by Sir James Paget that often several -members of a family have a few hairs in their eyebrows -much longer than the others; so that even this slight -peculiarity seems to be inherited. These hairs, too, seem -to have their representatives; for in the chimpanzee, and -in certain species of Macacus, there are scattered hairs of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_171">171</span> -considerable length rising from the naked skin above the -eyes, and corresponding to our eyebrows; similar long -hairs project from the hairy covering of the superciliary -ridges in some baboons.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_97">IS MAN THE MOST HELPLESS OF THE ANIMALS?</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 63.</div> - -<p>It has often been objected to such views as -the foregoing, that man is one of the most -helpless and defenseless creatures in the world; -and that during his early and less well-developed condition -he would have been still more helpless. The Duke -of Argyll, for instance, insists that “the human frame -has diverged from the structure of brutes, in the direction -of greater physical helplessness and weakness. That is -to say, it is a divergence which of all others it is most -impossible to ascribe to mere natural selection.” He adduces -the naked and unprotected state of the body, the -absence of great teeth or claws for defense, the small -strength and speed of man, and his slight power of discovering -food or of avoiding danger by smell. To these -deficiencies there might be added one still more serious, -namely, that he can not climb quickly, and so escape from -enemies. The loss of hair would not have been a great -injury to the inhabitants of a warm country. For we -know that the unclothed Fuegians can exist under a -wretched climate. When we compare the defenseless -state of man with that of apes, we must remember that -the great canine teeth with which the latter are provided -are possessed in their full development by the males alone, -and are chiefly used by them for fighting with their rivals; -yet the females, which are not thus provided, manage to -survive.</p> - -<p>In regard to bodily size or strength, we do not know<span class="pagenum" id="Page_172">172</span> -whether man is descended from some small species, like -the chimpanzee, or from one as powerful as the gorilla; -and, therefore, we can not say whether man has become -larger and stronger, or smaller and weaker, than his -ancestors. We should, however, bear in mind that an -animal possessing great size, strength, and ferocity, and -which, like the gorilla, could defend itself from all enemies, -would not perhaps have become social; and this -would most effectually have checked the acquirement of -the higher mental qualities—such as sympathy and the -love of his fellows. Hence it might have been an immense -advantage to man to have sprung from some comparatively -weak creature.</p> - -<p>The small strength and speed of man, his want of -natural weapons, etc., are more than counterbalanced, -firstly, by his intellectual powers, through which he has -formed for himself weapons, tools, etc., though still remaining -in a barbarous state, and, secondly, by his social -qualities, which lead him to give and receive aid from his -fellow-men. No country in the world abounds in a greater -degree with dangerous beasts than Southern Africa; no -country presents more fearful physical hardships than the -Arctic regions; yet one of the puniest of races, that of -the Bushmen, maintains itself in Southern Africa, as do -the dwarfed Esquimaux in the Arctic regions. The ancestors -of man were, no doubt, inferior in intellect, and -probably in social disposition, to the lowest existing savages; -but it is quite conceivable that they might have -existed, or even flourished, if they had advanced in intellect, -while gradually losing their brute-like powers, such -as that of climbing trees, etc. But these ancestors would -not have been exposed to any special danger, even if far -more helpless and defenseless than any existing savages, -had they inhabited some warm continent or large island,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_173">173</span> -such as Australia, New Guinea, or Borneo, which is now -the home of the orang. And natural selection arising -from the competition of tribe with tribe, in some such -large area as one of these, together with the inherited -effects of habit, would, under favorable conditions, have -sufficed to raise man to his present high position in the -organic scale.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_174">174</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="VIII">VIII.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">MENTAL POWERS OF MAN AND THE LOWER -ANIMALS COMPARED.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 65.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">No</span> doubt the difference in this respect is -enormous, even if we compare the mind of one -of the lowest savages, who has no words to -express any number higher than four, and who uses -hardly any abstract terms for common objects or for the -affections, with that of the most highly organized ape. -The difference would, no doubt, still remain immense, -even if one of the higher apes had been improved or civilized -as much as a dog has been in comparison with its -parent-form, the wolf or jackal. The Fuegians rank -among the lowest barbarians; but I was continually -struck with surprise how closely the three natives on -board H. M. S. Beagle, who had lived some years in England, -and could talk a little English, resembled us in disposition -and in most of our mental faculties. If no -organic being excepting man had possessed any mental -power, or if his powers had been of a wholly different -nature from those of the lower animals, then we should -never have been able to convince ourselves that our high -faculties had been gradually developed. But it can be -shown that there is no fundamental difference of this -kind. We must also admit that there is a much wider<span class="pagenum" id="Page_175">175</span> -interval in mental power between one of the lowest fishes, -as a lamprey or lancelet, and one of the higher apes than -between an ape and man; yet this interval is filled up by -numberless gradations.</p> - -<p>Nor is the difference slight in moral disposition between -a barbarian, such as the man described by the old -navigator Byron, who dashed his child on the rocks for -dropping a basket of sea-urchins, and a Howard or Clarkson; -and in intellect between a savage, who uses hardly -any abstract terms, and a Newton or Shakespeare. Differences -of this kind between the highest men of the -highest races and the lowest savages, are connected by -the finest gradations. Therefore it is possible that they -might pass and be developed into each other.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 66.</div> - -<p>In what manner the mental powers were -first developed in the lowest organisms is as -hopeless an inquiry as how life itself first originated. -These are problems for the distant future, if they are ever -to be solved by man.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_98">FUNDAMENTAL INTUITIONS THE SAME IN MAN AND -THE OTHER ANIMALS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 66.</div> - -<p>As man possesses the same senses as the -lower animals, his fundamental intuitions must -be the same. Man has also some few instincts in common, -as that of self-preservation, sexual love, the love of -the mother for her new-born offspring, the desire possessed -by the latter to suck, and so forth. But man, perhaps, -has somewhat fewer instincts than those possessed -by the animals which come next to him in the series. -The orang in the Eastern islands and the chimpanzee in<span class="pagenum" id="Page_176">176</span> -Africa build platforms on which they sleep; and, as both -species follow the same habit, it might be argued that -this was due to instinct, but we can not feel sure that it -is not the result of both animals having similar wants, -and possessing similar powers of reasoning. These apes, -as we may assume, avoid the many poisonous fruits of the -tropics, and man has no such knowledge: but, as our domestic -animals, when taken to foreign lands, and when -first turned out in the spring, often eat poisonous herbs, -which they afterward avoid, we can not feel sure that -the apes do not learn from their own experience or from -that of their parents what fruits to select. It is, however, -certain, as we shall presently see, that apes have an -instinctive dread of serpents, and probably of other dangerous -animals.</p> - -<p>The fewness and the comparative simplicity of the -instincts in the higher animals are remarkable in contrast -with those of the lower animals. Cuvier maintained that -instinct and intelligence stand in an adverse ratio to each -other; and some have thought that the intellectual faculties -of the higher animals have been gradually developed -from their instincts. But Pouchet, in an interesting -essay, has shown that no such inverse ratio really exists. -Those insects which possess the most wonderful instincts -are certainly the most intelligent. In the vertebrate -series, the least intelligent members, namely, fishes and -amphibians, do not possess complex instincts; and among -mammals the animal most remarkable for its instincts, -namely, the beaver, is highly intelligent, as will be admitted -by every one who has read Mr. Morgan’s excellent -work.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_177">177</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_99">MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS EXCITED BY THE SAME -EMOTIONS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 69.</div> - -<p>The fact that the lower animals are excited -by the same emotions as ourselves is so well -established that it will not be necessary to weary the -reader by many details. Terror acts in the same manner -on them as on us, causing the muscles to tremble, the -heart to palpitate, the sphincters to be relaxed, and the -hair to stand on end. Suspicion, the offspring of fear, -is eminently characteristic of most wild animals. It is, I -think, impossible to read the account given by Sir E. -Tennent, of the behavior of the female elephants, used -as decoys, without admitting that they intentionally practice -deceit, and well know what they are about. Courage -and timidity are extremely variable qualities in the individuals -of the same species, as is plainly seen in our dogs. -Some dogs and horses are ill-tempered, and easily turn -sulky; others are good-tempered; and these qualities are -certainly inherited. Every one knows how liable animals -are to furious rage, and how plainly they show it. Many, -and probably true, anecdotes have been published on the -long-delayed and artful revenge of various animals. The -accurate Rengger and Brehm state that the American -and African monkeys which they kept tame certainly -revenged themselves. Sir Andrew Smith, a zoölogist -whose scrupulous accuracy was known to many persons, -told me the following story of which he was himself an -eye-witness: At the Cape of Good Hope an officer had -often plagued a certain baboon, and the animal, seeing -him approaching one Sunday for parade, poured water -into a hole and hastily made some thick mud, which he -skillfully dashed over the officer as he passed by, to the -amusement of many by-standers. For long afterward<span class="pagenum" id="Page_178">178</span> -the baboon rejoiced and triumphed whenever he saw his -victim.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 70.</div> - -<p>The love of a dog for his master is notorious; -as an old writer quaintly says, “A -dog is the only thing on this earth that luvs you more -than he luvs himself.”</p> - -<p>In the agony of death a dog has been known to caress -his master, and every one has heard of the dog suffering -under vivisection, who licked the hand of the operator; -this man, unless the operation was fully justified by an -increase of our knowledge, or unless he had a heart of -stone, must have felt remorse to the last hour of his life.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 71.</div> - -<p>Most of the more complex emotions are -common to the higher animals and ourselves. -Every one has seen how jealous a dog is of his master’s -affection, if lavished on any other creature; and I have -observed the same fact with monkeys. This shows that -animals not only love, but have desire to be loved. Animals -manifestly feel emulation. They love approbation -or praise; and a dog carrying a basket for his master exhibits -in a high degree self-complacency or pride. There -can, I think, be no doubt that a dog feels shame, as distinct -from fear, and something very like modesty when -begging too often for food. A great dog scorns the snarling -of a little dog, and this may be called magnanimity. -Several observers have stated that monkeys certainly dislike -being laughed at; and they sometimes invent imaginary -offenses. In the Zoölogical Gardens I saw a baboon -who always got into a furious rage when his keeper took -out a letter or book and read it aloud to him; and his -rage was so violent that, as I witnessed on one occasion, -he bit his own leg till the blood flowed.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_179">179</span></p> - -<p>All animals feel <em>wonder</em>, and many exhibit <em>curiosity</em>. -They sometimes suffer from this latter quality, as when -the hunter plays antics and thus attracts them; I have -witnessed this with deer, and so it is with the wary chamois, -and with some kinds of wild-ducks. Brehm gives -a curious account of the instinctive dread which his -monkeys exhibited for snakes; but their curiosity was so -great that they could not desist from occasionally satiating -their horror in a most human fashion, by lifting up -the lid of the box in which the snakes were kept. I was -so much surprised at his account, that I took a stuffed -and coiled-up snake into the monkey-house at the Zoölogical -Gardens, and the excitement thus caused was one -of the most curious spectacles which I ever beheld.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_100">ALL ANIMALS POSSESS SOME POWER OF REASONING.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 75.</div> - -<p>Of all the faculties of the human mind, -it will, I presume, be admitted that <em>reason</em> -stands at the summit. Only a few persons now dispute -that animals possess some power of reasoning. Animals -may constantly be seen to pause, deliberate, and resolve. -It is a significant fact that the more the habits of any -particular animal are studied by a naturalist, the more -he attributes to reason and the less to unlearned instincts. -In future chapters we shall see that some animals extremely -low in the scale apparently display a certain -amount of reason. No doubt it is often difficult to distinguish -between the power of reason and that of instinct. -For instance, Dr. Hayes, in his work on “The Open -Polar Sea,” repeatedly remarks that his dogs, instead of -continuing to draw the sledges in a compact body, diverged -and separated when they came to thin ice, so that -their weight might be more evenly distributed. This<span class="pagenum" id="Page_180">180</span> -was often the first warning which the travelers received -that the ice was becoming thin and dangerous. Now, -did the dogs act thus from the experience of each individual, -or from the example of the older and wiser dogs, -or from an inherited habit, that is, from instinct? This -instinct may possibly have arisen since the time, long -ago, when dogs were first employed by the natives in -drawing their sledges; or the Arctic wolves, the parent-stock -of the Esquimaux dog, may have acquired an instinct, -impelling them not to attack their prey in a close -pack, when on thin ice.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 79.</div> - -<p>Archbishop Sumner formerly maintained -that man alone is capable of progressive improvement. -That he is capable of incomparably greater -and more rapid improvement than is any other animal, -admits of no dispute; and this is mainly due to his power -of speaking and handing down his acquired knowledge. -With animals, looking first to the individual, every one -who has had any experience in setting traps knows that -young animals can be caught much more easily than old -ones; and they can be much more easily approached by -an enemy. Even with respect to old animals, it is impossible -to catch many in the same place and in the same -kind of trap, or to destroy them by the same kind of -poison; yet it is improbable that all should have partaken -of the poison, and impossible that all should have been -caught in a trap. They must learn caution by seeing -their brethren caught or poisoned.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 80.</div> - -<p>Our domestic dogs are descended from -wolves and jackals, and though they may not -have gained in cunning, and may have lost in wariness -and suspicion, yet they have progressed in certain moral<span class="pagenum" id="Page_181">181</span> -qualities, such as in affection, trustworthiness, temper, -and probably in general intelligence.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_101">THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION IN DOG AND SAVAGE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 77.</div> - -<p>The savage and the dog have often found -water at a low level, and the coincidence under -such circumstances has become associated in -their minds. A cultivated man would perhaps make -some general proposition on the subject; but from all -that we know of savages it is extremely doubtful whether -they would do so, and a dog certainly would not. But a -savage, as well as a dog, would search in the same way, -though frequently disappointed; and in both it seems to -be equally an act of reason, whether or not any general -proposition on the subject is consciously placed before the -mind. The same would apply to the elephant and the -bear making currents in the air or water. The savage -would certainly neither know nor care by what law the -desired movements were effected; yet his act would be -guided by a rude process of reasoning, as surely as would -a philosopher in his longest chain of deductions. There -would no doubt be this difference between him and one -of the higher animals, that he would take notice of much -slighter circumstances and conditions, and would observe -any connection between them after much less experience, -and this would be of paramount importance. I kept a -daily record of the actions of one of my infants, and -when he was about eleven months old, and before he -could speak a single word, I was continually struck with -the greater quickness with which all sorts of objects and -sounds were associated together in his mind, compared -with that of the most intelligent dogs I ever knew. But -the higher animals differ in exactly the same way in this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_182">182</span> -power of association from those low in the scale, such as -the pike, as well as in that of drawing inferences and of -observation.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_102">THE LOWER ANIMALS PROGRESS IN INTELLIGENCE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 81.</div> - -<p>To maintain, independently of any direct -evidence, that no animal during the course of -ages has progressed in intellect or other mental faculties, -is to beg the question of the evolution of species. We -have seen that, according to Lartet, existing mammals -belonging to several orders have larger brains than their -ancient tertiary prototypes.</p> - -<p>It has often been said that no animal uses any tool; -but the chimpanzee, in a state of nature, cracks a native -fruit, somewhat like a walnut, with a stone. Rengger -easily taught an American monkey thus to break open -hard palm-nuts; and afterward, of its own accord, it used -stones to open other kinds of nuts, as well as boxes. It -thus also removed the soft rind of fruit that had a disagreeable -flavor. Another monkey was taught to open -the lid of a large box with a stick, and afterward it used -the stick as a lever to move heavy bodies; and I have myself -seen a young orang put a stick into a crevice, slip -his hand to the other end, and use it in the proper manner -as a lever. The tamed elephants in India are well -known to break off branches of trees and use them to -drive away the flies; and this same act has been observed -in an elephant in a state of nature.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 82.</div> - -<p>The Duke of Argyll remarks that the fashioning -of an implement for a special purpose -is absolutely peculiar to man; and he considers that this -forms an immeasurable gulf between him and the brutes.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_183">183</span> -This is no doubt a very important distinction; but there -appears to me much truth in Sir J. Lubbock’s suggestion -that, when primeval man first used flint-stones for any -purpose, he would have accidentally splintered them, and -would then have used the sharp fragments. From this -step it would be a small one to break the flints on purpose, -and not a very wide step to fashion them rudely. -This latter advance, however, may have taken long ages, -if we may judge by the immense interval of time which -elapsed before the men of the neolithic period took to -grinding and polishing their stone tools. In breaking -the flints, as Sir J. Lubbock likewise remarks, sparks -would have been emitted, and in grinding them heat -would have been evolved; thus the two usual methods of -“obtaining fire may have originated.” The nature of fire -would have been known in the many volcanic regions -where lava occasionally flows through forests.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_103">THE POWER OF ABSTRACTION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 83.</div> - -<p>If one may judge from various articles -which have been published lately, the greatest -stress seems to be laid on the supposed entire absence in -animals of the power of abstraction, or of forming general -concepts. But when a dog sees another dog at a distance, -it is often clear that he perceives that it is a dog in -the abstract; for when he gets nearer his whole manner -suddenly changes, if the other dog be a friend. A recent -writer remarks that in all such cases it is a pure assumption -to assert that the mental act is not essentially of the -same nature in the animal as in man. If either refers -what he perceives with his senses to a mental concept, -then so do both. When I say to my terrier, in an eager -voice (and I have made the trial many times), “Hi, hi,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_184">184</span> -where is it?” she at once takes it as a sign that something -is to be hunted, and generally first looks quickly -all around, and then rushes into the nearest thicket, to -scent for any game, but, finding nothing, she looks up -into any neighboring tree for a squirrel. Now, do not -these actions clearly show that she had in her mind a general -idea or concept that some animal is to be discovered -and hunted?</p> - -<p>It may be freely admitted that no animal is self-conscious, -if by this term it is implied that he reflects on -such points as whence he comes or whither he will go, or -what is life and death, and so forth. But how can we -feel sure that an old dog with an excellent memory and -some power of imagination, as shown by his dreams, -never reflects on his past pleasures or pains in the chase? -And this would be a form of self-consciousness. On the -other hand, as Büchner has remarked, how little can the -hard-worked wife of a degraded Australian savage, who -uses very few abstract words, and can not count above -four, exert her self-consciousness, or reflect on the nature -of her own existence! It is generally admitted that the -higher animals possess memory, attention, association, -and even some imagination and reason. If these powers, -which differ much in different animals, are capable of -improvement, there seems no great improbability in more -complex faculties, such as the higher forms of abstraction, -and self-consciousness, etc., having been evolved through -the development and combination of the simpler ones. -It has been urged against the views here maintained that -it is impossible to say at what point in the ascending -scale animals become capable of abstraction, etc.; but -who can say at what age this occurs in our young children? -We see at least that such powers are developed in -children by imperceptible degrees.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_185">185</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_104">THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 84.</div> - -<p>This faculty (language) has justly been -considered as one of the chief distinctions between -man and the lower animals. But man, as a highly -competent judge, Archbishop Whately, remarks, “is not -the only animal that can make use of language to express -what is passing in his mind, and can understand, more -or less, what is so expressed by another.” In Paraguay -the <i>Cebus azaræ</i> when excited utters at least six distinct -sounds, which excite in other monkeys similar emotions. -The movements of the features and gestures of monkeys -are understood by us, and they partly understand ours, -as Rengger and others declare. It is a more remarkable -fact that the dog, since being domesticated, has learned -to bark in at least four or five distinct tones. Although -barking is a new art, no doubt the wild parent-species of -the dog expressed their feelings by cries of various kinds. -With the domesticated dog we have the bark of eagerness, -as in the chase; that of anger, as well as growling; -the yelp or howl of despair, as when shut up; the baying -at night; the bark of joy, as when starting on a walk -with his master; and the very distinct one of demand or -supplication, as when wishing for a door or window to be -opened. According to Houzeau, who paid particular attention -to the subject, the domestic fowl utters at least a -dozen significant sounds.</p> - -<p>The habitual use of articulate language is, however, -peculiar to man; but he uses, in common with the lower -animals, inarticulate cries to express his meaning, aided -by gestures and the movements of the muscles of the -face. This especially holds good with the more simple -and vivid feelings, which are but little connected with -our higher intelligence. Our cries of pain, fear, surprise,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_186">186</span> -anger, together with their appropriate actions, and the -murmur of a mother to her beloved child, are more expressive -than any words. That which distinguishes man -from the lower animals is not the understanding of articulate -sounds, for, as every one knows, dogs understand -many words and sentences. In this respect they are at -the same stage of development as infants, between the -ages of ten and twelve months, who understand many -words and short sentences, but can not yet utter a single -word. It is not the mere articulation which is our distinguishing -character, for parrots and other birds possess this -power. Nor is it the mere capacity of connecting definite -sounds with definite ideas; for it is certain that some -parrots, which have been taught to speak, connect unerringly -words with things, and persons with events. The -lower animals differ from man solely in his almost infinitely -larger power of associating together the most diversified -sounds and ideas; and this obviously depends on -the high development of his mental powers.</p> - -<p>As Horne Tooke, one of the founders of the noble -science of philology, observes, language is an art, like -brewing or baking; but writing would have been a better -simile. It certainly is not a true instinct, for every language -has to be learned. It differs, however, widely from -all ordinary arts, for man has an instinctive tendency to -speak, as we see in the babble of our young children; -while no child has an instinctive tendency to brew, bake, -or write. Moreover, no philologist now supposes that -any language has been deliberately invented; it has been -slowly and unconsciously developed by many steps. The -sounds uttered by birds offer in several respects the nearest -analogy to language, for all the members of the same -species utter the same instinctive cries expressive of their -emotions; and all the kinds which sing exert their power<span class="pagenum" id="Page_187">187</span> -instinctively; but the actual song, and even the call-notes, -are learned from their parents or foster-parents. -These sounds, as Daines Barrington has proved, “are no -more innate than language is in man.” The first attempts -to sing “may be compared to the imperfect endeavor in -a child to babble.” The young males continue practicing, -or, as the bird-catchers say, “recording,” for ten or -eleven months. Their first essays show hardly a rudiment -of the future song; but as they grow older we can -perceive what they are aiming at; and at last they are -said “to sing their song round.” Nestlings which have -learned the song of a distinct species, as with the canary-birds -educated in the Tyrol, teach and transmit their new -song to their offspring. The slight natural differences of -song in the same species inhabiting different districts may -be appositely compared, as Barrington remarks, “to provincial -dialects”; and the songs of allied though distinct -species may be compared with the languages of distinct -races of man. I have given the foregoing details to show -that an instinctive tendency to acquire an art is not peculiar -to man.</p> - -<p>With respect to the origin of articulate language, -after having read on the one side the highly interesting -works of Mr. Hensleigh Wedgwood, the Rev. F. Farrar, -and Professor Schleicher, and the celebrated lectures of -Professor Max Müller on the other side, I can not doubt -that language owes its origin to the imitation and modification -of various natural sounds, the voices of other animals, -and man’s own instinctive cries, aided by signs and -gestures.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 87.</div> - -<p>It is, therefore, probable that the imitation -of musical cries by articulate sounds may have -given rise to words expressive of various complex emotions.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_188">188</span> -The strong tendency in our nearest allies, the -monkeys, in microcephalous idiots, and in the barbarous -races of mankind, to imitate whatever they hear, deserves -notice, as bearing on the subject of imitation. Since -monkeys certainly understand much that is said to them -by man, and, when wild, utter signal-cries of danger to -their fellows; and since fowls give distinct warnings for -danger on the ground, or in the sky from hawks (both, -as well as a third cry, intelligible to dogs), may not some -unusually wise ape-like animal have imitated the growl -of a beast of prey, and thus told his fellow-monkeys the -nature of the expected danger? This would have been -a first step in the formation of a language.</p> - -<p>As the voice was used more and more, the vocal organs -would have been strengthened and perfected through the -principle of the inherited effects of use; and this would -have reacted on the power of speech.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 89.</div> - -<p>The fact of the higher apes not using their -vocal organs for speech no doubt depends on -their intelligence not having been sufficiently advanced. -The possession by them of organs, which with long-continued -practice might have been used for speech, although -not thus used, is paralleled by the case of many birds -which possess organs fitted for singing, though they never -sing. Thus, the nightingale and crow have vocal organs -similarly constructed, these being used by the former for -diversified song, and by the latter only for croaking.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_105">DEVELOPMENT OF LANGUAGES AND SPECIES COMPARED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 90.</div> - -<p>The formation of different languages and -of distinct species and the proofs that both -have been developed through a gradual process -are curiously parallel. But we can trace the formation<span class="pagenum" id="Page_189">189</span> -of many words further back than that of species, -for we can perceive how they actually arose from the imitation -of various sounds. We find in distinct languages -striking homologies due to community of descent, and -analogies due to a similar process of formation. The -manner in which certain letters or sounds change when -others change is very like correlated growth. We have -in both cases the reduplication of parts, the effects of -long-continued use, and so forth. The frequent presence -of rudiments, both in languages and in species, is still -more remarkable. The letter <em>m</em> in the word <em>am</em> means -<em>I</em>; so that, in the expression <em>I am</em>, a superfluous and useless -rudiment has been retained. In the spelling also of -words, letters often remain as the rudiments of ancient -forms of pronunciation. Languages, like organic beings, -can be classed in groups under groups; and they can be -classed either naturally according to descent, or artificially -by other characters. Dominant languages and dialects -spread widely, and lead to the gradual extinction of other -tongues. A language, like a species, when once extinct, -never, as Sir C. Lyell remarks, reappears. The same -language never has two birthplaces. Distinct languages -may be crossed or blended together. We see variability -in every tongue, and new words are continually cropping -up; but, as there is a limit to the powers of the memory, -single words, like whole languages, gradually become extinct. -As Max Müller has well remarked: “A struggle -for life is constantly going on among the words and grammatical -forms in each language. The better, the shorter, -the easier forms are constantly gaining the upper hand, -and they owe their success to their own inherent virtue.” -To these more important causes of the survival of certain -words, mere novelty and fashion may be added; for there -is in the mind of man a strong love for slight changes<span class="pagenum" id="Page_190">190</span> -in all things. The survival or preservation of certain -favored words in the struggle for existence is natural -selection.</p> - -<p>The perfectly regular and wonderfully complex construction -of the languages of many barbarous nations has -often been advanced as a proof, either of the divine origin -of these languages, or of the high art and former -civilization of their founders. Thus F. von Schlegel -writes: “In those languages which appear to be at the -lowest grade of intellectual culture, we frequently observe -a very high and elaborate degree of art in their -grammatical structure. This is especially the case with -the Basque and the Lapponian, and many of the American -languages.” But it is assuredly an error to speak of -any language as an art, in the sense of its having been -elaborately and methodically formed. Philologists now -admit that conjugations, declensions, etc., originally existed -as distinct words, since joined together; and, as such -words express the most obvious relations between objects -and persons, it is not surprising that they should have -been used by the men of most races during the earliest -ages. With respect to perfection, the following illustration -will best show how easily we may err: a crinoid -sometimes consists of no less than one hundred and fifty -thousand pieces of shell, all arranged with perfect symmetry -in radiating lines; but a naturalist does not consider -an animal of this kind as more perfect than a bilateral -one with comparatively few parts, and with none -of these parts alike, excepting on the opposite sides of -the body. He justly considers the differentiation and -specialization of organs as the test of perfection. So with -languages; the most symmetrical and complex ought not -to be ranked above irregular, abbreviated, and bastardized -languages.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_191">191</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_106">THE SENSE OF BEAUTY.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 92.</div> - -<p>This sense has been declared to be peculiar -to man. I refer here only to the pleasure -given by certain colors, forms, and sounds, -and which may fairly be called a sense of the beautiful; -with cultivated men such sensations are, however, intimately -associated with complex ideas and trains of -thought. When we behold a male bird elaborately displaying -his graceful plumes or splendid colors before the -female, while other birds, not thus decorated, make no -such display, it is impossible to doubt that she admires -the beauty of her male partner. As women everywhere -deck themselves with these plumes, the beauty of such -ornaments can not be disputed. As we shall see later, -the nests of humming-birds and the playing passages of -bower-birds are tastefully ornamented with gayly-colored -objects; and this shows that they must receive some kind -of pleasure from the sight of such things. With the -great majority of animals, however, the taste for the -beautiful is confined, as far as we can judge, to the attractions -of the opposite sex. The sweet strains poured -forth by many male birds during the season of love are -certainly admired by the females, of which fact evidence -will hereafter be given. If female birds had been incapable -of appreciating the beautiful colors, the ornaments, -and voices of their male partners, all the labor and anxiety -exhibited by the latter in displaying their charms -before the females would have been thrown away; and -this it is impossible to admit. Why certain bright colors -should excite pleasure can not, I presume, be explained, -any more than why certain flavors and scents are agreeable; -but habit has something to do with the result, for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_192">192</span> -that which is at first unpleasant to our senses, ultimately -becomes pleasant, and habits are inherited.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_107">DEVELOPMENT OF THE EAR FOR MUSIC.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 568.</div> - -<p>A critic has asked how the ears of man, -and he ought to have added of other animals, -could have been adapted by selection so as -to distinguish musical notes. But this question shows -some confusion on the subject; a noise is the sensation -resulting from the co-existence of several aërial “simple -vibrations” of various periods, each of which intermits -so frequently that its separate existence can not be perceived. -It is only in the want of continuity of such -vibrations, and in their want of harmony <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">inter se</i>, that a -noise differs from a musical note. Thus an ear to be -capable of discriminating noises—and the high importance -of this power to all animals is admitted by every -one—must be sensitive to musical notes. We have evidence -of this capacity even low down in the animal scale; -thus crustaceans are provided with auditory hairs of different -lengths, which have been seen to vibrate when the -proper musical notes are struck. As stated in a previous -chapter, similar observations have been made on the hairs -of the antennæ of gnats. It has been positively asserted -by good observers that spiders are attracted by music. It -is also well known that some dogs howl when hearing -particular tones. Seals apparently appreciate music, and -their fondness for it “was well known to the ancients, -and is often taken advantage of by the hunters at the -present day.”</p> - -<p>Therefore, as far as the mere perception of musical -notes is concerned, there seems no special difficulty in the -case of man or of any other animal.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_193">193</span></p> - -<p>But if it be further asked why musical tones in a -certain order and rhythm give man and other animals -pleasure, we can no more give the reason than for the -pleasantness of certain tastes and smells. That they do -give pleasure of some kind to animals we may infer from -their being produced during the season of courtship by -many insects, spiders, fishes, amphibians, and birds; for, -unless the females were able to appreciate such sounds -and were excited or charmed by them, the persevering -efforts of the males and the complex structures often -possessed by them alone would be useless; and this it is -impossible to believe.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_194">194</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="IX">IX.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">DEVELOPMENT OF THE MORAL SENSE.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 97.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">I fully</span> subscribe to the judgment of those -writers who maintain that, of all the differences -between man and the lower animals, the moral -sense or conscience is by far the most important. This -sense, as Mackintosh remarks, “has a rightful supremacy -over every other principle of human action”; it is summed -up in that short but imperious word <em>ought</em>, so full of high -significance. It is the most noble of all the attributes of -man, leading him without a moment’s hesitation to risk -his life for that of a fellow-creature; or, after due deliberation, -impelled simply by the deep feeling of right or -duty, to sacrifice it in some great cause.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 111.</div> - -<p>A moral being is one who is capable of -comparing his past and future actions or motives, -and of approving or disapproving of them. We -have no reason to suppose that any of the lower animals -have this capacity; therefore, when a Newfoundland dog -drags a child out of the water, or a monkey faces danger -to rescue its comrade, or takes charge of an orphan monkey, -we do not call its conduct moral. But in the case of -man, who alone can with certainty be ranked as a moral -being, actions of a certain class are called moral.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_195">195</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_108">FROM THE SOCIAL INSTINCTS TO THE MORAL SENSE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 98.</div> - -<p>The following proposition seems to me in -a high degree probable—namely, that any animal -whatever, endowed with well-marked social instincts, -the parental and filial affections being here included, -would inevitably acquire a moral sense or conscience, as -soon as its intellectual powers had become as well, or -nearly as well, developed as in man. For, <em>firstly</em>, the -social instincts lead an animal to take pleasure in the -society of its fellows, to feel a certain amount of sympathy -with them, and to perform various services for -them. The services may be of a definite and evidently -instinctive nature; or there may be only a wish and -readiness, as with most of the higher social animals, to -aid their fellows in certain general ways. But these feelings -and services are by no means extended to all the individuals -of the same species, only to those of the same -association. <em>Secondly</em>, as soon as the mental faculties had -become highly developed, images of all past actions and -motives would be incessantly passing through the brain -of each individual; and that feeling of dissatisfaction, or -even misery, which invariably results, as we shall hereafter -see, from any unsatisfied instinct, would arise, as often as -it was perceived that the enduring and always present -social instinct had yielded to some other instinct, at the -time stronger, but neither enduring in its nature, nor -leaving behind it a very vivid impression. It is clear that -many instinctive desires, such as that of hunger, are in -their nature of short duration; and, after being satisfied, -are not readily or vividly recalled. <em>Thirdly</em>, after the -power of language had been acquired, and the wishes of -the community could be expressed, the common opinion -how each member ought to act for the public good would<span class="pagenum" id="Page_196">196</span> -naturally become in a paramount degree the guide to -action. But it should be borne in mind that, however -great weight we may attribute to public opinion, our regard -for the approbation and disapprobation of our fellows -depends on sympathy, which, as we shall see, forms an -essential part of the social instinct, and is, indeed, its -foundation-stone. <em>Lastly</em>, habit in the individual would -ultimately play a very important part in guiding the conduct -of each member; for the social instinct, together -with sympathy, is, like any other instinct, greatly strengthened -by habit, and so consequently would be obedience to -the wishes and judgment of the community. These several -subordinate propositions must now be discussed, and -some of them at considerable length.</p> - -<p>It may be well first to premise that I do not wish to -maintain that any strictly social animal, if its intellectual -faculties were to become as active and as highly developed -as in man, would acquire exactly the same moral sense as -ours. In the same manner as various animals have some -sense of beauty, though they admire widely different objects, -so they might have a sense of right and wrong, -though led by it to follow widely different lines of conduct. -If, for instance, to take an extreme case, men were -reared under precisely the same conditions as hive-bees, -there can hardly be a doubt that our unmarried females -would, like the worker-bees, think it a sacred duty to kill -their brothers, and mothers would strive to kill their fertile -daughters; and no one would think of interfering. -Nevertheless, the bee, or any other social animal, would -gain in our supposed case, as it appears to me, some feeling -of right or wrong, or a conscience. For each individual -would have an inward sense of possessing certain -stronger or more enduring instincts, and others less strong -or enduring; so that there would often be a struggle as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_197">197</span> -to which impulse should be followed; and satisfaction, -dissatisfaction, or even misery would be felt, as past impressions -were compared during their incessant passage -through the mind. In this case an inward monitor would -tell the animal that it would have been better to have -followed the one impulse rather than the other. The one -course ought to have been followed, and the other ought -not; the one would have been right and the other wrong.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_109">HUMAN SYMPATHY AMONG ANIMALS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 102.</div> - -<p>Who can say what cows feel when they surround -and stare intently on a dying or dead -companion? Apparently, however, as Houzeau remarks, -they feel no pity. That animals sometimes are far from -feeling any sympathy is too certain; for they will expel a -wounded animal from the herd, or gore or worry it to -death. This is almost the blackest fact in natural history, -unless, indeed, the explanation which has been suggested -is true, that their instinct or reason leads them to expel -an injured companion, lest beasts of prey, including -man, should be tempted to follow the troop. In this case -their conduct is not much worse than that of the North -American Indians, who leave their feeble comrades to -perish on the plains; or the Feejeeans, who, when their -parents get old, or fall ill, bury them alive.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 103.</div> - -<p>Several years ago a keeper at the Zoölogical -Gardens showed me some deep and scarcely -healed wounds on the nape of his own neck, inflicted on -him, while kneeling on the floor, by a fierce baboon. The -little American monkey, who was a warm friend of this -keeper, lived in the same large compartment, and was -dreadfully afraid of the great baboon. Nevertheless, as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_198">198</span> -soon as he saw his friend in peril, he rushed to the rescue, -and by screams and bites so distracted the baboon that -the man was able to escape, after, as the surgeon thought, -running great risk of his life.</p> - -<p>Besides love and sympathy, animals exhibit other -qualities connected with the social instincts, which in us -would be called moral; and I agree with Agassiz that -dogs possess something very like a conscience.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 107.</div> - -<p>With mankind, selfishness, experience, and -imitation, probably add, as Mr. Bain has -shown, to the power of sympathy; for we are led by the -hope of receiving good in return to perform acts of sympathetic -kindness to others; and sympathy is much -strengthened by habit. In however complex a manner this -feeling may have originated, as it is one of high importance -to all those animals which aid and defend one another, -it will have been increased through natural selection; -for those communities which included the greatest -number of the most sympathetic members would flourish -best and rear the greatest number of offspring.</p> - -<p>It is, however, impossible to decide in many cases -whether certain social instincts have been acquired -through natural selection, or are the indirect result of -other instincts and faculties, such as sympathy, reason, -experience, and a tendency to imitation; or, again, -whether they are simply the result of long-continued -habit. So remarkable an instinct as the placing of sentinels -to warn the community of danger can hardly have been -the indirect result of any of these faculties; it must, -therefore, have been directly acquired. On the other -hand, the habit followed by the males of some social -animals of defending the community, and of attacking -their enemies or their prey in concert, may perhaps have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_199">199</span> -originated from mutual sympathy; but courage, and in -most cases strength, must have been previously acquired, -probably through natural selection.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_110">THE LOVE OF APPROBATION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 109.</div> - -<p>Although man has no special instincts to -tell him how to aid his fellow-men, he still -has the impulse, and with his improved intellectual faculties -would naturally be much guided in this respect by -reason and experience. Instinctive sympathy would also -cause him to value highly the approbation of his fellows; -for, as Mr. Bain has clearly shown, the love of praise and -the strong feeling of glory, and the still stronger horror of -scorn and infamy, “are due to the workings of sympathy.” -Consequently, man would be influenced in the -highest degree by the wishes, approbation, and blame of -his fellow-men, as expressed by their gestures and language. -Thus the social instincts, which must have been -acquired by man in a very rude state, and probably even -by his early ape-like progenitors, still give the impulse to -some of his best actions; but his actions are in a higher -degree determined by the expressed wishes and judgment -of his fellow-men, and unfortunately very often by his -own strong selfish desires. But as love, sympathy, and -self-command become strengthened by habit, and as the -power of reasoning becomes clearer, so that man can -value justly the judgments of his fellows, he will feel -himself impelled, apart from any transitory pleasure or -pain, to certain lines of conduct. He might then declare—not -that any barbarian or uncultivated man could thus -think—I am the supreme judge of my own conduct, and, -in the words of Kant, I will not in my own person violate -the dignity of humanity.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_200">200</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_111">FELLOW-FEELING FOR OUR FELLOW-ANIMALS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 123.</div> - -<p>Sympathy beyond the confines of man, -that is, humanity to the lower animals, seems -to be one of the latest moral acquisitions. It is apparently -unfelt by savages, except toward their pets. How -little the old Romans knew of it is shown by their abhorrent -gladiatorial exhibitions. The very idea of humanity, -as far as I could observe, was new to most of the Gauchos -of the Pampas. This virtue, one of the noblest with -which man is endowed, seems to arise incidentally from -our sympathies becoming more tender and more widely -diffused, until they are extended to all sentient beings. -As soon as this virtue is honored and practiced by some -few men, it spreads through instruction and example to -the young, and eventually becomes incorporated in public -opinion.</p> - -<p>The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we -recognize that we ought to control our thoughts, and -“not even in inmost thought to think again the sins that -made the past so pleasant to us.” Whatever makes any -bad action familiar to the mind renders its performance -by so much the easier. As Marcus Aurelius long ago -said: “Such as are thy habitual thoughts, such also will -be the character of thy mind; for the soul is dyed by the -thoughts.”</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 125.</div> - -<p>Looking to future generations, there is no -cause to fear that the social instincts will grow -weaker, and we may expect that virtuous habits will grow -stronger, becoming perhaps fixed by inheritance. In this -case the struggle between our higher and lower impulses -will be less severe, and virtue will be triumphant.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_201">201</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_112">DEVELOPMENT OF THE GOLDEN RULE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 125.</div> - -<p>There can be no doubt that the difference -between the mind of the lowest man and that -of the highest animal is immense. An anthropomorphous -ape, if he could take a dispassionate view of his own case, -would admit that though he could form an artful plan to -plunder a garden, though he could use stones for fighting -or for breaking open nuts, yet that the thought of -fashioning a stone into a tool was quite beyond his scope. -Still less, as he would admit, could he follow out a train -of metaphysical reasoning, or solve a mathematical problem, -or reflect on God, or admire a grand natural scene. -Some apes, however, would probably declare that they -could and did admire the beauty of the colored skin and -fur of their partners in marriage. They would admit -that, though they could make other apes understand by -cries some of their perceptions and simpler wants, the -notion of expressing definite ideas by definite sounds had -never crossed their minds. They might insist that they -were ready to aid their fellow-apes of the same troop in -many ways, to risk their lives for them, and to take charge -of their orphans; but they would be forced to acknowledge -that disinterested love for all living creatures, the -most noble attribute of man, was quite beyond their comprehension.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, the difference in mind between man and -the higher animals, great as it is, certainly is one of degree -and not of kind. We have seen that the senses and intuitions, -the various emotions and faculties, such as love, -memory, attention, curiosity, imitation, reason, etc., of -which man boasts, may be found in an incipient, or even -sometimes in a well-developed condition, in the lower -animals. They are also capable of some inherited improvement,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_202">202</span> -as we see in the domestic dog compared with -the wolf or jackal. If it could be proved that certain -high mental powers, such as the formation of general -concepts, self-consciousness, etc., were absolutely peculiar -to man, which seems extremely doubtful, it is not improbable -that these qualities are merely the incidental -results of other highly-advanced intellectual faculties; -and these again mainly the result of the continued use of -a perfect language. At what age does the new-born -infant possess the power of abstraction, or become self-conscious, -and reflect on its own existence? We can not -answer; nor can we answer in regard to the ascending -organic scale. The half-art, half-instinct of language still -bears the stamp of its gradual evolution. The ennobling -belief in God is not universal with man; and the belief -in spiritual agencies naturally follows from other mental -powers. The moral sense perhaps affords the best and -highest distinction between man and the lower animals; -but I need say nothing on this head, as I have so lately -endeavored to show that the social instincts—the prime -principle of man’s moral constitution—with the aid of -active intellectual powers and the effects of habit, naturally -lead to the golden rule, “As ye would that men -should do to you, do ye to them likewise”; and this lies -at the foundation of morality.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_113">REGRET PECULIAR TO MAN, AND WHY.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 112.</div> - -<p>Why does man regret, even though trying -to banish such regret, that he has followed the -one natural impulse rather than the other? -and why does he further feel that he ought to regret his -conduct? Man in this respect differs profoundly from -the lower animals. Nevertheless we can, I think, see<span class="pagenum" id="Page_203">203</span> -with some degree of clearness the reason of this difference.</p> - -<p>Man, from the activity of his mental faculties, can -not avoid reflection: past impressions and images are -incessantly and clearly passing through his mind. Now, -with those animals which live permanently in a body, the -social instincts are ever present and persistent. Such -animals are always ready to utter the danger-signal, to -defend the community, and to give aid to their fellows in -accordance with their habits; they feel at all times, without -the stimulus of any special passion or desire, some -degree of love and sympathy for them; they are unhappy -if long separated from them, and always happy to be -again in their company. So it is with ourselves. Even -when we are quite alone, how often do we think with -pleasure or pain of what others think of us—of their -imagined approbation or disapprobation!—and this all -follows from sympathy, a fundamental element of the -social instincts. A man who possessed no trace of such -instincts would be an unnatural monster. On the other -hand, the desire to satisfy hunger, or any passion such as -vengeance, is in its nature temporary, and can for a time -be fully satisfied. Nor is it easy, perhaps hardly possible, -to call up with complete vividness the feeling, for -instance, of hunger; nor, indeed, as has often been remarked, -of any suffering. The instinct of self-preservation -is not felt except in the presence of danger; and -many a coward has thought himself brave until he has -met his enemy face to face. The wish for another man’s -property is perhaps as persistent a desire as any that can -be named; but even in this case the satisfaction of actual -possession is generally a weaker feeling than the desire: -many a thief, if not an habitual one, after success has -wondered why he stole some article.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_204">204</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_114">REMORSE EXPLAINED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 114.</div> - -<p>Several critics have objected that though -some slight regret or repentance may be explained -by the view advocated in this chapter, it is impossible -thus to account for the soul-shaking feeling of -remorse. But I can see little force in this objection. My -critics do not define what they mean by remorse, and I -can find no definition implying more than an overwhelming -sense of repentance. Remorse seems to bear the -same relation to repentance as rage does to anger, or agony -to pain. It is far from strange that an instinct so strong -and so generally admired as maternal love should, if disobeyed, -lead to the deepest misery, as soon as the impression -of the past cause of disobedience is weakened. Even -when an action is opposed to no special instinct, merely -to know that our friends and equals despise us for it is -enough to cause great misery. Who can doubt that the -refusal to fight a duel through fear has caused many men -an agony of shame? Many a Hindoo, it is said, has been -stirred to the bottom of his soul by having partaken of -unclean food. Here is another case of what must, I -think, be called remorse. Dr. Landor acted as a magistrate -in West Australia, and relates that a native on his -farm, after losing one of his wives from disease, came and -said that “he was going to a distant tribe to spear a -woman, to satisfy his sense of duty to his wife.” I told -him that if he did so I would send him to prison for life. -He remained about the farm for some months, but got -exceedingly thin, and complained that he could not rest -or eat, that his wife’s spirit was haunting him because he -had not taken a life for hers. I was inexorable, and -assured him that nothing should save him if he did. -Nevertheless, the man disappeared for more than a year,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_205">205</span> -and then returned in high condition; and his other wife -told Dr. Landor that her husband had taken the life of a -woman belonging to a distant tribe; but it was impossible -to obtain legal evidence of the act. The breach of a -rule held sacred by the tribe will thus, as it seems, give -rise to the deepest feelings, and this quite apart from the -social instincts, excepting in so far as the rule is grounded -on the judgment of the community. How so many -strange superstitions have arisen throughout the world -we know not; nor can we tell how some real and great -crimes, such as incest, have come to be held in an abhorrence -(which is not, however, quite universal) by the -lowest savages. It is even doubtful whether in some -tribes incest would be looked on with greater horror than -would the marriage of a man with a woman bearing the -same name, though not a relation. “To violate this law -is a crime which the Australians hold in the greatest abhorrence, -in this agreeing exactly with certain tribes of -North America. When the question is put in either -district, is it worse to kill a girl of a foreign tribe, or to -marry a girl of one’s own, an answer just opposite to -ours would be given without hesitation.” We may, -therefore, reject the belief, lately insisted on by some -writers, that the abhorrence of incest is due to our possessing -a special God-implanted conscience.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_115">DEVELOPMENT OF SELF-CONTROL.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 115.</div> - -<p>Man, prompted by his conscience, will -through long habit acquire such perfect self-command, -that his desires and passions will at last yield -instantly and without a struggle to his social sympathies -and instincts, including his feeling for the judgment of -his fellows. The still hungry or the still revengeful<span class="pagenum" id="Page_206">206</span> -man will not think of stealing food, or of wreaking his -vengeance. It is possible, or, as we shall hereafter see, -even probable, that the habit of self-command may, like -other habits, be inherited. Thus at last man comes to -feel, through acquired and perhaps inherited habit, that -it is best for him to obey his more persistent impulses. -The imperious word <em>ought</em> seems merely to imply the -consciousness of the existence of a rule of conduct, however -it may have originated. Formerly it must have been -often vehemently urged that an insulted gentleman <em>ought</em> -to fight a duel. We even say that a pointer <em>ought</em> to -point, and a retriever to retrieve game. If they fail to -do so, they fail in their duty and act wrongly.</p> - -<p>If any desire or instinct leading to an action opposed -to the good of others still appears, when recalled to mind, -as strong as, or stronger than, the social instinct, a man -will feel no keen regret at having followed it; but he will -be conscious that, if his conduct were known to his fellows, -it would meet with their disapprobation; and few -are so destitute of sympathy as not to feel discomfort -when this is realized. If he has no such sympathy, and -if his desires leading to bad actions are at the time strong, -and when recalled are not overmastered by the persistent -social instincts and the judgment of others, then he is -essentially a bad man; and the sole restraining motive -left is the fear of punishment, and the conviction that -in the long run it would be best for his own selfish interests -to regard the good of others rather than his own.</p> - -<p>It is obvious that every one may with an easy conscience -gratify his own desires, if they do not interfere -with his social instincts, that is, with the good of others; -but in order to be quite free from self-reproach, or at least -of anxiety, it is almost necessary for him to avoid the -disapprobation, whether reasonable or not, of his fellow-men.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_207">207</span> -Nor must he break through the fixed habits of his -life, especially if these are supported by reason; for, if -he does, he will assuredly feel dissatisfaction. He must -likewise avoid the reprobation of the one God or gods -in whom, according to his knowledge or superstition, he -may believe; but in this case the additional fear of divine -punishment often supervenes.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_116">VARIABILITY OF CONSCIENCE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 117.</div> - -<p>Suicide during former times was not generally -considered as a crime, but rather, from -the courage displayed, as an honorable act; and it is still -practiced by some semi-civilized and savage nations without -reproach, for it does not obviously concern others of -the tribe. It has been recorded that an Indian thug -conscientiously regretted that he had not robbed and -strangled as many travelers as did his father before him. -In a rude state of civilization the robbery of strangers is, -indeed, generally considered as honorable.</p> - -<p>Slavery, although in some way beneficial during ancient -times, is a great crime; yet it was not so regarded -until quite recently, even by the most civilized nations. -And this was especially the case because the slaves belonged -in general to a race different from that of their -masters. As barbarians do not regard the opinion of -their women, wives are commonly treated like slaves.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 122.</div> - -<p>How so many absurd rules of conduct, as -well as so many absurd religious beliefs, have -originated, we do not know; nor how it is that they have -become, in all quarters of the world, so deeply impressed -on the minds of men; but it is worthy of remark that a -belief constantly inculcated during the early years of life,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_208">208</span> -while the brain is impressible, appears to acquire almost -the nature of an instinct; and the very essence of an -instinct is that it is followed independently of reason. -Neither can we say why certain admirable virtues, such -as the love of truth, are much more highly appreciated -by some savage tribes than by others; nor, again, why -similar differences prevail even among highly civilized -nations. Knowing how firmly fixed many strange customs -and superstitions have become, we need feel no surprise -that the self-regarding virtues, supported as they -are by reason, should now appear to us so natural as to -be thought innate, although they were not valued by -man in his early condition.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 121.</div> - -<p>The wishes and opinions of the members -of the same community, expressed at first -orally, but later by writing also, either form the sole -guides of our conduct, or greatly re-enforce the social instincts; -such opinions, however, have sometimes a tendency -directly opposed to these instincts. This latter -fact is well exemplified by the <em>law of honor</em>, that is, the -law of the opinion of our equals, and not of all our countrymen. -The breach of this law, even when the breach -is known to be strictly accordant with true morality, has -caused many a man more agony than a real crime. We -recognize the same influence in the burning sense of shame -which most of us have felt, even after the interval of -years, when calling to mind some accidental breach of a -trifling, though fixed, rule of etiquette.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_209">209</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_117">PROGRESS NOT AN INVARIABLE RULE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 140.</div> - -<p>We must remember that progress is no invariable -rule. It is very difficult to say why -one civilized nation rises, becomes more powerful, -and spreads more widely, than another; or why the -same nation progresses more quickly at one time than at -another. We can only say that it depends on an increase -in the actual number of the population, on the number -of the men endowed with high intellectual and moral -faculties, as well as on their standard of excellence. Corporeal -structure appears to have little influence, except -so far as vigor of body leads to vigor of mind.</p> - -<p>It has been urged by several writers that, as high intellectual -powers are advantageous to a nation, the old -Greeks, who stood some grades higher in intellect than -any race that has ever existed, ought, if the power of -natural selection were real, to have risen still higher in -the scale, increased in number, and stocked the whole of -Europe. Here we have the tacit assumption, so often -made with respect to corporeal structures, that there is -some innate tendency toward continued development in -mind and body. But development of all kinds depends -on many concurrent favorable circumstances. Natural -selection acts only tentatively. Individuals and races -may have acquired certain indisputable advantages, and -yet have perished from failing in other characters. The -Greeks may have retrograded from a want of coherence -between the many small states, from the small size of -their whole country, from the practice of slavery, or -from extreme sensuality; for they did not succumb until -“they were enervated and corrupt to the very core.” -The Western nations of Europe, who now so immeasurably -surpass their former savage progenitors, and stand at<span class="pagenum" id="Page_210">210</span> -the summit of civilization, owe little or none of their -superiority to direct inheritance from the old Greeks, -though they owe much to the written works of that wonderful -people.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 142.</div> - -<p>The remarkable success of the English as -colonists, compared to other European nations, -has been ascribed to their “daring and persistent energy”; -a result which is well illustrated by comparing the -progress of the Canadians of English and French extraction; -but who can say how the English gained their -energy? There is apparently much truth in the belief -that the wonderful progress of the United States, as well -as the character of the people, is the result of natural -selection; for the more energetic, restless, and courageous -men from all parts of Europe have emigrated during -the last ten or twelve generations to that great country, -and have there succeeded best.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_118">ALL CIVILIZED NATIONS ARE THE DESCENDANTS OF -BARBARIANS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 144.</div> - -<p>The evidence that all civilized nations are -the descendants of barbarians consists, on the -one side, of clear traces of their former low condition in -still-existing customs, beliefs, language, etc.; and, on the -other side, of proofs that savages are independently able -to raise themselves a few steps in the scale of civilization, -and have actually thus risen. The evidence on the first -head is extremely curious, but can not be here given: I -refer to such cases as that of the art of enumeration, -which, as Mr. Tylor clearly shows by reference to the -words still used in some places, originated in counting -the fingers, first of one hand and then of the other, and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_211">211</span> -lastly of the toes. We have traces of this in our own -decimal system, and in the Roman numerals, where, after -the V, which is supposed to be an abbreviated picture of -a human hand, we pass on to VI, etc., when the other -hand no doubt was used. So again, “when we speak of -threescore and ten, we are counting by the vigesimal system, -each score thus ideally made standing for 20—for -‘one man’ as a Mexican or Carib would put it.” According -to a large and increasing school of philologists, every -language bears the marks of its slow and gradual evolution. -So it is with the art of writing, for letters are rudiments -of pictorial representations. It is hardly possible -to read Mr. McLennan’s work and not admit that almost -all civilized nations still retain traces of such rude habits -as the forcible capture of wives. What ancient nation, -as the same author asks, can be named that was originally -monogamous? The primitive idea of justice, as shown -by the law of battle and other customs of which vestiges -still remain, was likewise most rude. Many existing superstitions -are the remnants of former false religious beliefs. -The highest form of religion—the grand idea of -God hating sin and loving righteousness—was unknown -during primeval times.</p> - -<p>Turning to the other kind of evidence: Sir J. Lubbock -has shown that some savages have recently improved -a little in some of their simpler arts. From the extremely -curious account which he gives of the weapons, tools, and -arts in use among savages in various parts of the world, -it can not be doubted that these have nearly all been independent -discoveries, excepting perhaps the art of making -fire. The Australian boomerang is a good instance of one -such independent discovery. The Tahitians when first -visited had advanced in many respects beyond the inhabitants -of most of the other Polynesian islands. There<span class="pagenum" id="Page_212">212</span> -are no just grounds for the belief that the high culture -of the native Peruvians and Mexicans was derived from -abroad; many native plants were there cultivated, and a -few native animals domesticated. We should bear in -mind that, judging from the small influence of most missionaries, -a wandering crew from some semi-civilized land, -if washed to the shores of America, would not have produced -any marked effect on the natives, unless they had -already become somewhat advanced. Looking to a very -remote period in the history of the world, we find, to use -Sir J. Lubbock’s well-known terms, a paleolithic and neolithic -period; and no one will pretend that the art of -grinding rough flint tools was a borrowed one. In all -parts of Europe, as far east as Greece, in Palestine, -India, Japan, New Zealand, and Africa, including Egypt, -flint tools have been discovered in abundance; and of -their use the existing inhabitants retain no tradition. -There is also indirect evidence of their former use by the -Chinese and ancient Jews. Hence there can hardly be a -doubt that the inhabitants of these countries, which include -nearly the whole civilized world, were once in a -barbarous condition. To believe that man was aboriginally -civilized and then suffered utter degradation in so -many regions is to take a pitiably low view of human -nature. It is apparently a truer and more cheerful view -that progress has been much more general than retrogression; -that man has risen, though by slow and interrupted -steps, from a lowly condition to the highest standard -as yet attained by him in knowledge, morals, and -religion.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_213">213</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_119">“THE ENNOBLING BELIEF IN GOD.”</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 93.</div> - -<p>There is no evidence that man was aboriginally -endowed with the ennobling belief in -the existence of an Omnipotent God. On the -contrary, there is ample evidence, derived not from hasty -travelers, but from men who have long resided with savages, -that numerous races have existed, and still exist, -who have no idea of one or more gods, and who have no -words in their languages to express such an idea. The -question is, of course, wholly distinct from that higher -one, whether there exists a Creator and Ruler of the universe; -and this has been answered in the affirmative by -some of the highest intellects that have ever existed.</p> - -<p>If, however, we include under the term “religion” -the belief in unseen or spiritual agencies, the case is -wholly different; for this belief seems to be universal -with the less civilized races. Nor is it difficult to comprehend -how it arose. As soon as the important faculties -of the imagination—wonder and curiosity, together -with some power of reasoning—had become partially developed, -man would naturally crave to understand what -was passing around him, and would have vaguely speculated -on his own existence. As Mr. McLennan has remarked: -“Some explanation of the phenomena of life a -man must feign for himself; and, to judge from the universality -of it, the simplest hypothesis, and the first to -occur to men, seems to have been that natural phenomena -are ascribable to the presence in animals, plants, -and things, and in the forces of nature, of such spirits -prompting to action as men are conscious they themselves -possess.” It is also probable, as Mr. Tylor has shown, -that dreams may have first given rise to the notion of -spirits; for savages do not readily distinguish between<span class="pagenum" id="Page_214">214</span> -subjective and objective impressions. When a savage -dreams, the figures which appear before him are believed -to have come from a distance, and to stand over him; or -“the soul of the dreamer goes out on its travels, and -comes home with a remembrance of what it has seen.” -But, until the faculties of imagination, curiosity, reason, -etc., had been fairly well developed in the mind of man, -his dreams would not have led him to believe in spirits, -any more than in the case of a dog.</p> - -<p>The tendency in savages to imagine that natural objects -and agencies are animated by spiritual or living -essences is, perhaps, illustrated by a little fact which I -once noticed. My dog, a full-grown and very sensible animal, -was lying on the lawn during a hot and still day; -but at a little distance a slight breeze occasionally moved -an open parasol, which would have been wholly disregarded -by the dog had any one stood near it. As it was, -every time that the parasol slightly moved, the dog -growled fiercely and barked. He must, I think, have -reasoned to himself, in a rapid and unconscious manner, -that movement, without any apparent cause, indicated -the presence of some strange living agent, and that no -stranger had a right to be on his territory.</p> - -<p>The belief in spiritual agencies would easily pass into -the belief in the existence of one or more gods. For savages -would naturally attribute to spirits the same passions, -the same love of vengeance, or simplest form of -justice, and the same affections, which they themselves -feel. The Fuegians appear to be in this respect in an -intermediate condition, for, when the surgeon on board -the Beagle shot some young ducklings as specimens, -York Minster declared, in the most solemn manner, -“Oh, Mr. Bynoe, much rain, much snow, blow much”; -and this was evidently a retributive punishment for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_215">215</span> -wasting human food. So, again, he related how, when -his brother killed a “wild man,” storms long raged, -much rain and snow fell. Yet we could never discover -that the Fuegians believed in what we should call a God, -or practiced any religious rites; and Jemmy Button, with -justifiable pride, stoutly maintained that there was no -devil in his land. This latter assertion is the more remarkable, -as with savages the belief in bad spirits is far -more common than that in good ones.</p> - -<p>The feeling of religious devotion is a highly complex -one, consisting of love, complete submission to an exalted -and mysterious superior, a strong sense of dependence, -fear, reverence, gratitude, hope for the future, and perhaps -other elements. No being could experience so complex -an emotion until advanced in his intellectual and -moral faculties to at least a moderately high level. Nevertheless, -we see some distant approach to this state of -mind in the deep love of a dog for his master, associated -with complete submission, some fear, and perhaps -other feelings. The behavior of a dog, when returning -to his master after an absence, and, as I may add, of a -monkey to his beloved keeper, is widely different from -that toward their fellows. In the latter case, the transports -of joy appear to be somewhat less, and the sense of -equality is shown in every action. Professor Braubach -goes so far as to maintain that a dog looks on his master -as on a god.</p> - -<p>The same high mental faculties which first led man -to believe in unseen spiritual agencies, then in fetichism, -polytheism, and ultimately in monotheism, would infallibly -lead him, as long as his reasoning powers remained -poorly developed, to various strange superstitions and customs. -Many of these are terrible to think of—such as the -sacrifice of human beings to a blood-loving god; the trial<span class="pagenum" id="Page_216">216</span> -of innocent persons by the ordeal of poison or fire; witchcraft, -etc.—yet it is well occasionally to reflect on these -superstitions, for they show us what an infinite debt of -gratitude we owe to the improvement of our reason, to -science, and to our accumulated knowledge. As Sir J. -Lubbock has well observed, “It is not too much to say -that the horrible dread of unknown evil hangs like a -thick cloud over savage life, and embitters every pleasure.” -These miserable and indirect consequences of our -highest faculties may be compared with the incidental -and occasional mistakes of the instincts of the lower animals.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_217">217</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="X">X.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE GENEALOGY OF MAN.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 146.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">Some</span> naturalists, from being deeply impressed -with the mental and spiritual powers -of man, have divided the whole organic world -into three kingdoms, the human, the animal, and the vegetable, -thus giving to man a separate kingdom. Spiritual -powers can not be compared or classed by the naturalist: -but he may endeavor to show, as I have done, that -the mental faculties of man and the lower animals do not -differ in kind, although immensely in degree. A difference -in degree, however great, does not justify us in -placing man in a distinct kingdom, as will perhaps be -best illustrated by comparing the mental powers of two -insects, namely, a coccus or scale-insect and an ant, -which undoubtedly belong to the same class. The difference -is here greater than, though of a somewhat different -kind from, that between man and the highest mammal. -The female coccus, while young, attaches itself by its -proboscis to a plant; sucks the sap, but never moves -again; is fertilized and lays eggs; and this is its whole -history. On the other hand, to describe the habits and -mental powers of worker-ants would require, as Pierre -Huber has shown, a large volume; I may, however, -briefly specify a few points. Ants certainly communicate<span class="pagenum" id="Page_218">218</span> -information to each other, and several unite for -the same work, or for games of play. They recognize -their fellow-ants after months of absence, and feel -sympathy for each other. They build great edifices, -keep them clean, close the doors in the evening, and -post sentries. They make roads as well as tunnels under -rivers, and temporary bridges over them, by clinging -together. They collect food for the community, and, -when an object, too large for entrance, is brought to the -nest, they enlarge the door, and afterward build it up -again. They store up seeds, of which they prevent the -germination, and which, if damp, are brought up to the -surface to dry. They keep aphides and other insects as -milch-cows. They go out to battle in regular bands, and -freely sacrifice their lives for the common weal. They -emigrate according to a preconcerted plan. They capture -slaves. They move the eggs of their aphides, as -well as their own eggs and cocoons, into warm parts of -the nest, in order that they may be quickly hatched; -and endless similar facts could be given. On the whole, -the difference in mental power between an ant and a coccus -is immense; yet no one has ever dreamed of placing -these insects in distinct classes, much less in distinct -kingdoms. No doubt the difference is bridged over by -other insects; and this is not the case with man and the -higher apes. But we have every reason to believe that -the breaks in the series are simply the results of many -forms having become extinct.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_120">MAN A SUB-ORDER.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 149.</div> - -<p>The greater number of naturalists who -have taken into consideration the whole structure -of man, including his mental faculties, have followed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_219">219</span> -Blumenbach and Cuvier, and have placed man in a separate -order, under the title of the Bimana, and therefore -on an equality with the orders of the Quadrumana, Carnivora, -etc. Recently many of our best naturalists have -recurred to the view first propounded by Linnæus, so remarkable -for his sagacity, and have placed man in the -same order with the Quadrumana, under the title of the -Primates. The justice of this conclusion will be admitted: -for, in the first place, we must bear in mind the -comparative insignificance for classification of the great -development of the brain in man, and that the strongly-marked -differences between the skulls of man and the -Quadrumana (lately insisted upon by Bischoff, Aeby, and -others) apparently follow from their differently developed -brains. In the second place, we must remember that -nearly all the other and more important differences between -man and the Quadrumana are manifestly adaptive -in their nature, and relate chiefly to the erect position of -man; such as the structure of his hand, foot, and pelvis, -the curvature of his spine, and the position of his -head. The family of seals offers a good illustration of -the small importance of adaptive characters for classification. -These animals differ from all other Carnivora in -the form of their bodies and in the structure of their -limbs, far more than does man from the higher apes; -yet in most systems, from that of Cuvier to the most recent -one by Mr. Flower, seals are ranked as a mere family -in the order of the Carnivora. If man had not been his -own classifier, he would never have thought of founding -a separate order for his own reception.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 152.</div> - -<p>As far as differences in certain important -points of structure are concerned, man may -no doubt rightly claim the rank of a sub-order; and this<span class="pagenum" id="Page_220">220</span> -rank is too low, if we look chiefly to his mental faculties. -Nevertheless, from a genealogical point of view, it appears -that this rank is too high, and that man ought to form -merely a family, or possibly even only a sub-family. If -we imagine three lines of descent proceeding from a common -stock, it is quite conceivable that two of them might -after the lapse of ages be so slightly changed as still to -remain as species of the same genus, while the third line -might become so greatly modified as to deserve to rank -as a distinct sub-family, family, or even order. But in -this case it is almost certain that the third line would -still retain through inheritance numerous small points -of resemblance with the other two. Here, then, would -occur the difficulty, at present insoluble, how much -weight we ought to assign in our classifications to strongly-marked -differences in some few points—that is, to the -amount of modification undergone—and how much to -close resemblance in numerous unimportant points, as -indicating the lines of descent of genealogy. To attach -much weight to the few but strong differences is the most -obvious and perhaps the safest course, though it appears -more correct to pay great attention to the many small -resemblances, as giving a truly natural classification.</p> - -<p>In forming a judgment on this head with reference to -man, we must glance at the classification of the <i>Simiadæ</i>. -This family is divided by almost all naturalists into the -Catarrhine group, or Old World monkeys, all of which -are characterized (as their name expresses) by the peculiar -structure of their nostrils, and by having four premolars -in each jaw; and into the Platyrrhine group or New World -monkeys (including two very distinct sub-groups), all of -which are characterized by differently constructed nostrils, -and by having six premolars in each jaw. Some -other small differences might be mentioned. Now man<span class="pagenum" id="Page_221">221</span> -unquestionably belongs in his dentition, in the structure -of his nostrils, and some other respects, to the Catarrhine -or Old World division; nor does he resemble the Platyrrhines -more closely than the Catarrhines in any characters, -excepting in a few of not much importance and -apparently of an adaptive nature. It is, therefore, against -all probability that some New World species should have -formerly varied and produced a man-like creature, with -all the distinctive characters proper to the Old World -division, losing at the same time all its own distinctive -characters. There can, consequently, hardly be a doubt -that man is an offshoot from the Old World Simian -stem, and that, under a genealogical point of view, he -must be classed with the Catarrhine division.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 155.</div> - -<p>And, as man from a genealogical point of -view belongs to the Catarrhine or Old World -stock, we must conclude, however much the conclusion -may revolt our pride, that our early progenitors would -have been properly thus designated. But we must not -fall into the error of supposing that the early progenitor -of the whole Simian stock, including man, was identical -with, or even closely resembled, any existing ape or -monkey.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_121">THE BIRTHPLACE OF MAN.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 155.</div> - -<p>We are naturally led to inquire, where was -the birthplace of man at that stage of descent -when our progenitors diverged from the Catarrhine stock? -The fact that they belonged to this stock clearly shows -that they inhabited the Old World; but not Australia -nor any oceanic island, as we may infer from the laws of -geographical distribution. In each great region of the -world the living mammals are closely related to the extinct<span class="pagenum" id="Page_222">222</span> -species of the same region. It is, therefore, probable -that Africa was formerly inhabited by extinct apes -closely allied to the gorilla and chimpanzee; and, as these -two species are now man’s nearest allies, it is somewhat -more probable that our early progenitors lived on the -African Continent than elsewhere. But it is useless to -speculate on this subject; for two or three anthropomorphous -apes, one the Dryopithecus of Lartet, nearly as -large as a man, and closely allied to Hylobates, existed -in Europe during the Miocene age; and since so remote -a period the earth has certainly undergone many great -revolutions, and there has been ample time for migration -on the largest scale.</p> - -<p>At the period and place, whenever and wherever it -was, when man first lost his hairy covering, he probably -inhabited a hot country; a circumstance favorable for -the frugiferous diet on which, judging from analogy, he -subsisted. We are far from knowing how long ago it -was when man first diverged from the Catarrhine stock; -but it may have occurred at an epoch as remote as the -Eocene<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">A</a> period; for that the higher apes have diverged -from the lower apes as early as the Upper Miocene period -is shown by the existence of the Dryopithecus. We are -also quite ignorant at how rapid a rate organisms, whether -high or low in the scale, may be modified under favorable -circumstances; we know, however, that some have retained -the same form during an enormous lapse of time. -From what we see going on under domestication, we learn -that some of the co-descendants of the same species may -be not at all, some a little, and some greatly changed, all -within the same period. Thus it may have been with<span class="pagenum" id="Page_223">223</span> -man, who has undergone a great amount of modification -in certain characters in comparison with the higher apes.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="fnanchor">A</a> <span class="smcap">Eocene.</span>—The earliest of the three divisions of the Tertiary epoch of -geologists. Rocks of this age contain a small proportion of shells identical -with species now living.</p> - -</div> - -<p>The great break in the organic chain between man -and his nearest allies, which can not be bridged over by -any extinct or living species, has often been advanced as -a grave objection to the belief that man is descended from -some lower form; but this objection will not appear of -much weight to those who, from general reasons, believe -in the general principle of evolution. Breaks often occur -in all parts of the series, some being wide, sharp, and -defined, others less so in various degrees; as between the -orang and its nearest allies—between the Tarsius and the -other <i>Lemuridæ</i>—between the elephant, and in a more -striking manner between the Ornithorhynchus or Echidna, -and all other mammals. But these breaks depend merely -on the number of related forms which have become extinct. -At some future period, not very distant as measured -by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost -certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races -throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous -apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, -will no doubt be exterminated. The break between -man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for -it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, -as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape -as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro -or Australian and the gorilla.</p> - -<p>With respect to the absence of fossil remains, serving -to connect man with his ape-like progenitors, no one will -lay much stress on this fact who reads Sir C. Lyell’s discussion, -where he shows that in all the vertebrate classes -the discovery of fossil remains has been a very slow and -fortuitous process. Nor should it be forgotten that those -regions which are the most likely to afford remains connecting<span class="pagenum" id="Page_224">224</span> -man with some extinct ape-like creature, have -not as yet been searched by geologists.</p> - -<p>In attempting to trace the genealogy of the Mammalia, -and therefore of man, lower down in the series, we become -involved in greater and greater obscurity; but as a -most capable judge, Mr. Parker, has remarked, we have -good reason to believe that no true bird or reptile intervenes -in the direct line of descent.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_122">ORIGIN OF THE VERTEBRATA.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 158.</div> - -<p>[The Vertebrata are defined as “the highest -division of the animal kingdom, so called from -the presence in most cases of a backbone composed of -numerous joints or <i>vertebræ</i>, which constitutes the center -of the skeleton and at the same time supports and -protects the central parts of the nervous system.”]</p> - -<p>Every evolutionist will admit that the five great vertebrate -classes, namely, mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, -and fishes, are descended from some one prototype; -for they have much in common, especially during their -embryonic state. As the class of fishes is the most lowly -organized, and appeared before the others, we may conclude -that all the members of the vertebrate kingdom are -derived from some fish-like animal. The belief that animals -so distinct as a monkey, an elephant, a hummingbird, -a snake, a frog, and a fish, etc., could all have sprung -from the same parents, will appear monstrous to those -who have not attended to the recent progress of natural -history. For this belief implies the former existence of -links binding closely together all these forms, now so utterly -unlike.</p> - -<p>Nevertheless, it is certain that groups of animals have -existed, or do now exist, which serve to connect several<span class="pagenum" id="Page_225">225</span> -of the great vertebrate classes more or less closely. -We have seen that the Ornithorhynchus graduates toward -reptiles; and Professor Huxley has discovered, and is -confirmed by Mr. Cope and others, that the Dinosaurians -are in many important characters intermediate between -certain reptiles and certain birds—the birds referred to -being the ostrich-tribe (itself evidently a widely-diffused -remnant of a larger group) and the Archeopteryx, that -strange Secondary bird, with a long, lizard-like tail. -Again, according to Professor Owen, the Ichthyosaurians—great -sea-lizards furnished with paddles—present many -affinities with fishes, or rather, according to Huxley, -with amphibians; a class which, including in its highest -division frogs and toads, is plainly allied to the Ganoid -fishes. These latter fishes swarmed during the earlier -geological periods, and were constructed on what is called -a generalized type, that is, they presented diversified affinities -with other groups of organisms. The Lepidosiren is -also so closely allied to amphibians and fishes that naturalists -long disputed in which of these two classes to rank it; -it, and also some few Ganoid fishes have been preserved -from utter extinction by inhabiting rivers, which are harbors -of refuge, and are related to the great waters of the -ocean in the same way that islands are to continents.</p> - -<p>Lastly, one single member of the immense and diversified -class of fishes, namely, the lancelet or amphioxus, -is so different from all other fishes, that Häckel maintains -that it ought to form a distinct class in the vertebrate -kingdom. This fish is remarkable for its negative -characters; it can hardly be said to possess a brain, vertebral -column, or heart, etc., so that it was classed by -the older naturalists among the worms. Many years ago -Professor Goodsir perceived that the lancelet presented -some affinities with the Ascidians, which are invertebrate,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_226">226</span> -hermaphrodite, marine creatures permanently attached to -a support. They hardly appear like animals, and consist -of a simple, tough, leathery sack, with two small projecting -orifices. They belong to the Molluscoida of -Huxley—a lower division of the great kingdom of the -Mollusca; but they have recently been placed by some -naturalists among the Vermes or worms. Their larvæ -somewhat resemble tadpoles in shape, and have the power -of swimming freely about. M. Kovalevsky has lately observed -that the larvæ of Ascidians are related to the Vertebrata, -in their manner of development, in the relative -position of the nervous system, and in possessing a structure -closely like the <i>chorda dorsalis</i> of vertebrate animals; -and in this he has been since confirmed by Professor -Kupffer.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 160.</div> - -<p>Thus, if we may rely on embryology, ever -the safest guide in classification, it seems that -we have at last gained a clew to the source whence the -Vertebrata were derived. We should then be justified in -believing that at an extremely remote period a group of -animals existed, resembling in many respects the larvæ of -our present Ascidians, which diverged into two great -branches—the one retrograding in development and producing -the present class of Ascidians, the other rising to -the crown and summit of the animal kingdom by giving -birth to the Vertebrata.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_123">FROM NO BONE TO BACKBONE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 164.</div> - -<p>The most ancient progenitors in the kingdom -of the Vertebrata, at which we are able -to obtain an obscure glance, apparently consisted of a -group of marine animals, resembling the larvæ of existing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_227">227</span> -Ascidians. These animals probably gave rise to a -group of fishes, as lowly organized as the lancelet; and -from these the Ganoids, and other fishes like the Lepidosiren, -must have been developed. From such fish a -very small advance would carry us on to the Amphibians. -We have seen that birds and reptiles were once intimately -connected together; and the Monotremata now connect -mammals with reptiles in a slight degree. But no one can -at present say by what line of descent the three higher -and related classes, namely, mammals, birds, and reptiles, -were derived from the two lower vertebrate classes, -namely, amphibians and fishes. In the class of mammals -the steps are not difficult to conceive which led from the -ancient Monotremata to the ancient Marsupials; and -from these to the early progenitors of the placental mammals. -We may thus ascend to the <i>Lemuridæ</i>; and the -interval is not very wide from these to the <i>Simiadæ</i>. The -<i>Simiadæ</i> then branched off into two great stems, the New -World and Old World monkeys; and from the latter, -at a remote period, Man, the wonder and glory of the -universe, proceeded.</p> - -<p>Thus, we have given to man a pedigree of prodigious -length, but not, it may be said, of noble quality. The -world, it has often been remarked, appears as if it had -long been preparing for the advent of man: and this, in -one sense, is strictly true, for he owes his birth to a long -line of progenitors. If any single link in this chain had -never existed, man would not have been exactly what he -now is. Unless we willfully close our eyes, we may, with -our present knowledge, approximately recognize our parentage; -nor need we feel ashamed of it. The most humble -organism is something much higher than the inorganic -dust under our feet; and no one with an unbiased -mind can study any living creature, however humble,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_228">228</span> -without being struck with enthusiasm at its marvelous -structure and properties.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_124">DOES MANKIND CONSIST OF SEVERAL SPECIES?</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 176.</div> - -<p>The question whether mankind consists of -one or several species has of late years been -much discussed by anthropologists, who are -divided into the two schools of monogenists and polygenists. -Those who do not admit the principle of evolution -must look at species as separate creations, or as in some -manner as distinct entities; and they must decide what -forms of man they will consider as species by the analogy -of the method commonly pursued in ranking other organic -beings as species. But it is a hopeless endeavor -to decide this point, until some definition of the term -“species” is generally accepted; and the definition must -not include an indeterminate element such as an act of -creation. We might as well attempt without any definition -to decide whether a certain number of houses should -be called a village, town, or city. We have a practical -illustration of the difficulty in the never-ending doubts -whether many closely-allied mammals, birds, insects, and -plants, which represent each other respectively in North -America and Europe, should be ranked as species or geographical -races; and the like holds true of the productions -of many islands situated at some little distance from -the nearest continent.</p> - -<p>Those naturalists, on the other hand, who admit the -principle of evolution, and this is now admitted by the -majority of rising men, will feel no doubt that all the -races of man are descended from a single primitive stock; -whether or not they may think fit to designate the races -as distinct species, for the sake of expressing their amount<span class="pagenum" id="Page_229">229</span> -of difference. With our domestic animals, the question -whether the various races have arisen from one or more -species is somewhat different. Although it may be admitted -that all the races, as well as all the natural species -within the same genus, have sprung from the same primitive -stock, yet it is a fit subject for discussion whether -all the domestic races of the dog, for instance, have acquired -their present amount of difference since some one -species was first domesticated by man; or whether they -owe some of their characters to inheritance from distinct -species which had already been differentiated in a state -of nature. With man no such question can arise, for he -can not be said to have been domesticated at any particular -period.</p> - -<p>During an early stage in the divergence of the races -of man from a common stock, the differences between the -races and their number must have been small; consequently, -as far as their distinguishing characters are concerned, -they then had less claim to rank as distinct species -than the existing so-called races. Nevertheless, so -arbitrary is the term of species, that such early races -would, perhaps, have been ranked by some naturalists as -distinct species, if their differences, although extremely -slight, had been more constant than they are at present, -and had not graduated into each other.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_125">THE RACES GRADUATE INTO EACH OTHER.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 174.</div> - -<p>But the most weighty of all the arguments -against treating the races of man as distinct -species is, that they graduate into each other, independently, -in many cases, as far as we can judge, of their having -intercrossed. Man has been studied more carefully than -any other animal, and yet there is the greatest possible diversity<span class="pagenum" id="Page_230">230</span> -among capable judges whether he should be classed -as a single species or race, or as two (Virey), as three (Jacqninot), -as four (Kant), five (Blumenbach), six (Buffon), -seven (Hunter), eight (Agassiz), eleven (Pickering), fifteen -(Bory St. Vincent), sixteen (Desmoulins), twenty-two -(Morton), sixty (Crawfurd), or as sixty-three, according -to Burke. This diversity of judgment does not prove -that the races ought not to be ranked as species, but it -shows that they graduate into each other, and that it is -hardly possible to discover clear, distinctive characters between -them.</p> - -<p>Every naturalist who has had the misfortune to undertake -the description of a group of highly-varying organisms, -has encountered cases (I speak after experience) -precisely like that of man; and, if of a cautious disposition, -he will end by uniting all the forms which graduate -into each other under a single species; for he will say to -himself that he has no right to give names to objects -which he can not define. Cases of this kind occur in the -order which includes man, namely, in certain genera of -monkeys; while in other genera, as in <i>Cercopithecus</i>, -most of the species can be determined with certainty. In -the American genus <i>Cebus</i>, the various forms are ranked -by some naturalists as species, by others as mere geographical -races. Now, if numerous specimens of <i>Cebus</i> -were collected from all parts of South America, and those -forms which at present appear to be specifically distinct -were found to graduate into each other by close steps, -they would usually be ranked as mere varieties or races; -and this course has been followed by most naturalists -with respect to the races of man.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_231">231</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_126">WAS THE FIRST MAN A SPEAKING ANIMAL?</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 180.</div> - -<p>From the fundamental differences between -certain languages, some philologists have inferred -that when man first became widely diffused, he was -not a speaking animal; but it may be suspected that -languages, far less perfect than any now spoken, aided -by gestures, might have been used, and yet have left no -traces on subsequent and more highly-developed tongues. -Without the use of some language, however imperfect, it -appears doubtful whether man’s intellect could have risen -to the standard implied by his dominant position at an -early period.</p> - -<p>Whether primeval man, when he possessed but few -arts, and those of the rudest kind, and when his power -of language was extremely imperfect, would have deserved -to be called man, must depend on the definition -which we employ. In a series of forms graduating insensibly -from some ape-like creature to man as he now -exists, it would be impossible to fix on any definite point -when the term “man” ought to be used. But this is a -matter of very little importance. So, again, it is almost -a matter of indifference whether the so-called races of -man are thus designated, or are ranked as species or sub-species; -but the latter term appears the more appropriate. -Finally, we may conclude that, when the principle -of evolution is generally accepted, as it surely will -be before long, the dispute between the monogenists and -the polygenists will die a silent and unobserved death.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_127">THE THEORY OF A SINGLE PAIR.</h3> - -<p>One other question ought not to be passed over without -notice, namely, whether, as is sometimes assumed, -each sub-species or race of man has sprung from a single<span class="pagenum" id="Page_232">232</span> -pair of progenitors. With our domestic animals a new -race can readily be formed by carefully matching the -varying offspring from a single pair, or even from a single -individual possessing some new character; but most of -our races have been formed, not intentionally from a -selected pair, but unconsciously, by the preservation of -many individuals which have varied, however slightly, in -some useful or desired manner. If in one country stronger -and heavier horses, and in another country lighter and -fleeter ones were habitually preferred, we may feel sure -that two distinct sub-breeds would be produced in the -course of time, without any one pair having been separated -and bred from in either country. Many races have -been thus formed, and their manner of formation is -closely analogous to that of natural species. We know, -also, that the horses taken to the Falkland Islands have, -during successive generations, become smaller and weaker, -while those which have run wild on the Pampas have acquired -larger and coarser heads; and such changes are -manifestly due, not to any one pair, but to all the individuals -having been subjected to the same conditions, -aided, perhaps, by the principle of reversion. The new -sub-breeds in such cases are not descended from any single -pair, but from many individuals which have varied in -different degrees, but in the same general manner; and -we may conclude that the races of man have been similarly -produced, the modifications being either the direct -result of exposure to different conditions, or the indirect -result of some form of selection.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_233">233</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_128">CIVILIZED OUT OF EXISTENCE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 183.</div> - -<p>When Tasmania was first colonized the natives -were roughly estimated by some at seven -thousand and by others at twenty thousand. -Their number was soon greatly reduced, chiefly by fighting -with the English and with each other. After the -famous hunt by all the colonists, when the remaining -natives delivered themselves up to the government, they -consisted only of one hundred and twenty individuals, -who were in 1832 transported to Flinders Island. This -island, situated between Tasmania and Australia, is forty -miles long, and from twelve to eighteen miles broad: it -seems healthy, and the natives were well treated. Nevertheless, -they suffered greatly in health. In 1834 they -consisted (Bonwick, p. 250) of forty-seven adult males, -forty-eight adult females, and sixteen children, or in all -of one hundred and eleven souls. In 1835 only one hundred -were left. As they continued rapidly to decrease, -and as they themselves thought that they should not -perish so quickly elsewhere, they were removed in 1847 -to Oyster Cove in the southern part of Tasmania. They -then consisted (December 20, 1847) of fourteen men, -twenty-two women, and ten children. But the change of -site did no good. Disease and death still pursued them, -and in 1864 one man (who died in 1869) and three -elderly women alone survived. The infertility of the -women is even a more remarkable fact than the liability -of all to ill-health and death. At the time when only -nine women were left at Oyster Cove, they told Mr. Bonwick -(p. 386), that only two had ever borne children: -and these two had together produced only three children!</p> - -<p>With respect to the cause of this extraordinary state -of things, Dr. Story remarks that death followed the attempts<span class="pagenum" id="Page_234">234</span> -to civilize the natives. “If left to themselves to -roam as they were wont and undisturbed, they would -have reared more children, and there would have been -less mortality.” Another careful observer of the natives, -Mr. Davis, remarks: “The births have been few and the -deaths numerous. This may have been in a great measure -owing to their change of living and food; but more -so to their banishment from the mainland of Van Diemen’s -Land, and consequent depression of spirits” (Bonwick, -pp. 388, 390).</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 191.</div> - -<p>Although the gradual decrease and ultimate -extinction of the races of man is a highly -complex problem, depending on many causes which differ -in different places and at different times, it is the same -problem as that presented by the extinction of one of the -higher animals—of the fossil horse, for instance, which -disappeared from South America, soon afterward to be -replaced, within the same districts, by countless troops -of the Spanish horse. The New-Zealander seems conscious -of this parallelism, for he compares his future fate -with that of the native rat, now almost exterminated by -the European rat. Though the difficulty is great to our -imagination, and really great, if we wish to ascertain the -precise causes and their manner of action, it ought not -to be so to our reason, as long as we keep steadily in mind -that the increase of each species and each race is constantly -checked in various ways; so that, if any new -check, even a slight one, be superadded, the race will -surely decrease in number; and decreasing numbers will -sooner or later lead to extinction; the end, in most cases, -being promptly determined by the inroads of conquering -tribes.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_235">235</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XI">XI.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">SEXUAL SELECTION AS AN AGENCY TO ACCOUNT -FOR THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE RACES OF MAN.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 198.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">We</span> have thus far been baffled in all our -attempts to account for the differences between -the races of man; but there remains -one important agency, namely, sexual selection, which appears -to have acted powerfully on man, as on many other -animals. I do not intend to assert that sexual selection -will account for all the differences between the races. An -unexplained residuum is left, about which we can only -say, in our ignorance, that as individuals are continually -born with, for instance, heads a little rounder or narrower, -and with noses a little longer or shorter, such -slight differences might become fixed and uniform, if the -unknown agencies which induced them were to act in a -more constant manner, aided by long-continued intercrossing. -Such variations come under the provisional -class, alluded to in our second chapter, which for the -want of a better term are often called spontaneous. Nor -do I pretend that the effects of sexual selection can be -indicated with scientific precision; but it can be shown -that it would be an inexplicable fact if man had not been -modified by this agency, which appears to have acted<span class="pagenum" id="Page_236">236</span> -powerfully on innumerable animals. It can further be -shown that the differences between the races of man, as -in color, hairiness, form of features, etc., are of a kind -which might have been expected to come under the influence -of sexual selection.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_129">STRUGGLE OF THE MALES FOR THE POSSESSION OF THE -FEMALES.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 213.</div> - -<p>There can be no doubt that with almost -all animals, in which the sexes are separate, -there is a constantly recurrent struggle between -the males for the possession of the females.</p> - -<p>Our difficulty in regard to sexual selection lies in understanding -how it is that the males which conquer other -males, or those which prove the most attractive to the -females, leave a greater number of offspring to inherit -their superiority than their beaten and less attractive -rivals. Unless this result does follow, the characters -which give to certain males an advantage over others -could not be perfected and augmented through sexual selection. -When the sexes exist in exactly equal numbers, -the worst-endowed males will (except where polygamy -prevails) ultimately find females, and leave as many offspring, -as well fitted for their general habits of life, as -the best-endowed males. From various facts and considerations, -I formerly inferred that with most animals, -in which secondary sexual characters are well developed, -the males considerably exceeded the females in number; -but this is not by any means always true. If the males -were to the females as two to one, or as three to two, or -even in a somewhat lower ratio, the whole affair would -be simple; for the better-armed or more attractive males -would leave the largest number of offspring. But, after<span class="pagenum" id="Page_237">237</span> -investigating, as far as possible, the numerical proportion -of the sexes, I do not believe that any great inequality in -number commonly exists. In most cases sexual selection -appears to have been effective in the following manner:</p> - -<p>Let us take any species, a bird for instance, and divide -the females inhabiting a district into two equal bodies, -the one consisting of the more vigorous and better-nourished -individuals, and the other of the less vigorous -and healthy. The former, there can be little doubt, -would be ready to breed in the spring before the others; -and this is the opinion of Mr. Jenner Weir, who has -carefully attended to the habits of birds during many -years. There can also be no doubt that the most vigorous, -best-nourished, and earliest breeders would on an -average succeed in rearing the largest number of fine offspring. -The males, as we have seen, are generally ready -to breed before the females; the strongest, and with -some species the best armed of the males, drive away the -weaker; and the former would then unite with the more -vigorous and better-nourished females, because they are -the first to breed. Such vigorous pairs would surely -rear a larger number of offspring than the retarded females, -which would be compelled to unite with the conquered -and less powerful males, supposing the sexes to be -numerically equal; and this is all that is wanted to add, -in the course of successive generations, to the size, strength, -and courage of the males, or to improve their weapons.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_130">COURTSHIP AMONG THE LOWER ANIMALS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 214.</div> - -<p>But in very many cases the males which -conquer their rivals do not obtain possession -of the females, independently of the choice of the latter. -The courtship of animals is by no means so simple and<span class="pagenum" id="Page_238">238</span> -short an affair as might be thought. The females are -most excited by, or prefer pairing with, the more ornamented -males, or those which are the best songsters, or -play the best antics; but it is obviously probable that -they would at the same time prefer the more vigorous -and lively males, and this has in some cases been confirmed -by actual observation. Thus, the more vigorous -females, which are the first to breed, will have the choice -of many males; and, though they may not always select -the strongest or best armed, they will select those which -are vigorous and well armed, and in other respects the -most attractive. Both sexes, therefore, of such early -pairs would, as above explained, have an advantage over -others in rearing offspring; and this apparently has sufficed, -during a long course of generations, to add not -only to the strength and fighting powers of the males, -but likewise to their various ornaments or other attractions.</p> - -<p>In the converse and much rarer case, of the males selecting -particular females, it is plain that those which -were the most vigorous, and had conquered others, would -have the freest choice; and it is almost certain that they -would select vigorous as well as attractive females. Such -pairs would have an advantage in rearing offspring, more -especially if the male had the power to defend the female -during the pairing-season, as occurs with some of the -higher animals, or aided her in providing for the young. -The same principles would apply if each sex preferred -and selected certain individuals of the opposite sex; supposing -that they selected not only the more attractive -but likewise the more vigorous individuals.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_239">239</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_131">WHY THE MALE PLAYS THE MORE ACTIVE PART IN -COURTING.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 222.</div> - -<p>We are naturally led to inquire why the -male, in so many and such distinct classes, -has become more eager than the female, so that he -searches for her, and plays the more active part in courtship. -It would be no advantage, and some loss of power, -if each sex searched for the other; but why should the -male almost always be the seeker? The ovules of plants -after fertilization have to be nourished for a time; hence -the pollen is necessarily brought to the female organs—being -placed on the stigma by means of insects or the -wind, or by the spontaneous movements of the stamens; -and, in the <i>Algæ</i>, etc., by the locomotive power of the -antherozoöids. With lowly-organized aquatic animals, -permanently affixed to the same spot, and having their -sexes separate, the male element is invariably brought to -the female; and of this we can see the reason, for even -if the ova were detached before fertilization, and did -not require subsequent nourishment or protection, there -would yet be greater difficulty in transporting them than -the male element, because, being larger than the latter, -they are produced in far smaller numbers. So that many -of the lower animals are, in this respect, analogous with -plants. The males of affixed and aquatic animals, having -been led to emit their fertilizing element in this way, it -is natural that any of their descendants, which rose in -the scale and became locomotive, should retain the same -habit; and they would approach the female as closely as -possible, in order not to risk the loss of the fertilizing -element in a long passage of it through the water. With -some few of the lower animals, the females alone are -fixed, and the males of these must be the seekers. But<span class="pagenum" id="Page_240">240</span> -it is difficult to understand why the males of species, -of which the progenitors were primordially free, should -invariably have acquired the habit of approaching the -females, instead of being approached by them. But, in -all cases, in order that the males should seek efficiently, -it would be necessary that they should be endowed with -strong passions; and the acquirement of such passions -would naturally follow from the more eager leaving a -larger number of offspring than the less eager.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_132">TRANSMISSION OF SEXUAL CHARACTERISTICS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 232.</div> - -<p>Why certain characters should be inherited -by both sexes, and other characters by one sex -alone, namely, by that sex in which the character first appeared, -is in most cases quite unknown. We can not even -conjecture why, with certain sub-breeds of the pigeon, -black striæ, though transmitted through the female, -should be developed in the male alone, while every other -character is equally transferred to both sexes. Why, -again, with cats, the tortoise-shell color should, with rare -exceptions, be developed in the female alone. The very -same character, such as deficient or supernumerary digits, -color-blindness, etc., may with mankind be inherited by -the males alone of one family, and in another family by -the females alone, though in both cases transmitted -through the opposite as well as through the same sex. -Although we are thus ignorant, the two following rules -seem often to hold good: that variations which first appear -in either sex at a late period of life tend to be developed -in the same sex alone; while variations which -first appear early in life in either sex tend to be developed -in both sexes. I am, however, far from supposing -that this is the sole determining cause.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_241">241</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 233.</div> - -<p>An excellent case for investigation is afforded -by the deer family. In all the species, -but one, the horns are developed only in the males, -though certainly transmitted through the females, and -capable of abnormal development in them. In the reindeer, -on the other hand, the female is provided with -horns; so that, in this species, the horns ought, according -to our rule, to appear early in life, long before the -two sexes are mature, and have come to differ much in -constitution. In all the other species the horns ought to -appear later in life, which would lead to their development -in that sex alone in which they first appeared in -the progenitor of the whole family. Now, in seven species, -belonging to distinct sections of the family, and inhabiting -different regions, in which the stags alone bear -horns, I find that the horns first appear at periods varying -from nine months after birth in the roebuck, to ten, -twelve, or even more months in the stags of the six other -and larger species. But with the reindeer the case is -widely different; for, as I hear from Professor Nilsson, -who kindly made special inquiries for me in Lapland, the -horns appear in the young animals within four or five -weeks after birth, and at the same time in both sexes. -So that here we have a structure developed at a most -unusually early age in one species of the family, and likewise -common to both sexes in this one species alone.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 239.</div> - -<p>Finally, from what we have now seen of -the relation which exists in many natural species -and domesticated races, between the period of the -development of their characters and the manner of their -transmission—for example, the striking fact of the early -growth of the horns in the reindeer, in which both sexes -bear horns, in comparison with their much later growth<span class="pagenum" id="Page_242">242</span> -in the other species in which the male alone bears horns—we -may conclude that one, though not the sole cause of -characters being exclusively inherited by one sex, is their -development at a late age. And, secondly, that one, -though apparently a less efficient cause of characters being -inherited by both sexes, is their development at an -early age, while the sexes differ but little in constitution. -It appears, however, that some difference must exist -between the sexes even during a very early embryonic -period, for characters developed at this age not rarely -become attached to one sex.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_133">AN OBJECTION ANSWERED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 495.</div> - -<p>Several writers have objected to the whole -theory of sexual selection, by assuming that -with animals and savages the taste of the female -for certain colors or other ornaments would not remain -constant for many generations; that first one color -and then another would be admired, and consequently -that no permanent effect could be produced. We may -admit that taste is fluctuating, but it is not quite arbitrary. -It depends much on habit, as we see in mankind; -and we may infer that this would hold good with birds -and other animals. Even in our own dress, the general -character lasts long, and the changes are to a certain extent -graduated. Abundant evidence will be given in two -places in a future chapter, that savages of many races -have admired for many generations the same cicatrices on -the skin, the same hideously perforated lips, nostrils, or -ears, distorted heads, etc.; and these deformities present -some analogy to the natural ornaments of various animals. -Nevertheless, with savages such fashions do not endure -forever, as we may infer from the differences in this respect<span class="pagenum" id="Page_243">243</span> -between allied tribes on the same continent. So -again the raisers of fancy animals certainly have admired -for many generations and still admire the same breeds; -they earnestly desire slight changes, which are considered -as improvements, but any great or sudden change is -looked at as the greatest blemish. With birds in a state -of nature we have no reason to suppose that they would -admire an entirely new style of coloration, even if great -and sudden variation often occurred, which is far from -being the case. We know that dovecot pigeons do not -willingly associate with the variously colored fancy -breeds; that albino birds do not commonly get partners -in marriage; and that the black ravens of the Feroe Islands -chase away their piebald brethren. But this dislike -of a sudden change would not preclude their appreciating -slight changes, any more than it does in the case -of man. Hence with respect to taste, which depends on -many elements, but partly on habit and partly on a love -of novelty, there seems no improbability in animals admiring -for a very long period the same general style of ornamentation -or other attractions, and yet appreciating -slight changes in colors, form, or sound.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_134">DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SEXES CREATED BY SEXUAL -SELECTION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 563.</div> - -<p>There can be little doubt that the greater -size and strength of man, in comparison -with woman, together with his broader shoulders, more -developed muscles, rugged outline of body, his greater -courage and pugnacity, are all due in chief part to inheritance -from his half-human male ancestors. These -characters would, however, have been preserved or even -augmented during the long ages of man’s savagery, by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_244">244</span> -the success of the strongest and boldest men, both in the -general struggle for life and in their contest for wives; a -success which would have insured their leaving a more -numerous progeny than their less favored brethren. It is -not probable that the greater strength of man was primarily -acquired through the inherited effects of his having -worked harder than woman for his own subsistence and -that of his family; for the women in all barbarous nations -are compelled to work at least as hard as the men. -With civilized people the arbitrament of battle for the -possession of the women has long ceased; on the other -hand, the men, as a general rule, have to work harder -than the women for their joint subsistence, and thus their -greater strength will have been kept up.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>With respect to differences of this nature between -man and woman, it is probable that sexual selection has -played a highly important part. I am aware that some -writers doubt whether there is any such inherent difference; -but this is at least probable from the analogy of -the lower animals which present other secondary sexual -characters. No one disputes that the bull differs in disposition -from the cow, the wild-boar from the sow, the -stallion from the mare, and, as is well known to the keepers -of menageries, the males of the larger apes from the -females. Woman seems to differ from man in mental disposition, -chiefly in her greater tenderness and less selfishness; -and this holds good even with savages, as shown -by a well-known passage in Mungo Park’s “Travels,” and -by statements made by many other travelers. Woman, -owing to her maternal instincts, displays these qualities -toward her infants in an eminent degree; therefore it is -likely that she would often extend them toward her fellow-creatures. -Man is the rival of other men; he delights<span class="pagenum" id="Page_245">245</span> -in competition, and this leads to ambition which -passes too easily into selfishness. These latter qualities -seem to be his natural and unfortunate birthright. It is -generally admitted that with woman the powers of intuition, -of rapid perception, and perhaps of imitation, are -more strongly marked than in man; but some, at least, of -these faculties are characteristic of the lower races, and -therefore of a past and lower state of civilization.</p> - -<p>The chief distinction in the intellectual powers of the -two sexes is shown by man’s attaining to a higher eminence, -in whatever he takes up, than can woman—whether -requiring deep thought, reason, or imagination, or -merely the use of the senses and hands. If two lists were -made of the most eminent men and women in poetry, -painting, sculpture, music (inclusive both of composition -and performance), history, science, and philosophy, with -half a dozen names under each subject, the two lists would -not bear comparison. We may also infer, from the law -of the deviation from averages, so well illustrated by Mr. -Galton, in his work on “Hereditary Genius,” that if men -are capable of a decided pre-eminence over women in -many subjects, the average of mental power in man must -be above that of woman.</p> - -<p>Among the half-human progenitors of man, and -among savages, there have been struggles between the -males during many generations for the possession of the -females. But mere bodily strength and size would do -little for victory, unless associated with courage, perseverance, -and determined energy. With social animals, the -young males have to pass through many a contest before -they win a female, and the older males have to retain -their females by renewed battles. They have, also, in the -case of mankind, to defend their females, as well as their -young, from enemies of all kinds, and to hunt for their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_246">246</span> -joint subsistence. But to avoid enemies or to attack them -with success, to capture wild animals, or to fashion -weapons, requires the aid of the higher mental faculties, -namely, observation, reason, invention, or imagination. -These various faculties will thus have been continually -put to the test and selected during manhood; they will, -moreover, have been strengthened by use during this same -period of life. Consequently, in accordance with the -principle often alluded to, we might expect that they -would at least tend to be transmitted chiefly to the male -offspring at the corresponding period of manhood.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_135">HOW WOMAN COULD BE MADE TO REACH THE STANDARD -OF MAN.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 565.</div> - -<p>It must be borne in mind that the tendency -in characters acquired by either sex late in -life, to be transmitted to the same sex at the same age, -and of early acquired characters to be transmitted to both -sexes, are rules which, though general, do not always -hold. If they always held good, we might conclude (but -I here exceed my proper bounds) that the inherited effects -of the early education of boys and girls would be -transmitted equally to both sexes; so that the present -inequality in mental power between the sexes would not -be effaced by a similar course of early training; nor can -it have been caused by their dissimilar early training. In -order that woman should reach the same standard as man, -she ought, when nearly adult, to be trained to energy and -perseverance, and to have her reason and imagination -exercised to the highest point; and then she would probably -transmit these qualities chiefly to her adult daughters. -All women, however, could not be thus raised, unless -during many generations those who excelled in the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_247">247</span> -above robust virtues were married, and produced offspring -in larger numbers than other women. As before remarked -of bodily strength, although men do not now -fight for their wives, and this form of selection has -passed away, yet during manhood they generally undergo -a severe struggle in order to maintain themselves and -their families; and this will tend to keep up or even -increase their mental powers, and, as a consequence, the -present inequality between the sexes.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_136">“CHARACTERISTIC SELFISHNESS OF MAN.”</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 577.</div> - -<p>In most, but not all parts of the world, the -men are more ornamented than the women, -and often in a different manner; sometimes, though -rarely, the women are hardly at all ornamented. As the -women are made by savages to perform the greatest share -of the work, and as they are not allowed to eat the best -kinds of food, so it accords with the characteristic selfishness -of man that they should not be allowed to obtain or -use the finest ornaments. Lastly, it is a remarkable fact, -as proved by the foregoing quotations, that the same -fashions in modifying the shape of the head, in ornamenting -the hair, in painting, tattooing, in perforating the -nose, lips, or ears, in removing or filing the teeth, etc., -now prevail, and have long prevailed, in the most distant -quarters of the world. It is extremely improbable that -these practices, followed by so many distinct nations, -should be due to tradition from any common source. -They indicate the close similarity of the mind of man, to -whatever race he may belong, just as do the almost universal -habits of dancing, masquerading, and making rude -pictures.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_248">248</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_137">NO UNIVERSAL STANDARD OF BEAUTY AMONG MANKIND.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 584.</div> - -<p>The senses of man and of the lower animals -seem to be so constituted that brilliant colors -and certain forms, as well as harmonious and rhythmical -sounds, give pleasure and are called beautiful; but why -this should be so we know not. It is certainly not true -that there is in the mind of man any universal standard -of beauty with respect to the human body. It is, however, -possible that certain tastes may in the course of -time become inherited, though there is no evidence in -favor of this belief; and if so each race would possess its -own innate ideal standard of beauty. It has been argued -that ugliness consists in an approach to the structure of -the lower animals, and no doubt this is partly true with -the more civilized nations, in which intellect is highly -appreciated; but this explanation will hardly apply to all -forms of ugliness. The men of each race prefer what -they are accustomed to; they can not endure any great -change; but they like variety, and admire each characteristic -carried to a moderate extreme. Men accustomed -to a nearly oval face, to straight and regular features, -and to bright colors, admire, as we Europeans know, -these points when strongly developed. On the other -hand, men accustomed to a broad face, with high cheekbones, -a depressed nose, and a black skin, admire these -peculiarities when strongly marked. No doubt characters -of all kinds may be too much developed for beauty. -Hence a perfect beauty, which implies many characters -modified in a particular manner, will be in every race a -prodigy. As the great anatomist Bichat long ago said, -if every one were cast in the same mold, there would -be no such thing as beauty. If all our women were<span class="pagenum" id="Page_249">249</span> -to become as beautiful as the Venus de’ Medici, we should -for a time be charmed; but we should soon wish for variety; -and, as soon as we had obtained variety, we should -wish to see certain characters a little exaggerated beyond -the then existing common standard.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 578.</div> - -<p>It is well known that with many Hottentot -women the posterior part of the body -projects in a wonderful manner; they are steatopygous; -and Sir Andrew Smith is certain that this peculiarity is -greatly admired by the men. He once saw a woman who -was considered a beauty, and she was so immensely developed -behind, that when seated on level ground she -could not rise, and had to push herself along until she -came to a slope. Some of the women in the various negro -tribes have the same peculiarity; and, according to -Burton, the Somal men “are said to choose their wives -by ranging them in a line, and by picking her out who -projects farthest <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">a tergo</i>. Nothing can be more hateful -to a negro than the opposite form.”</p> - -<h3 id="sec_138">DEVELOPMENT OF THE BEARD.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 602.</div> - -<p>With respect to the beard in man, if we -turn to our best guide, the Quadrumana, we -find beards equally developed in both sexes of many species, -but in some, either confined to the males, or more -developed in them than in the females. From this fact -and from the curious arrangement, as well as the bright -colors of the hair about the head of many monkeys, it is -highly probable, as before explained, that the males first -acquired their beards through sexual selection as an ornament, -transmitting them in most cases, equally or nearly -so, to their offspring of both sexes. We know from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_250">250</span> -Eschricht that, with mankind, the female as well as the -male fœtus is furnished with much hair on the face, -especially round the mouth; and this indicates that we -are descended from progenitors of whom both sexes are -bearded. It appears therefore at first sight probable that -man has retained his beard from a very early period, -while woman lost her beard at the same time that her -body became almost completely divested of hair. Even -the color of our beards seems to have been inherited from -an ape-like progenitor; for, when there is any difference -in tint between the hair of the head and the beard, the -latter is lighter colored in all monkeys and in man. In -those Quadrumana in which the male has a larger beard -than that of the female, it is fully developed only at maturity, -just as with mankind; and it is possible that -only the later stages of development have been retained -by man. In opposition to this view of the retention of -the beard from an early period, is the fact of its great variability -in different races, and even within the same race; -for this indicates reversion—long-lost characters being -very apt to vary on reappearance.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_139">DEVELOPMENT OF THE MARRIAGE-TIE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 590.</div> - -<p>Although the manner of the development -of the marriage-tie is an obscure subject, as -we may infer from the divergent opinions on -several points between the three authors who have studied -it most closely, namely, Mr. Morgan, Mr. McLennan, and -Sir J. Lubbock, yet, from the foregoing and several other -lines of evidence, it seems probable that the habit of marriage, -in any strict sense of the word, has been gradually -developed; and that almost promiscuous, or very loose, -intercourse was once extremely common throughout the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_251">251</span> -world. Nevertheless, from the strength of the feeling of -jealousy all through the animal kingdom, as well as from -the analogy of the lower animals, more particularly of -those which come nearest to man, I can not believe that -absolutely promiscuous intercourse prevailed in times -past, shortly before man attained to his present rank in -the zoological scale. Man, as I have attempted to show, -is certainly descended from some ape-like creature. With -the existing Quadrumana, as far as their habits are known, -the males of some species are monogamous, but live during -only a part of the year with the females; of this the -orang seems to afford an instance. Several kinds, for -example, some of the Indian and American monkeys, are -strictly monogamous, and associate all the year round -with their wives. Others are polygamous, for example, -the gorilla and several American species, and each family -lives separate.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 591.</div> - -<p>Therefore, looking far enough back in the -stream of time, and judging from the social -habits of man as he now exists, the most probable view -is that he aboriginally lived in small communities, each -with a single wife, or, if powerful, with several, whom -he jealously guarded against all other men. Or he may -not have been a social animal, and yet have lived with -several wives, like the gorilla; for all the natives “agree -that but one adult male is seen in a band; when the -young male grows up, a contest takes place for mastery, -and the strongest, by killing and driving out the others, -establishes himself as the head of the community.” The -younger males, being thus expelled and wandering about, -would, when at last successful in finding a partner, prevent -too close interbreeding within the limits of the same -family.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_252">252</span></p> - -<p>Although savages are now extremely licentious, and -although communal marriages may formerly have largely -prevailed, yet many tribes practice some form of marriage, -but of a far more lax nature than that of civilized -nations. Polygamy, as just stated, is almost universally -followed by the leading men in every tribe. Nevertheless, -there are tribes, standing almost at the bottom of -the scale, which are strictly monogamous. This is the -case with the Veddahs of Ceylon; they have a saying, -according to Sir J. Lubbock, that “death alone can separate -husband and wife.” An intelligent Kandyan chief, -of course a polygamist, “was perfectly scandalized at the -utter barbarism of living with only one wife, and never -parting until separated by death.” It was, he said, “just -like the Wanderoo monkeys.” Whether savages who now -enter into some form of marriage, either polygamous or -monogamous, have retained this habit from primeval -times, or whether they have returned to some form of -marriage, after passing through a stage of promiscuous -intercourse, I will not pretend to conjecture.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_140">UNNATURAL SELECTION IN MARRIAGE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 617.</div> - -<p>Man scans with scrupulous care the character -and pedigree of his horses, cattle, and -dogs before he matches them; but, when he -comes to his own marriage, he rarely or never takes any -such care. He is impelled by nearly the same motives as -the lower animals, when they are left to their own free -choice, though he is in so far superior to them that he -highly values mental charms and virtues. On the other -hand, he is strongly attracted by mere wealth or rank. -Yet he might by selection do something not only for the -bodily constitution and frame of his offspring, but for<span class="pagenum" id="Page_253">253</span> -their intellectual and moral qualities. Both sexes ought -to refrain from marriage, if they are in any marked degree -inferior in body or mind; but such hopes are Utopian, -and will never be even partially realized until the -laws of inheritance are thoroughly known. Every one -does good service who aids toward this end. When the -principles of breeding and inheritance are better understood, -we shall not hear ignorant members of our -Legislature rejecting with scorn a plan for ascertaining -whether or not consanguineous marriages are injurious -to man.</p> - -<p>The advancement of the welfare of mankind is a most -intricate problem: all ought to refrain from marriage -who can not avoid abject poverty for their children; for -poverty is not only a great evil, but tends to its own increase -by leading to recklessness in marriage. On the -other hand, as Mr. Galton has remarked, if the prudent -avoid marriage, while the reckless marry, the inferior -members tend to supplant the better members of society. -Man, like every other animal, has no doubt advanced to -his present high condition through a struggle for existence -consequent on his rapid multiplication; and, if he -is to advance still higher, it is to be feared that he must -remain subject to a severe struggle. Otherwise he would -sink into indolence, and the more gifted men would not -be more successful in the battle of life than the less -gifted. Hence our natural rate of increase, though leading -to many and obvious evils, must not be greatly diminished -by any means. There should be open competition -for all men; and the most able should not be prevented -by laws or customs from succeeding best, and rearing the -largest number of offspring. Important as the struggle -for existence has been, and even still is, yet, as far as the -highest part of man’s nature is concerned, there are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_254">254</span> -other agencies more important. For the moral qualities -are advanced, either directly or indirectly, much more -through the effects of habit, the reasoning powers, instruction, -religion, etc., than through natural selection; -though to this latter agency may be safely attributed the -social instincts which afforded the basis for the development -of the moral sense.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_141">MODIFYING INFLUENCES IN BOTH SEXES.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 596.</div> - -<p>With animals in a state of nature, many -characters proper to the males, such as size, -strength, special weapons, courage, and pugnacity, have -been acquired through the law of battle. The semi-human -progenitors of man, like their allies the Quadrumana, -will almost certainly have been thus modified; -and, as savages still fight for the possession of their -women, a similar process of selection has probably gone -on in a greater or less degree to the present day. Other -characters proper to the males of the lower animals, such -as bright colors and various ornaments, have been acquired -by the more attractive males having been preferred -by the females. There are, however, exceptional cases -in which the males are the selectors, instead of having -been the selected. We recognize such cases by the females -being more highly ornamented than the males—their -ornamental characters having been transmitted exclusively -or chiefly to their female offspring. One such -case has been described in the order to which man belongs, -that of the Rhesus monkey.</p> - -<p>Man is more powerful in body and mind than woman, -and in the savage state he keeps her in a far more abject -state of bondage than does the male of any other animal; -therefore it is not surprising that he should have gained<span class="pagenum" id="Page_255">255</span> -the power of selection. Women are everywhere conscious -of the value of their own beauty; and, when they have -the means, they take more delight in decorating themselves -with all sorts of ornaments than do men. They -borrow the plumes of male birds, with which nature has -decked this sex in order to charm the females. As women -have long been selected for beauty, it is not surprising -that some of their successive variations should have been -transmitted exclusively to the same sex; consequently -that they should have transmitted beauty in a somewhat -higher degree to their female than to their male offspring, -and thus have become more beautiful, according to general -opinion, than men. Women, however, certainly -transmit most of their characters, including some beauty, -to their offspring of both sexes; so that the continued -preference by the men of each race for the more attractive -women, according to their standard of taste, will have -tended to modify in the same manner all the individuals -of both sexes belonging to the race.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 617.</div> - -<p>He who admits the principle of sexual selection -will be led to the remarkable conclusion -that the nervous system not only regulates most of the -existing functions of the body, but has indirectly influenced -the progressive development of various bodily -structures and of certain mental qualities. Courage, -pugnacity, perseverance, strength and size of body, weapons -of all kinds, musical organs, both vocal and instrumental, -bright colors and ornamental appendages, have -all been indirectly gained by the one sex or the other, -through the exertion of choice, the influence of love and -jealousy, and the appreciation of the beautiful in sound, -color, or form; and these powers of the mind manifestly -depend on the development of the brain.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_256">256</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_142">“GROUNDS THAT WILL NEVER BE SHAKEN.”</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 606.</div> - -<p>Many of the views which have been advanced -are highly speculative, and some no -doubt will prove erroneous; but I have in -every case given the reasons which have led me to one -view rather than to another. It seemed worth while to -try how far the principle of evolution would throw light -on some of the more complex problems in the natural -history of man. False facts are highly injurious to the -progress of science, for they often endure long; but false -views, if supported by some evidence, do little harm, for -every one takes a salutary pleasure in proving their falseness; -and, when this is done, one path toward error is -closed and the road to truth is often at the same time -opened.</p> - -<p>The main conclusion here arrived at, and now held -by many naturalists who are well competent to form a -sound judgment, is that man is descended from some less -highly organized form. The grounds upon which this -conclusion rests will never be shaken, for the close similarity -between man and the lower animals in embryonic -development, as well as in innumerable points of structure -and constitution, both of high and of the most trifling -importance—the rudiments which he retains, and the -abnormal reversions to which he is occasionally liable—are -facts which can not be disputed. They have long -been known, but until recently they told us nothing with -respect to the origin of man. Now, when viewed by the -light of our knowledge of the whole organic world, their -meaning is unmistakable. The great principle of evolution -stands up clear and firm, when these groups of facts -are considered in connection with others, such as the -mutual affinities of the members of the same group, their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_257">257</span> -geographical distribution in past and present times, and -their geological succession. It is incredible that all these -facts should speak falsely. He who is not content to -look, like a savage, at the phenomena of nature as disconnected, -can not any longer believe that man is the -work of a separate act of creation. He will be forced to -admit that the close resemblance of the embryo of man -to that, for instance, of a dog—the construction of his -skull, limbs, and whole frame on the same plan with that -of other mammals, independently of the uses to which -the parts may be put—the occasional reappearance of -various structures, for instance of several muscles, which -man does not normally possess, but which are common -to the Quadrumana—and a crowd of analogous facts—all -point in the plainest manner to the conclusion that man -is the co-descendant with other mammals of a common -progenitor.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_258">258</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XII">XII.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE EXPRESSION OF THE EMOTIONS IN -MAN AND OTHER ANIMALS.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="blockquot hang"> - -<p><i>The subject is treated under three Principles: the Principle -of Associated Habit; the Principle of Antithesis; -and the Principle of the direct action of the nervous -system independent of Will and Habit.</i></p> -</div> - -<h3 id="sec_143">THE PRINCIPLE OF ASSOCIATED HABIT.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression of -the Emotions,<br /> -page 29.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">It</span> is notorious how powerful is the force -of habit. The most complex and difficult -movements can in time be performed without -the least effort or consciousness. It is not positively -known how it comes that habit is so efficient in facilitating -complex movements; but physiologists admit that -“the conducting power of the nervous fibers increases with -the frequency of their excitement.” This applies to the -nerves of motion and sensation, as well as to those connected -with the act of thinking. That some physical -change is produced in the nerve-cells or nerves which are -habitually used can hardly be doubted, for otherwise it is -impossible to understand how the tendency to certain acquired -movements is inherited.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 31.</div> - -<p>It is known to every one how difficult or -even impossible it is, without repeated trials, -to move the limbs in certain opposed directions which<span class="pagenum" id="Page_259">259</span> -have never been practiced. Analogous cases occur with -sensations, as in the common experiment of rolling a -marble beneath the tips of two crossed fingers, when it -feels exactly like two marbles. Every one protects himself -when falling to the ground by extending his arms, and as -Professor Alison has remarked, few can resist acting thus -when voluntarily falling on a soft bed. A man when -going out-of-doors puts on his gloves quite unconsciously; -and this may seem an extremely simple operation, but he -who has taught a child to put on gloves knows that this -is by no means the case.</p> - -<p>When our minds are much affected, so are the movements -of our bodies.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 30.</div> - -<p>To those who admit the gradual evolution -of species, a most striking instance of the perfection -with which the most difficult consensual movements -can be transmitted, is afforded by the hummingbird -Sphinx-moth (<i>Macroglossa</i>); for this moth, shortly -after its emergence from the cocoon, as shown by the -bloom on its unruffled scales, may be seen poised stationary -in the air, with its long, hair-like proboscis uncurled -and inserted into the minute orifices of flowers; and no -one, I believe, has ever seen this moth learning to perform -its difficult task, which requires such unerring aim.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 32.</div> - -<p>A vulgar man often scratches his head -when perplexed in mind; and I believe that -he acts thus from habit, as if he experienced a slightly -uncomfortable bodily sensation, namely, the itching of -his head, to which he is particularly liable, and which he -thus relieves. Another man rubs his eyes when perplexed, -or gives a little cough when embarrassed, acting in either -case as if he felt a slightly uncomfortable sensation in his -eyes or windpipe.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_260">260</span></p> - -<p>From the continued use of the eyes, these organs are -especially liable to be acted on through association under -various states of the mind, although there is manifestly -nothing to be seen. A man, as Gratiolet remarks, who -vehemently rejects a proposition, will almost certainly -shut his eyes or turn away his face; but, if he accepts the -proposition, he will nod his head in affirmation and open -his eyes widely. The man acts in this latter case as if he -clearly saw the thing, and in the former case as if he did -not, or would not, see it. I have noticed that persons in -describing a horrid sight often shut their eyes momentarily -and firmly, or shake their heads, as if not to see or -to drive away something disagreeable; and I have caught -myself, when thinking in the dark of a horrid spectacle, -closing my eyes firmly.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 34.</div> - -<p>There are other actions which are commonly -performed under certain circumstances, -independently of habit, and which seem to be due to imitation -or some sort of sympathy. Thus persons cutting -anything with a pair of scissors may be seen to move -their jaws simultaneously with the blades of the scissors. -Children learning to write often twist about their tongues -as their fingers move, in a ridiculous fashion. When a -public singer suddenly becomes a little hoarse, many of -those present may be heard, as I have been assured by a -gentleman on whom I can rely, to clear their throats; -but here habit probably comes into play, as we clear our -own throats under similar circumstances.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 35.</div> - -<p>Reflex actions, in the strict sense of the -term, are due to the excitement of a peripheral -nerve, which transmits its influence to certain nerve-cells, -and these, in their turn, excite certain muscles or glands<span class="pagenum" id="Page_261">261</span> -into action; and all this may take place without any sensation -or consciousness on our part, though often thus -accompanied. As many reflex actions are highly expressive, -the subject must here be noticed at some little -length. We shall also see that some of them graduate -into, and can hardly be distinguished from, actions which -have arisen through habit. Coughing and sneezing are -familiar instances of reflex actions.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 37.</div> - -<p>The conscious wish to perform a reflex action -sometimes stops or interrupts its performance, -though the proper sensory nerves may be stimulated. -For instance, many years ago I laid a small wager with a -dozen young men that they would not sneeze if they took -snuff, although they all declared that they invariably did -so; accordingly, they all took a pinch, but, from wishing -much to succeed, not one sneezed, though their eyes -watered, and all, without exception, had to pay me the -wager.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 42.</div> - -<p>Dogs, when they wish to go to sleep on a carpet -or other hard surface, generally turn round -and round and scratch the ground with their fore-paws in -a senseless manner, as if they intended to trample down -the grass and scoop out a hollow, as, no doubt, their wild -parents did, when they lived on open, grassy plains or in -the woods.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_144">THE PRINCIPLE OF ANTITHESIS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the Emotions,<br /> -page 50.</div> - -<p>Certain states of the mind lead, as we have -seen in the last chapter, to certain habitual -movements which were primarily, or may still -be, of service; and we shall find that, when a directly opposite<span class="pagenum" id="Page_262">262</span> -state of mind is induced, there is a strong and involuntary -tendency to the performance of movements of -a directly opposite nature, though these have never been -of any service.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>When a dog approaches a strange dog or man in a -savage or hostile frame of mind, he walks upright and -very stiffly; his head is slightly raised, or not much lowered; -the tail is held erect and quite rigid; the hairs -bristle, especially along the neck and back; the pricked -ears are directed forward, and the eyes have a fixed stare. -These actions follow from the dog’s intention to attack -his enemy, and are thus to a large extent intelligible. -As he prepares to spring with a savage growl on his -enemy, the canine teeth are uncovered, and the ears are -pressed close backward on the head; but with these latter -actions we are not here concerned. Let us now suppose -that the dog suddenly discovers that the man whom -he is approaching is not a stranger, but his master; and -let it be observed how completely and instantaneously his -whole bearing is reversed. Instead of walking upright, -the body sinks downward or even crouches, and is thrown -into flexuous movements; his tail, instead of being held -stiff and upright, is lowered and wagged from side to -side; his hair instantly becomes smooth; his ears are -depressed and drawn backward, but not closely to the -head; and his lips hang loosely. From the drawing back -of the ears, the eyelids become elongated, and the eyes -no longer appear round and staring. It should be added -that the animal is at such times in an excited condition -from joy; and nerve-force will be generated in excess, -which naturally leads to action of some kind. Not one -of the above movements, so clearly expressive of affection, -are of the least direct service to the animal. They are<span class="pagenum" id="Page_263">263</span> -explicable, as far as I can see, solely from being in complete -opposition or antithesis to the attitude and movements -which, from intelligible causes, are assumed when -a dog intends to fight, and which consequently are expressive -of anger.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_145">ORIGIN OF THE PRINCIPLE OF ANTITHESIS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 60.</div> - -<p>We will now consider how the principle of -antithesis in expression has arisen. With social -animals, the power of intercommunication between -the members of the same community—and, with other -species, between the opposite sexes, as well as between the -young and the old—is of the highest importance to them. -This is generally effected by means of the voice, but it is -certain that gestures and expressions are to a certain extent -mutually intelligible. Man not only uses inarticulate -cries, gestures, and expressions, but has invented -articulate language; if, indeed, the word <em>invented</em> can be -applied to a process completed by innumerable steps, half-consciously -made. Any one who has watched monkeys -will not doubt that they perfectly understand each other’s -gestures and expression, and to a large extent, as Rengger -asserts, those of man. An animal when going to attack -another, or when afraid of another, often makes itself -appear terrible, by erecting its hair, thus increasing the -apparent bulk of its body, by showing its teeth, or brandishing -its horns, or by uttering fierce sounds.</p> - -<p>As the power of intercommunication is certainly of -high service to many animals, there is no <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">a priori</i> improbability -in the supposition that gestures manifestly of an -opposite nature to those by which certain feelings are -already expressed should at first have been voluntarily -employed under the influence of an opposite state of feeling.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_264">264</span> -The fact of the gestures being now innate would -be no valid objection to the belief that they were at first -intentional; for, if practiced during many generations, -they would probably at last be inherited. Nevertheless, -it is more than doubtful, as we shall immediately see, -whether any of the cases which come under our present -head of antithesis have thus originated.</p> - -<p>With conventional signs which are not innate, such -as those used by the deaf and dumb and by savages, the -principle of opposition or antithesis has been partially -brought into play. The Cistercian monks thought it sinful -to speak, and, as they could not avoid holding some -communication, they invented a gesture language, in -which the principle of opposition seems to have been employed. -Dr. Scott, of the Exeter Deaf and Dumb Institution, -writes to me that “opposites are greatly used in -teaching the deaf and dumb, who have a lively sense of -them.” Nevertheless I have been surprised how few unequivocal -instances can be adduced. This depends partly -on all the signs having commonly had some natural -origin; and partly on the practice of the deaf and dumb -and of savages to contract their signs as much as possible -for the sake of rapidity. Hence their natural source or -origin often becomes doubtful, or is completely lost; as -is likewise the case with articulate language.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 64.</div> - -<p>When a cat, or rather when some early progenitor -of the species, from feeling affectionate, -first slightly arched its back, held its tail perpendicularly -upward and pricked its ears, can it be believed -that the animal consciously wished thus to show that -its frame of mind was directly the reverse of that when, -from being ready to fight or to spring on its prey, it assumed -a crouching attitude, curled its tail from side to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_265">265</span> -side, and depressed its ears? Even still less can I believe -that my dog voluntarily put on his dejected attitude and -“<em>hot-house face</em>,” which formed so complete a contrast -to his previous cheerful attitude and whole bearing. It -can not be supposed that he knew that I should understand -his expression, and that he could thus soften my -heart and make me give up visiting the hot-house.</p> - -<p>Hence, for the development of the movements which -come under the present head, some other principle, distinct -from the will and consciousness, must have intervened. -This principle appears to be that every movement -which we have voluntarily performed throughout -our lives has required the action of certain muscles; and, -when we have performed a directly opposite movement, -an opposite set of muscles has been habitually brought -into play—as in turning to the right or to the left, in -pushing away or pulling an object toward us, and in lifting -or lowering a weight.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_146">THE PRINCIPLE OF THE ACTION OF THE EXCITED NERVOUS -SYSTEM ON THE BODY.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the Emotions,<br /> -page 66.</div> - -<p>The most striking case, though a rare and -abnormal one, which can be adduced of the -direct influence of the nervous system, when -strongly affected, on the body, is the loss of color in the -hair, which has occasionally been observed after extreme -terror or grief. One authentic instance has been recorded, -in the case of a man brought out for execution in -India, in which the change of color was so rapid that it -was perceptible to the eye.</p> - -<p>Another good case is that of the trembling of the -muscles, which is common to man and to many, or most, -of the lower animals. Trembling is of no service, often<span class="pagenum" id="Page_266">266</span> -of much disservice, and can not have been at first acquired -through the will, and then rendered habitual in -association with any emotion. I am assured by an eminent -authority that young children do not tremble, but -go into convulsions, under the circumstances which would -induce excessive trembling in adults. Trembling is excited -in different individuals in very different degrees, -and by the most diversified causes—by cold to the surface, -before fever-fits, although the temperature of the body is -then above the normal standard; in blood-poisoning, delirium -tremens, and other diseases; by general failure of -power in old age; by exhaustion after excessive fatigue; -locally from severe injuries, such as burns; and, in an -especial manner, by the passage of a catheter. Of all -emotions, fear notoriously is the most apt to induce -trembling; but so do occasionally great anger and joy. -I remember once seeing a boy who had just shot his first -snipe on the wing, and his hands trembled to such a degree -from delight that he could not for some time reload -his gun; and I have heard of an exactly similar case -with an Australian savage, to whom a gun had been lent. -Fine music, from the vague emotions thus excited, causes -a shiver to run down the backs of some persons.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 69.</div> - -<p>When animals suffer from an agony of -pain, they generally writhe about with frightful -contortions; and those which habitually use their -voices utter piercing cries or groans. Almost every muscle -of the body is brought into strong action. With man -the mouth may be closely compressed, or, more commonly, -the lips are retracted, with the teeth clinched or -ground together.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_267">267</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 75.</div> - -<p>The heart will be all the more readily -affected through habitual associations, as it -is not under the control of the will. A man when moderately -angry, or even when enraged, may command the -movements of his body, but he can not prevent his heart -from beating rapidly. His chest will, perhaps, give a few -heaves, and his nostrils just quiver, for the movements of -respiration are only in part voluntary. In like manner, -those muscles of the face which are least obedient to the -will will sometimes alone betray a slight and passing -emotion. The glands, again, are wholly independent of -the will, and a man suffering from grief may command -his features, but can not always prevent the tears from -coming into his eyes. A hungry man, if tempting food -is placed before him, may not show his hunger by any -outward gesture, but he can not check the secretion of -saliva.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 77.</div> - -<p>With all, or almost all, animals, even with -birds, terror causes the body to tremble. The -skin becomes pale, sweat breaks out, and the hair bristles.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 79.</div> - -<p>A physician once remarked to me, as a -proof of the exciting nature of anger, that a -man when excessively jaded will sometimes invent imaginary -offenses, and put himself into a passion, unconsciously, -for the sake of reinvigorating himself; and, since hearing -this remark, I have occasionally recognized its full -truth.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 81.</div> - -<p>Exertion stimulates the heart, and this reacts -on the brain, and aids the mind to bear -its heavy load.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_268">268</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XIII">XIII.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">MEANS OF THE EXPRESSION OF THE -EMOTIONS.</span></h2> -</div> - -<h3 id="sec_147">VOCAL ORGANS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the Emotions,<br /> -page 83.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">With</span> many kinds of animals, man included, -the vocal organs are efficient in the highest degree -as a means of expression. We have seen -in the last chapter that, when the sensorium is strongly -excited, the muscles of the body are generally thrown -into violent action; and, as a consequence, loud sounds -are uttered, however silent the animal may generally be, -and although the sounds may be of no use. Hares and -rabbits, for instance, never, I believe, use their vocal -organs, except in the extremity of suffering; as, when a -wounded hare is killed by the sportsman, or when a -young rabbit is caught by a stoat. Cattle and horses -suffer great pain in silence, but when this is excessive, -and especially when associated with terror, they utter -fearful sounds.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 87.</div> - -<p>That animals utter musical notes is familiar -to every one, as we may daily hear in -the singing of birds. It is a more remarkable fact that -an ape, one of the Gibbons, produces an exact octave of -musical sounds, ascending and descending the scale by<span class="pagenum" id="Page_269">269</span> -half-tones; so that this monkey, “alone of brute mammals, -may be said to sing.” From this fact, and from -the analogy of other animals, I have been led to infer -that the progenitors of man probably uttered musical -tones before they had acquired the power of articulate -speech; and that, consequently, when the voice is used -under any strong emotion, it tends to assume, through the -principle of association, a musical character.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_148">ERECTION OF THE HAIR.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 96.</div> - -<p>The enraged lion erects his mane. The -bristling of the hair along the neck and back -of the dog, and over the whole body of the cat, especially -on the tail, is familiar to every one. With the cat it apparently -occurs only under fear; with the dog, under -anger and fear; but not, as far as I have observed, under -abject fear, as when a dog is going to be flogged by a -severe gamekeeper. If, however, the dog shows fight, as -sometimes happens, up goes his hair. I have often noticed -that the hair of a dog is particularly liable to rise -if he is half angry and half afraid, as on beholding some -object only indistinctly seen in the dusk.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 97.</div> - -<p>Birds belonging to all the chief orders ruffle -their feathers when angry or frightened. -Every one must have seen two cocks, even quite young -birds, preparing to fight with erected neck-hackles; nor -can these feathers when erected serve as a means of defense, -for cock-fighters have found by experience that it -is advantageous to trim them. The male Ruff (<i>Machetes -pugnax</i>) likewise erects its collar of feathers when fighting. -When a dog approaches a common hen with her -chickens, she spreads out her wings, raises her tail, ruffles<span class="pagenum" id="Page_270">270</span> -all her feathers, and, looking as ferocious as possible, -dashes at the intruder.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 105.</div> - -<p>Several kinds of snakes inflate themselves -when irritated. The puff-adder (<i>Clotho arietans</i>) -is remarkable in this respect; but, I believe, after -carefully watching these animals, that they do not act -thus for the sake of increasing their apparent bulk, but -simply for inhaling a large supply of air, so as to produce -their surprisingly loud, harsh, and prolonged hissing -sound.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_149">ERECTION OF THE EARS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 111.</div> - -<p>The ears through their movements are highly -expressive in many animals; but in some, -such as man, the higher apes, and many ruminants, they -fail in this respect. A slight difference in position serves -to express in the plainest manner a different state of -mind, as we may daily see in the dog; but we are here -concerned only with the ears being drawn closely backward -and pressed to the head. A savage frame of mind -is thus shown, but only in the case of those animals which -fight with their teeth; and the care which they take to -prevent their ears being seized by their antagonists accounts -for this position. Consequently, through habit -and association, whenever they feel slightly savage, or -pretend in their play to be savage, their ears are drawn -back. That this is the true explanation may be inferred -from the relation which exists in very many animals between -their manner of fighting and the retraction of their -ears.</p> - -<p>All the Carnivora fight with their canine teeth, and -all, as far as I have observed, draw their ears back when -feeling savage.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_271">271</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_150">A STARTLED HORSE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expressions -of the Emotions,<br /> -page 130.</div> - -<p>The actions of a horse when much startled -are highly expressive. One day my horse was -much frightened at a drilling-machine, covered -by a tarpaulin, and lying on an open field. He raised -his head so high that his neck became almost perpendicular; -and this he did from habit, for the machine lay -on a slope below, and could not have been seen with more -distinctness through the raising of the head; nor, if any -sound had proceeded from it, could the sound have been -more distinctly heard. His eyes and ears were directed -intently forward; and I could feel through the saddle -the palpitations of his heart. With red, dilated nostrils -he snorted violently, and, whirling round, would have -dashed off at full speed, had I not prevented him. The -distention of the nostrils is not for the sake of scenting -the source of danger, for, when a horse smells carefully -at any object and is not alarmed, he does not dilate his -nostrils. Owing to the presence of a valve in the throat, -a horse when panting does not breathe through his open -mouth, but through his nostrils; and these consequently -have become endowed with great powers of expansion. -This expansion of the nostrils, as well as the snorting, -and the palpitations of the heart, are actions which have -become firmly associated during a long series of generations -with the emotion of terror; for terror has habitually -led the horse to the most violent exertion in dashing away -at full speed from the cause of danger.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_151">MONKEY-SHINES.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 142.</div> - -<p>Many years ago, in the Zoölogical Gardens, -I placed a looking-glass on the floor before -two young orangs, who, as far as it was known, had never<span class="pagenum" id="Page_272">272</span> -before seen one. At first they gazed at their own images -with the most steady surprise, and often changed their -point of view. They then approached close and protruded -their lips toward the image, as if to kiss it, in exactly the -same manner as they had previously done toward each -other, when first placed, a few days before, in the same -room. They next made all sorts of grimaces, and put -themselves in various attitudes before the mirror; they -pressed and rubbed the surface; they placed their hands -at different distances behind it; looked behind it; and -finally seemed almost frightened, started a little, became -cross, and refused to look any longer.</p> - -<p>When we try to perform some little action which is -difficult and requires precision, for instance, to thread a -needle, we generally close our lips firmly, for the sake, I -presume, of not disturbing our movements by breathing; -and I noticed the same action in a young orang. The -poor little creature was sick, and was amusing itself by -trying to kill the flies on the window-panes with its -knuckles; this was difficult as the flies buzzed about, and -at each attempt the lips were firmly compressed, and at -the same time slightly protruded.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_152">WEEPING OF MAN AND BRUTE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the Emotion,<br /> -page 153.</div> - -<p>Infants while young do not shed tears or -weep, as is known to nurses and medical -men. This circumstance is not exclusively -due to the lachrymal glands being as yet incapable of secreting -tears. I first noticed this fact from having accidentally -brushed with the cuff of my coat the open eye -of one of my infants, when seventy-seven days old, causing -this eye to water freely; and, though the child screamed -violently, the other eye remained dry, or was only slightly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_273">273</span> -suffused with tears. A similar slight effusion occurred -ten days previously in both eyes during a screaming-fit. -The tears did not run over the eyelids and roll down the -cheeks of this child, while screaming badly, when one -hundred and twenty-two days old. This first happened -seventeen days later, at the age of one hundred and -thirty-nine days. A few other children have been observed -for me, and the period of free weeping appears to -be very variable. In one case, the eyes became slightly -suffused at the age of only twenty days; in another, at -sixty-two days. With two other children, the tears did -<em>not</em> run down the face at the ages of eighty-four and -one hundred and ten days; but in a third child they did -run down at the age of one hundred and four days. In -one instance, as I was positively assured, tears ran down -at the unusually early age of forty-two days. It would -appear as if the lachrymal glands required some practice -in the individual before they are easily excited into action, -in somewhat the same manner as various inherited consensual -movements and tastes require some exercise before -they are fixed and perfected. This is all the more -likely with a habit like weeping, which must have been -acquired since the period when man branched off from -the common progenitor of the genus <i>Homo</i> and of the -non-weeping anthropomorphous apes.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 135.</div> - -<p>A woman, who sold a monkey to the Zoölogical -Society, believed to have come from -Borneo (<i>Macacus maurus</i> or <i>M. inornatus</i> of Gray), said -that it often cried; and Mr. Bartlett, as well as the -keeper Mr. Sutton, have repeatedly seen it, when grieved, -or even when much pitied, weeping so copiously that the -tears rolled down its cheeks.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_274">274</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 155.</div> - -<p>A New Zealand chief “cried like a child -because the sailors spoiled his favorite cloak -by powdering it with flour.” I saw in Tierra del Fuego -a native who had lately lost a brother, and who alternately -cried with hysterical violence, and laughed heartily at -anything which amused him. With the civilized nations -of Europe there is also much difference in the frequency -of weeping. Englishmen rarely cry, except under the -pressure of the acutest grief; whereas, in some parts of -the Continent, the men shed tears much more readily and -freely.</p> - -<p>The insane notoriously give way to all their emotions -with little or no restraint; and I am informed by Dr. J. -Crichton Browne that nothing is more characteristic of -simple melancholia, even in the male sex, than a tendency -to weep on the slightest occasions, or from no cause. -They also weep disproportionately on the occurrence of -any real cause of grief. The length of time during which -some patients weep is astonishing, as well as the amount -of tears which they shed.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 167.</div> - -<p>The Indian elephant is known sometimes -to weep. Sir E. Tennent, in describing those -which he saw captured and bound in Ceylon, says some -“lay motionless on the ground, with no other indication -of suffering than the tears which suffused their eyes and -flowed incessantly.” Speaking of another elephant he -says: “When overpowered and made fast, his grief was -most affecting; his violence sank to utter prostration, -and he lay on the ground, uttering choking cries, with -tears trickling down his cheeks.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_275">275</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_153">THE GRIEF-MUSCLES.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression of -the Emotions,<br /> -page 180.</div> - -<p>With respect to the eyebrows, they may -occasionally be seen to assume an oblique position -in persons suffering from deep dejection -or anxiety; for instance, I have observed this movement -in a mother while speaking about her sick son; and it is -sometimes excited by quite trifling or momentary causes -of real or pretended distress. The eyebrows assume this -position owing to the contraction of certain muscles -(namely, the orbiculars, corrugators, and pyramidals of -the nose, which together tend to lower and contract the -eyebrows) being partially checked by the more powerful -action of the central fasciæ of the frontal muscle. These -latter fasciæ, by their contraction, raise the inner ends -alone of the eyebrows; and, as the corrugators at the -same time draw the eyebrows together, their inner ends -become puckered into a fold or lump. The eyebrows are -at the same time somewhat roughened, owing to the hairs -being made to project. Dr. J. Crichton Browne has also -often noticed, in melancholic patients who keep their eyebrows -persistently oblique, “a peculiar acute arching of -the upper eyelid.” The acute arching of the eyelids depends, -I believe, on the inner end alone of the eyebrows -being raised; for, when the whole eyebrow is elevated -and arched, the upper eyelid follows in a slight degree the -same movement.</p> - -<p>But the most conspicuous result of the opposed contraction -of the above-named muscles is exhibited by the -peculiar furrows formed on the forehead. These muscles, -when thus in conjoint yet opposed action, may be called, -for the sake of brevity, the grief-muscles. When a person -elevates his eyebrows by the contraction of the whole -frontal muscle, transverse wrinkles extend across the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_276">276</span> -whole breadth of the forehead; but, in the present case, -the middle fasciæ alone are contracted; consequently, -transverse furrows are formed across the middle part alone -of the forehead. The skin over the exterior parts of both -eyebrows is at the same time drawn downward and -smoothed by the contraction of the outer portions of the -orbicular muscles. The eyebrows are likewise brought -together through the simultaneous contraction of the -corrugators; and this latter action generates vertical furrows, -separating the exterior and lowered part of the skin -of the forehead from the central and raised part. The -union of these vertical furrows with the central and transverse -furrows produces a mark on the forehead which has -been compared to a horseshoe; but the furrows more -strictly form three sides of a quadrangle. They are often -conspicuous on the foreheads of adult, or nearly adult, -persons, when their eyebrows are made oblique; but with -young children, owing to their skin not easily wrinkling, -they are rarely seen, or mere traces of them can be detected.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_154">VOLUNTARY POWER OVER THE GRIEF-MUSCLES.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 183.</div> - -<p>Few persons, without some practice, can -voluntarily act on their grief-muscles; but, -after repeated trials, a considerable number succeed, while -others never can. The degree of obliquity in the eyebrows, -whether assumed voluntarily or unconsciously, differs -much in different persons. With some who apparently -have unusually strong pyramidal muscles, the contraction -of the central fasciæ of the frontal muscle, although it -may be energetic, as shown by the quadrangular furrows -on the forehead, does not raise the inner ends of the eyebrows, -but only prevents their being so much lowered as<span class="pagenum" id="Page_277">277</span> -they otherwise would have been. As far as I have been -able to observe, the grief-muscles are brought into action -much more frequently by children and women than by -men. They are rarely acted on, at least with grown-up -persons, from bodily pain, but almost exclusively from -mental distress. Two persons, who, after some practice, -succeeded in acting on their grief-muscles, found by looking -at a mirror that, when they made their eyebrows -oblique, they unintentionally at the same time depressed -the corners of their mouths; and this is often the case -when the expression is naturally assumed.</p> - -<p>The power to bring the grief-muscles freely into play -appears to be hereditary, like almost every other human -faculty. A lady belonging to a family famous for having -produced an extraordinary number of great actors and -actresses, and who can herself give this expression “with -singular precision,” told Dr. Crichton Browne that all -her family had possessed the power in a remarkable degree. -The same hereditary tendency is said to have extended, -as I likewise hear from Dr. Browne, to the last -descendant of the family, which gave rise to Sir Walter -Scott’s novel of “Red Gauntlet”; but the hero is described -as contracting his forehead into a horseshoe mark -from any strong emotion. I have also seen a young -woman whose forehead seemed almost habitually thus -contracted, independently of any emotion being at the -time felt.</p> - -<p>The grief-muscles are not very frequently brought -into play; and, as the action is often momentary, it -easily escapes observation. Although the expression, when -observed, is universally and instantly recognized as that -of grief or anxiety, yet not one person out of a thousand -who has never studied the subject is able to say precisely -what change passes over the sufferer’s face. Hence probably<span class="pagenum" id="Page_278">278</span> -it is that this expression is not even alluded to, as far -as I have noticed, in any work of fiction, with the exception -of “Red Gauntlet” and of one other novel; and the -authoress of the latter, as I am informed, belongs to the -famous family of actors just alluded to; so that her -attention may have been specially called to the subject.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_155">“DOWN IN THE MOUTH.”</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 194.</div> - -<p>To say that a person “is down in the -mouth” is synonymous with saying that he is -out of spirits. The depression of the corners may often -be seen, as already stated on the authority of Dr. Crichton -Browne and Mr. Nicol, with the melancholic insane, -and was well exhibited in some photographs, sent to me -by the former gentleman, of patients with a strong tendency -to suicide. It has been observed with men belonging -to various races, namely, with Hindoos, the dark hill-tribes -of India, Malays, and, as the Rev. Mr. Hagenauer -informs me, with the aborigines of Australia.</p> - -<p>When infants scream they firmly contract the muscles -round their eyes, and this draws up the upper lip; and, -as they have to keep their mouths widely open, the depressor -muscles running to the corners are likewise -brought into strong action. This generally, but not invariably, -causes a slight angular bend in the lower lip on -both sides, near the corners of the mouth.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 195.</div> - -<p>It is remarkable how small a depression of -the corners of the mouth gives to the countenance -an expression of low spirits or dejection, so that an -extremely slight contraction of these muscles would be -sufficient to betray this state of mind.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_279">279</span></p> - -<p>I may here mention a trifling observation, as it will -serve to sum up our present subject. An old lady with -a comfortable but absorbed expression sat nearly opposite -to me in a railway-carriage. While I was looking at -her I saw that her <i>depressores anguli oris</i> became very -slightly yet decidedly contracted; but, as her countenance -remained as placid as ever, I reflected how meaningless -was this contraction, and how easily one might be -deceived. The thought had hardly occurred to me when -I saw that her eyes suddenly became suffused with tears -almost to overflowing, and her whole countenance fell. -There could now be no doubt that some painful recollection, -perhaps that of a long-lost child, was passing -through her mind. As soon as her sensorium was thus -affected, certain nerve-cells from long habit instantly -transmitted an order to all the respiratory muscles, and -to those round the mouth, to prepare for a fit of crying. -But the order was countermanded by the will, or rather -by a later acquired habit, and all the muscles were obedient, -excepting in a slight degree the <i>depressores anguli -oris</i>. The mouth was not even opened; the respiration -was not hurried; and no muscle was affected except those -which draw down the corners of the mouth.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_156">LAUGHTER.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the Emotions,<br /> -page 200.</div> - -<p>Many curious discussions have been written -on the causes of laughter with grown-up -persons. The subject is extremely complex. -Something incongruous or unaccountable, exciting surprise -and some sense of superiority in the laughter, who -must be in a happy frame of mind, seems to be the commonest -cause. The circumstances must not be of a momentous -nature; no poor man would laugh or smile on<span class="pagenum" id="Page_280">280</span> -suddenly hearing that a large fortune had been bequeathed -to him.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 201.</div> - -<p>The imagination is sometimes said to be -tickled, by a ludicrous idea; and this so-called -tickling of the mind is curiously analogous with that of -the body. Every one knows how immoderately children -laugh and how their whole bodies are convulsed when -they are tickled. The anthropoid apes, as we have seen, -likewise utter a reiterated sound, corresponding with our -laughter, when they are tickled, especially under the armpits. -I touched with a bit of paper the sole of the foot -of one of my infants, when only seven days old, and it -was suddenly jerked away and the toes curled about, as -in an older child. Such movements, as well as laughter -from being tickled, are manifestly reflex actions; and -this is likewise shown by the minute unstriped muscles, -which serve to erect the separate hairs on the body, contracting -near a tickled surface. Yet laughter from a -ludicrous idea, though involuntary, can not be called a -strictly reflex action. In this case, and in that of laughter -from being tickled, the mind must be in a pleasurable -condition; a young child, if tickled by a strange man, -would scream from fear. The touch must be light, and -an idea or event, to be ludicrous, must not be of grave -import. The parts of the body which are most easily -tickled are those which are not commonly touched, such -as the armpits or between the toes, or parts such as the -soles of the feet, which are habitually touched by a broad -surface; but the surface on which we sit offers a marked -exception to this rule.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 202.</div> - -<p>The sound of laughter is produced by a -deep inspiration followed by short, interrupted, -spasmodic contractions of the chest, and especially of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_281">281</span> -diaphragm. Hence we hear of “laughter holding both -his sides.” From the shaking of the body, the head -nods to and fro. The lower jaw often quivers up and -down, as is likewise the case with some species of baboons, -when they are much pleased.</p> - -<p>During laughter the mouth is opened more or less -widely, with the corners drawn much backward, as well -as a little upward; and the upper lip is somewhat raised. -The drawing back of the corners is best seen in moderate -laughter, and especially in a broad smile—the latter epithet -showing how the mouth is widened.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 208.</div> - -<p>Although we can hardly account for the -shape of the mouth during laughter, which -leads to wrinkles being formed beneath the eyes, nor for -the peculiar reiterated sound of laughter, nor for the -quivering of the jaws, nevertheless we may infer that all -these effects are due to some common cause; for they are -all characteristic and expressive of a pleased state of mind -in various kinds of monkeys.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>It is scarcely possible to point out any difference between -the tear-stained face of a person after a paroxysm -of excessive laughter and after a bitter crying-fit. It is -probably due to the close similarity of the spasmodic -movements caused by these widely different emotions -that hysteric patients alternately cry and laugh with violence, -and that young children sometimes pass suddenly -from the one to the other state. Mr. Swinhoe informs -me that he has often seen the Chinese, when suffering -from deep grief, burst out into hysterical fits of laughter.</p> - -<p>I was anxious to know whether tears are freely shed -during excessive laughter by most of the races of men, -and I hear from my correspondents that this is the case.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_282">282</span> -One instance was observed with the Hindoos, and they -themselves said that it often occurred. So it is with -the Chinese. The women of a wild tribe of Malays in -the Malacca Peninsula sometimes shed tears when they -laugh heartily, though this seldom occurs. With the -Dyaks of Borneo it must frequently be the case, at least -with the women, for I hear from the Rajah C. Brooke -that it is a common expression with them to say, “We -nearly made tears from laughter.”</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the Emotions,<br /> -page 133.</div> - -<p>Young orangs, when tickled, grin and -make a chuckling sound; and Mr. Martin -says that their eyes grow brighter. As soon as -their laughter ceases, an expression may be detected passing -over their faces, which, as Mr. Wallace remarked to -me, may be called a smile. I have also noticed something -of the same kind with the chimpanzee. Dr. Duchenne—and -I can not quote a better authority—informs -me that he kept a very tame monkey in his house for a -year; and, when he gave it during meal-times some choice -delicacy, he observed that the corners of its mouth were -slightly raised; thus an expression of satisfaction, partaking -of the nature of an incipient smile, and resembling -that often seen on the face of man, could be plainly perceived -in this animal.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_157">EXPRESSION OF THE DEVOUT EMOTIONS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 220.</div> - -<p>With some sects, both past and present, -religion and love have been strangely combined; -and it has even been maintained, lamentable as -the fact may be, that the holy kiss of love differs but -little from that which a man bestows on a woman, or a -woman on a man. Devotion is chiefly expressed by the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_283">283</span> -face being directed toward the heavens, with the eyeballs -upturned. Sir C. Bell remarks that, at the approach of -sleep, or of a fainting-fit, or of death, the pupils are -drawn upward and inward; and he believes that “when -we are rapt in devotional feelings, and outward impressions -are unheeded, the eyes are raised by an action neither -taught nor acquired”; and that this is due to the -same cause as in the above cases. That the eyes are -upturned during sleep is, as I hear from Professor Donders, -certain. With babies, while sucking their mother’s -breast, this movement of the eyeballs often gives to them -an absurd appearance of ecstatic delight; and here it -may be clearly perceived that a struggle is going on -against the position naturally assumed during sleep. But -Sir C. Bell’s explanation of the fact, which rests on the -assumption that certain muscles are more under the control -of the will than others, is, as I hear from Professor -Donders, incorrect. As the eyes are often turned up in -prayer, without the mind being so much absorbed in -thought as to approach to the unconsciousness of sleep, -the movement is probably a conventional one—the result -of the common belief that Heaven, the source of Divine -power to which we pray, is seated above us.</p> - -<p>A humble kneeling posture, with the hands upturned -and palms joined, appears to us, from long habit, a gesture -so appropriate to devotion, that it might be thought -to be innate; but I have not met with any evidence to -this effect with the various extra-European races of mankind. -During the classical period of Roman history it -does not appear, as I hear from an excellent classic, that -the hands were thus joined during prayer. Mr. Hensleigh -Wedgwood has apparently given the true explanation, -though this implies that the attitude is one of slavish -subjection. “When the suppliant kneels and holds<span class="pagenum" id="Page_284">284</span> -up his hands with the palms joined, he represents a captive -who proves the completeness of his submission by -offering up his hands to be bound by the victor. It is -the pictorial representation of the Latin <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">dare manus</i>, to -signify submission.” Hence it is not probable that either -the uplifting of the eyes or the joining of the open hands, -under the influence of devotional feelings, is an innate or -a truly expressive action; and this could hardly have been -expected, for it is very doubtful whether feelings such as -we should now rank as devotional affected the hearts of -men while they remained during past ages in an uncivilized -condition.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_158">FROWNING.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the Emotions,<br /> -page 225.</div> - -<p>We may now inquire how it is that a frown -should express the perception of something -difficult or disagreeable, either in thought or -action. In the same way as naturalists find it advisable -to trace the embryological development of an organ in -order fully to understand its structure, so with the movements -of expression it is advisable to follow as nearly as -possible the same plan. The earliest and almost sole expression -seen during the first days of infancy, and then -often exhibited, is that displayed during the act of -screaming; and screaming is excited, both at first and -for some time afterward, by every distressing or displeasing -sensation and emotion—by hunger, pain, anger, jealousy, -fear, etc. At such times the muscles round the -eyes are strongly contracted; and this, as I believe, explains -to a large extent the act of frowning during the -remainder of our lives. I repeatedly observed my own -infants, from under the age of one week to that of two -or three months, and found that, when a screaming-fit -came on gradually, the first sign was the contraction of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_285">285</span> -the corrugators, which produced a slight frown, quickly -followed by the contraction of the other muscles round -the eyes.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 226.</div> - -<p>Screaming or weeping begins to be voluntarily -restrained at an early period of life, -whereas frowning is hardly ever restrained at any age. -It is perhaps worth notice that, with children much given -to weeping, anything which perplexes their minds, and -which would cause most other children merely to frown, -readily makes them weep. So with certain classes of the -insane, any effort of mind, however slight, which with -an habitual frowner would cause a slight frown, leads to -their weeping in an unrestrained manner. It is not more -surprising that the habit of contracting the brows at the -first perception of something distressing, although gained -during infancy, should be retained during the rest of our -lives, than that many other associated habits acquired at -an early age should be permanently retained both by man -and the lower animals. For instance, full-grown cats, -when feeling warm and comfortable, often retain the -habit of alternately protruding their fore-feet with extended -toes, which habit they practiced for a definite -purpose while sucking their mothers.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_159">POUTING.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 232.</div> - -<p>With young children sulkiness is shown -by pouting, or, as it is sometimes called, -“making a snout.” When the corners of the mouth are -much depressed, the lower lip is a little everted and protruded; -and this is likewise called a pout. But the -pouting here referred to consists of the protrusion of -both lips into a tubular form, sometimes to such an extent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_286">286</span> -as to project as far as the end of the nose, if this be -short. Pouting is generally accompanied by frowning, -and sometimes by the utterance of a booing or whooing -noise. This expression is remarkable, as almost the sole -one, as far as I know, which is exhibited much more -plainly during childhood, at least with Europeans, than -during maturity. There is, however, some tendency to -the protrusion of the lips with the adults of all races -under the influence of great rage. Some children pout -when they are shy, and they can then hardly be called -sulky.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 234.</div> - -<p>Young orangs and chimpanzees protrude -their lips to an extraordinary degree, when -they are discontented, somewhat angry, or sulky; also -when they are surprised, a little frightened, and even -when slightly pleased. Their mouths are protruded apparently -for the sake of making the various noises proper -to these several states of mind; and its shape, as I observed -with the chimpanzee, differed slightly when the -cry of pleasure and that of anger were uttered. As soon -as these animals become enraged, the shape of the mouth -wholly changes, and the teeth are exposed. The adult -orang when wounded is said to emit “a singular cry, -consisting at first of high notes, which at length deepen -into a low roar. While giving out the high notes he -thrusts out his lips into a funnel shape, but in uttering -the low notes he holds his mouth wide open.” With the -gorilla, the lower lip is said to be capable of great elongation. -If, then, our semi-human progenitors protruded -their lips when sulky or a little angered, in the same -manner as do the existing anthropoid apes, it is not an -anomalous, though a curious fact, that our children -should exhibit, when similarly affected, a trace of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_287">287</span> -same expression, together with some tendency to utter -a noise. For it is not at all unusual for animals to retain, -more or less perfectly, during early youth, and subsequently -to lose, characters which were aboriginally possessed -by their adult progenitors, and which are still -retained by distinct species, their near relations.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_160">DECISION AT THE MOUTH.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 236.</div> - -<p>No determined man probably ever had an -habitually gaping mouth. Hence, also, a -small and weak lower jaw, which seems to indicate that -the mouth is not habitually and firmly closed, is commonly -thought to be characteristic of feebleness of character. -A prolonged effort of any kind, whether of body -or mind, implies previous determination; and if it can -be shown that the mouth is generally closed with firmness -before and during a great and continued exertion of the -muscular system, then, through the principle of association, -the mouth would almost certainly be closed as soon -as any determined resolution was taken.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_161">ANGER.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the Emotions,<br /> -page 243.</div> - -<p>The lips are sometimes protruded during -rage in a manner the meaning of which I do -not understand, unless it depends on our descent -from some ape-like animal. Instances have been -observed, not only with Europeans, but with the Australians -and Hindoos. The lips, however, are much more -commonly retracted, the grinning or clinched teeth being -thus exposed. This has been noticed by almost every -one who has written on expression. The appearance is -as if the teeth were uncovered, ready for seizing or tearing<span class="pagenum" id="Page_288">288</span> -an enemy, though there may be no intention of acting -in this manner. Mr. Dyson Lacy has seen this grinning -expression with the Australians, when quarreling, and -so has Gaika with the Caffres of South Africa. Dickens, -in speaking of an atrocious murderer who had just been -caught, and was surrounded by a furious mob, describes -“the people as jumping up one behind another, snarling -with their teeth, and making at him like wild beasts.” -Every one who has had much to do with young children -must have seen how naturally they take to biting, when -in a passion. It seems as instinctive in them as in young -crocodiles, who snap their little jaws as soon as they -emerge from the egg.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_162">SNEERING.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the Emotions,<br /> -page 253.</div> - -<p>The expression here considered, whether -that of a playful sneer or ferocious snarl, is -one of the most curious which occurs in man. -It reveals his animal descent; for no one, even if rolling -on the ground in a deadly grapple with an enemy, and -attempting to bite him, would try to use his canine teeth -more than his other teeth. We may readily believe from -our affinity to the anthropomorphous apes that our male -semi-human progenitors possessed great canine teeth, and -men are now occasionally born having them of unusually -large size, with interspaces in the opposite jaw for their -reception. We may further suspect, notwithstanding -that we have no support from analogy, that our semi-human -progenitors uncovered their canine teeth when prepared -for battle, as we still do when feeling ferocious, or -when merely sneering at or defying some one, without -any intention of making a real attack with our teeth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_289">289</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_163">DISGUST.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the Emotions,<br /> -page 258.</div> - -<p>Extreme disgust is expressed by movements -round the mouth identical with those -preparatory to the act of vomiting. The -mouth is opened widely, with the upper lip strongly -retracted, which wrinkles the sides of the nose, and with -the lower lip protruded and everted as much as possible. -This latter movement requires the contraction of the -muscles which draw downward the corners of the mouth.</p> - -<p>It is remarkable how readily and instantly retching or -actual vomiting is induced in some persons by the mere -idea of having partaken of any unusual food, as of an -animal which is not commonly eaten; although there is -nothing in such food to cause the stomach to reject it. -When vomiting results, as a reflex action, from some real -cause—as from too rich food, or tainted meat, or from an -emetic—it does not ensue immediately, but generally -after a considerable interval of time. Therefore, to account -for retching or vomiting being so quickly and easily -excited by a mere idea, the suspicion arises that our -progenitors must formerly have had the power (like that -possessed by ruminants and some other animals) of voluntarily -rejecting food which disagreed with them, or -which they thought would disagree with them; and now, -though this power has been lost, as far as the will is concerned, -it is called into involuntary action, through the -force of a formerly well-established habit, whenever the -mind revolts at the idea of having partaken of any kind -of food, or at anything disgusting. This suspicion receives -support from the fact, of which I am assured by -Mr. Sutton, that the monkeys in the Zoölogical Gardens -often vomit while in perfect health, which looks as if the -act were voluntary. We can see that as man is able to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_290">290</span> -communicate, by language to his children and others, the -knowledge of the kinds of food to be avoided, he would -have little occasion to use the faculty of voluntary rejection; -so that this power would tend to be lost through -disuse.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_164">SHRUGGING THE SHOULDERS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the Emotions,<br /> -page 271.</div> - -<p>We may now inquire why men in all parts -of the world, when they feel—whether or not -they wish to show this feeling—that they cannot -or will not do something, or will not resist something -if done by another, shrug their shoulders, at the same time -often bending in their elbows, showing the palms of their -hands with extended fingers, often throwing their heads -a little on one side, raising their eyebrows, and opening -their mouths. These states of the mind are either simply -passive, or show a determination not to act. None of the -above movements are of the least service. The explanation -lies, I can not doubt, in the principle of unconscious -antithesis. This principle here seems to come into play as -clearly as in the case of a dog, who, when feeling savage, -puts himself in the proper attitude for attacking and for -making himself appear terrible to his enemy; but, as soon -as he feels affectionate, throws his whole body into a directly -opposite attitude, though this is of no direct use -to him.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<p>Let it be observed how an indignant man who resents -and will not submit to some injury holds his head erect, -squares his shoulders, and expands his chest. He often -clinches his fists, and puts one or both arms in the proper -position for attack or defense, with the muscles of his -limbs rigid. He frowns—that is, he contracts and lowers -his brows—and, being determined, closes his mouth.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_291">291</span> -The actions and attitude of a helpless man are, in every -one of these respects, exactly the reverse.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_165">BLUSHING.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the -Emotions,<br /> -page 310.</div> - -<p>Blushing is the most peculiar and the most -human of all expressions. Monkeys redden -from passion, but it would require an overwhelming -amount of evidence to make us believe -that any animal could blush. The reddening of the -face from a blush is due to the relaxation of the muscular -coats of the small arteries, by which the capillaries become -filled with blood; and this depends on the proper -vaso-motor center being affected. No doubt, if there be -at the same time much mental agitation, the general circulation -will be affected; but it is not due to the action -of the heart that the net-work of minute vessels covering -the face becomes, under a sense of shame, gorged with -blood. We can cause laughing by tickling the skin; -weeping or frowning, by a blow; trembling, from a fear -of pain, and so forth; but we can not cause a blush, as -Dr. Burgess remarks, by any physical means—that is, by -any action on the body. It is the mind which must be -affected. Blushing is not only involuntary, but the wish -to restrain it, by leading to self-attention, actually increases -the tendency.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 312.</div> - -<p>The tendency to blush is inherited. Dr. -Burgess gives the case of a family, consisting -of a father, mother, and ten children, all of whom, without -exception, were prone to blush to a most painful degree. -The children were grown up; “and some of them -were sent to travel, in order to wear away this diseased -sensibility, but nothing was of the slightest avail.” Even<span class="pagenum" id="Page_292">292</span> -peculiarities in blushing seem to be inherited. Sir James -Paget, while examining the spine of a girl, was struck at -her singular manner of blushing: a big splash of red appeared -first on one cheek, and then other splashes variously -scattered over the face and neck. He subsequently -asked the mother whether her daughter always blushed -in this peculiar manner, and was answered, “Yes, she -takes after me.” Sir J. Paget then perceived that, by -asking this question, he had caused the mother to blush; -and she exhibited the same peculiarity as her daughter.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 318.</div> - -<p>Mr. Washington Matthews has often seen -a blush on the faces of the young squaws belonging -to various wild Indian tribes of North America. -At the opposite extremity of the continent, in Tierra del -Fuego, the natives, according to Mr. Bridges, “blush -much, but chiefly in regard to women; but they certainly -blush also at their own personal appearance.” -This latter statement agrees with what I remember of -the Fuegian, Jemmy Button, who blushed when he was -quizzed about the care which he took in polishing his -shoes, and in otherwise adorning himself.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 319.</div> - -<p>Several trustworthy observers have assured -me that they have seen on the faces of negroes -an appearance resembling a blush, under circumstances -which would have excited one in us, though their skins -were of an ebony-black tint. Some describe it as blushing -brown, but most say that the blackness becomes more -intense.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 324.</div> - -<p>I will give an instance of the extreme disturbance -of mind to which some sensitive men -are liable. A gentleman, on whom I can rely, assured<span class="pagenum" id="Page_293">293</span> -me that he had been an eye-witness of the following -scene: A small dinner-party was given in honor of an -extremely shy man, who, when he rose to return thanks, -rehearsed the speech, which he had evidently learned by -heart, in absolute silence, and did not utter a single -word; but he acted as if he were speaking with much -emphasis. His friends, perceiving how the case stood, -loudly applauded the imaginary bursts of eloquence, -whenever his gestures indicated a pause, and the man -never discovered that he had remained the whole time -completely silent. On the contrary, he afterward remarked -to my friend, with much satisfaction, that he -thought he had succeeded uncommonly well.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_166">BLUSHING NOT NECESSARILY AN EXPRESSION OF GUILT.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 333.</div> - -<p>It is not the sense of guilt, but the thought -that others think or know us to be guilty, -which crimsons the face. A man may feel thoroughly -ashamed at having told a small falsehood, without blushing; -but if he even suspects that he is detected he will -instantly blush, especially if detected by one whom he -reveres.</p> - -<p>On the other hand, a man may be convinced that God -witnesses all his actions, and he may feel deeply conscious -of some fault and pray for forgiveness; but this will not, -as a lady who is a great blusher believes, ever excite a -blush. The explanation of this difference between the -knowledge by God and man of our actions lies, I presume, -in man’s disapprobation of immoral conduct being somewhat -akin in nature to his depreciation of our personal -appearance, so that through association both lead to similar -results; whereas the disapprobation of God brings up -no such association.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_294">294</span></p> - -<p>Many a person has blushed intensely when accused of -some crime, though completely innocent of it.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 334.</div> - -<p>An action may be meritorious or of an indifferent -nature, but a sensitive person, if he -suspects that others take a different view of it, will blush. -For instance, a lady by herself may give money to a beggar -without a trace of a blush, but if others are present, -and she doubts whether they approve, or suspects that -they think her influenced by display, she will blush. So -it will be, if she offers to relieve the distress of a decayed -gentlewoman, more particularly of one whom she had -previously known under better circumstances, as she can -not then feel sure how her conduct will be viewed. But -such cases as these blend into shyness.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 338.</div> - -<p>The belief that blushing was <em>specially</em> designed -by the Creator is opposed to the general -theory of evolution, which is now so largely accepted; -but it forms no part of my duty here to argue on the -general question. Those who believe in design will find -it difficult to account for shyness being the most frequent -and efficient of all the causes of blushing, as it makes the -blusher to suffer and the beholder uncomfortable, without -being of the least service to either of them. They will -also find it difficult to account for negroes and other dark-colored -races blushing, in whom a change of color in the -skin is scarcely or not at all visible.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_167">BLUSHING ACCOUNTED FOR.</h3> - -<p>The hypothesis which appears to me the most probable, -though it may at first seem rash, is that attention -closely directed to any part of the body tends to interfere<span class="pagenum" id="Page_295">295</span> -with the ordinary and tonic contraction of the small -arteries of that part. These vessels, in consequence, become -at such times more or less relaxed, and are instantly -filled with arterial blood. This tendency will -have been much strengthened, if frequent attention has -been paid during many generations to the same part, -owing to nerve-force readily flowing along accustomed -channels, and by the power of inheritance. Whenever -we believe that others are depreciating or even considering -our personal appearance, our attention is vividly -directed to the outer and visible parts of our bodies; and -of all such parts we are most sensitive about our faces, -as no doubt has been the case during many past generations. -Therefore, assuming for the moment that the capillary -vessels can be acted on by close attention, those of -the face will have become eminently susceptible. Through -the force of association, the same effects will tend to follow -whenever we think that others are considering or -censuring our actions or character.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 340.</div> - -<p>It is known that the involuntary movements -of the heart are affected if close attention -be paid to them. Gratiolet gives the case of a man -who, by continually watching and counting his own pulse, -at last caused one beat out of every six to intermit. On -the other hand, my father told me of a careful observer, -who certainly had heart-disease and died from it, and -who positively stated that his pulse was habitually irregular -to an extreme degree; yet to his great disappointment -it invariably became regular as soon as my father entered -the room.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_296">296</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 342.</div> - -<p>When we direct our whole attention to -any one sense, its acuteness is increased; and -the continued habit of close attention, as with blind -people to that of hearing, and with the blind and deaf to -that of touch, appears to improve the sense in question -permanently. There is, also, some reason to believe, -judging from the capacities of different races of man, that -the effects are inherited. Turning to ordinary sensations, -it is well known that pain is increased by attending to it; -and Sir B. Brodie goes so far as to believe that pain may -be felt in any part of the body to which attention is -closely drawn.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_168">A NEW ARGUMENT FOR A SINGLE PARENT-STOCK.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Expression -of the Emotions,<br /> -page 361.</div> - -<p>I have endeavored to show in considerable -detail that all the chief expressions exhibited -by man are the same throughout the world. -This fact is interesting, as it affords a new argument in -favor of the several races being descended from a single -parent-stock, which must have been almost completely -human in structure, and to a large extent in mind, before -the period at which the races diverged from each other. -No doubt similar structures adapted for the same purpose -have often been independently acquired through variation -and natural selection by distinct species; but this view -will not explain close similarity between distinct species -in a multitude of unimportant details. Now, if we bear -in mind the numerous points of structure having no relation -to expression, in which all the races of man closely -agree, and then add to them the numerous points, some -of the highest importance and many of the most trifling -value, on which the movements of expression directly or -indirectly depend, it seems to me improbable in the highest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_297">297</span> -degree that so much similarity, or rather identity -of structure, could have been acquired by independent -means. Yet this must have been the case if the races of -man are descended from several aboriginally distinct species. -It is far more probable that the many points of -close similarity in the various races are due to inheritance -from a single parent-form, which had already assumed a -human character.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_298">298</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XIV">XIV.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">THE PROVISIONAL HYPOTHESIS OF PANGENESIS.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants under -Domestication,<br /> -vol. ii, page 349.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">Every</span> one would wish to explain to himself, -even in an imperfect manner, how it is -possible for a character possessed by some remote -ancestor suddenly to reappear in the offspring; -how the effects of increased or decreased use of a -limb can be transmitted to the child; how the male sexual -element can act not solely on the ovules, but occasionally -on the mother-form; how a hybrid can be produced -by the union of the cellular tissue of two plants independently -of the organs of generation; how a limb can -be reproduced on the exact line of amputation, with -neither too much nor too little added; how the same -organism may be produced by such widely different processes -as budding and true seminal generation; and, -lastly, how, of two allied forms, one passes in the course -of its development through the most complex metamorphoses, -and the other does not do so, though when mature -both are alike in every detail of structure. I am -aware that my view is merely a provisional hypothesis or -speculation; but, until a better one be advanced, it will -serve to bring together a multitude of facts which are -at present left disconnected by any efficient cause. As<span class="pagenum" id="Page_299">299</span> -Whewell, the historian of the inductive sciences, remarks, -“Hypotheses may often be of service to science when -they involve a certain portion of incompleteness, and -even of error.” Under this point of view I venture to -advance the hypothesis of pangenesis, which implies that -every separate part of the whole organization reproduces -itself. So that ovules, spermatozoa, and pollen-grains—the -fertilized egg or seed, as well as buds—include and -consist of a multitude of germs thrown off from each -separate part or unit.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_169">FUNCTIONAL INDEPENDENCE OF THE UNITS OF THE -BODY.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 364.</div> - -<p>Physiologists agree that the whole organism -consists of a multitude of elemental parts, -which are to a great extent independent of one another. -Each organ, says Claude Bernard, has its proper life, its -autonomy; it can develop and reproduce itself independently -of the adjoining tissues. A great German authority, -Virchow, asserts still more emphatically that each -system consists of an “enormous mass of minute centers -of action.... Every element has its own special action, -and, even though it derive its stimulus to activity from -other parts, yet alone effects the actual performance of -duties.... Every single epithelial and muscular fiber-cell -leads a sort of parasitical existence in relation to the -rest of the body.... Every single bone-corpuscle really -possesses conditions of nutrition peculiar to itself.” Each -element, as Sir J. Paget remarks, lives its appointed time -and then dies, and is replaced after being cast off or absorbed. -I presume that no physiologist doubts that, for -instance, each bone-corpuscle of the finger differs from -the corresponding corpuscle in the corresponding joint of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_300">300</span> -the toe; and there can hardly be a doubt that even those -on the corresponding sides of the body differ, though almost -identical in nature. This near approach to identity -is curiously shown in many diseases in which the same -exact points on the right and left sides of the body are -similarly affected; thus Sir J. Paget gives a drawing of a -diseased pelvis, in which the bone has grown into a most -complicated pattern, but “there is not one spot or line -on one side which is not represented, as exactly as it -would be in a mirror, on the other.”</p> - -<p>Many facts support this view of the independent life -of each minute element of the body. Virchow insists -that a single bone-corpuscle or a single cell in the skin -may become diseased. The spur of a cock, after being inserted -into the ear of an ox, lived for eight years, and acquired -a weight of three hundred and ninety-six grammes -(nearly fourteen ounces) and the astonishing length of -twenty-four centimetres, or about nine inches; so that -the head of the ox appeared to bear three horns. The -tail of a pig has been grafted into the middle of its back, -and reacquired sensibility. Dr. Ollier inserted a piece of -periosteum from the bone of a young dog under the skin -of a rabbit, and true bone was developed. A multitude -of similar facts could be given.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 368.</div> - -<p>What can be more wonderful than that -characters, which have disappeared during -scores, or hundreds, or even thousands of generations, -should suddenly reappear perfectly developed, as in the -case of pigeons and fowls, both when purely bred and -especially when crossed; or as with the zebrine stripes on -dun-colored horses, and other such cases? Many monstrosities -come under this same head, as when rudimentary -organs are redeveloped, or when an organ which we must<span class="pagenum" id="Page_301">301</span> -believe was possessed by an early progenitor of the species, -but of which not even a rudiment is left, suddenly reappears, -as with the fifth stamen in some <i>Scrophulariaceæ</i>.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 369.</div> - -<p>In every living creature we may feel assured -that a host of long-lost characters lie -ready to be evolved under proper conditions. How can -we make intelligible, and connect with other facts, this -wonderful and common capacity of reversion—this power -of calling back to life long-lost characters?</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 336.</div> - -<p>Imperfect nails sometimes appear on the -stumps of the amputated fingers of man; and -it is an interesting fact that with the snake-like saurians, -which present a series with more and more imperfect -limbs, the terminations of the phalanges first disappear, -“the nails becoming transferred to their proximal remnants, -or even to parts which are not phalanges.”</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 387.</div> - -<p>Mr. Salter and Dr. Maxwell Masters have -found pollen within the ovules of the passion-flower -and of the rose. Buds may be developed in the -most unnatural positions, as on the petal of a flower. -Numerous analogous facts could be given.</p> - -<p>I do not know how physiologists look at such facts as -the foregoing. According to the doctrine of pangenesis, -the gemmules of the transposed organs become developed -in the wrong place, from uniting with wrong cells or -aggregates of cells during their nascent state; and this -would follow from a slight modification in their elective -affinities.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 388.</div> - -<p>On any ordinary view it is unintelligible -how changed conditions, whether acting on -the embryo, the young or the adult, can cause inherited<span class="pagenum" id="Page_302">302</span> -modifications. It is equally or even more unintelligible, -on any ordinary view, how the effects of the long-continued -use or disuse of a part, or of changed habits of body -or mind, can be inherited. A more perplexing problem -can hardly be proposed; but on our view we have only -to suppose that certain cells become at last structurally -modified, and that these throw off similarly modified -gemmules. This may occur at any period of development, -and the modification will be inherited at a corresponding -period; for the modified gemmules will unite -in all ordinary cases with the proper preceding cells, and -will consequently be developed at the same period at -which the modification first arose. With respect to -mental habits or instincts, we are so profoundly ignorant -of the relation between the brain and the power of -thought that we do not know positively whether a fixed -habit induces any change in the nervous system, though -this seems highly probable; but, when such habit or other -mental attribute, or insanity, is inherited, we must believe -that some actual modification is transmitted; and -this implies, according to our hypothesis, that gemmules -derived from modified nerve-cells are transmitted to the -offspring.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_170">NECESSARY ASSUMPTIONS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 369.</div> - -<p>I have now enumerated the chief facts -which every one would desire to see connected -by some intelligible bond. This can be done, if we make -the following assumptions, and much may be advanced -in favor of the chief one. The secondary assumptions -can likewise be supported by various physiological considerations. -It is universally admitted that the cells or -units of the body increase by self-division or proliferation, -retaining the same nature, and that they ultimately become<span class="pagenum" id="Page_303">303</span> -converted into the various tissues and substances of -the body. But besides this means of increase I assume -that the units throw off minute granules which are dispersed -throughout the whole system; that these, when -supplied with proper nutriment, multiply by self-division, -and are ultimately developed into units like those from -which they were originally derived. These granules may -be called gemmules. They are collected from all parts -of the system to constitute the sexual elements, and their -development in the next generation forms a new being; -but they are likewise capable of transmission in a dormant -state to future generations and may then be developed. -Their development depends on their union with other -partially developed, or nascent cells which precede them -in the regular course of growth. Why I use the term -union will be seen when we discuss the direct action of -pollen on the tissues of the mother-plant. Gemmules -are supposed to be thrown off by every unit, not only -during the adult state, but during each stage of development -of every organism; but not necessarily during the -continued existence of the same unit. Lastly, I assume -that the gemmules in their dormant state have a mutual -affinity for each other, leading to their aggregation into -buds or into the sexual elements. Hence, it is not the -reproductive organs or buds which generate new organisms, -but the units of which each individual is composed. -These assumptions constitute the provisional hypothesis -which I have called pangenesis.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 372.</div> - -<p>But I have further to assume that the -gemmules in their undeveloped state are capable -of largely multiplying themselves by self-division, -like independent organisms. Delpino insists that to -“admit of multiplication by fissiparity in corpuscles,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_304">304</span> -analogous to seeds or buds ... is repugnant to all analogy.” -But this seems a strange objection, as Thuret has -seen the zoöspore of an alga divide itself, and each half -germinated. Haeckel divided the segmented ovum of a -siphonophora into many pieces, and these were developed. -Nor does the extreme minuteness of the gemmules, which -can hardly differ much in nature from the lowest and -simplest organisms, render it improbable that they should -grow and multiply. A great authority, Dr. Beale, says -that “minute yeast-cells are capable of throwing off buds -or gemmules, much less than the 1/100000 of an inch in -diameter”; and these he thinks are “capable of subdivision -practically <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">ad infinitum</i>.”</p> - -<p>A particle of small-pox matter, so minute as to be -borne by the wind, must multiply itself many thousandfold -in a person thus inoculated; and so with the contagious -matter of scarlet fever. It has recently been -ascertained that a minute portion of the mucous discharge -from an animal affected with rinderpest, if placed in the -blood of a healthy ox, increases so fast that in a short -space of time “the whole mass of blood, weighing many -pounds, is infected, and every small particle of that blood -contains enough poison to give, within less than forty-eight -hours, the disease to another animal.”</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 374.</div> - -<p>The gemmules derived from each part or -organ must be thoroughly dispersed throughout -the whole system. We know, for instance, that even -a minute fragment of a leaf of a begonia will reproduce -the whole plant; and that if a fresh-water worm is -chopped into small pieces, each will reproduce the whole -animal. Considering also the minuteness of the gemmules -and the permeability of all organic tissues, the thorough -dispersion of the gemmules is not surprising. That<span class="pagenum" id="Page_305">305</span> -matter may be readily transferred without the aid of vessels -from part to part of the body, we have a good instance -in a case recorded by Sir J. Paget of a lady, whose -hair lost its color at each successive attack of neuralgia -and recovered it again in the course of a few days. With -plants, however, and probably with compound animals, -such as corals, the gemmules do not ordinarily spread -from bud to bud, but are confined to the parts developed -from each separate bud; and of this fact no explanation -can be given.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_171">TWO OBJECTIONS ANSWERED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 380.</div> - -<p>But we have here to encounter two objections -which apply not only to the regrowth -of a part, or of a bisected individual, but to fissiparous -generation and budding. The first objection is that the -part which is reproduced is in the same stage of development -as that of the being which has been operated on or -bisected; and in the case of buds, that the new beings -thus produced are in the same stage as that of the budding -parent. Thus a mature salamander, of which the -tail has been cut off, does not reproduce a larval tail; -and a crab does not reproduce a larval leg. In the case -of budding it was shown in the first part of this chapter -that the new being thus produced does not retrograde in -development—that is, does not pass through those earlier -stages which the fertilized germ has to pass through. -Nevertheless, the organisms operated on or multiplying -themselves by buds must, by our hypothesis, include -innumerable gemmules derived from every part or unit -of the earlier stages of development; and why do not -such gemmules reproduce the amputated part or the -whole body at a corresponding early stage of development?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_306">306</span></p> - -<p>The second objection, which has been insisted on by -Delpino, is that the tissues, for instance, of a mature salamander -or crab, of which a limb has been removed, are -already differentiated and have passed through their -whole course of development; and how can such tissues -in accordance with our hypothesis attract and combine -with the gemmules of the part which is to be reproduced? -In answer to these two objections we must bear in mind -the evidence which has been advanced, showing that at -least in a large number of cases the power of regrowth -is a localized faculty, acquired for the sake of repairing -special injuries to which each particular creature is liable; -and, in the case of buds or fissiparous generation, for the -sake of quickly multiplying the organism at a period of -life when it can be supported in large numbers. These -considerations lead us to believe that in all such cases a -stock of nascent cells or of partially developed gemmules -are retained for this special purpose either locally or -throughout the body, ready to combine with the gemmules -derived from the cells which come next in due -succession. If this be admitted, we have a sufficient -answer to the above two objections. Anyhow, pangenesis -seems to throw a considerable amount of light on the -wonderful power of regrowth.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_172">EFFECT OF MORBID ACTION.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 392.</div> - -<p>We have as yet spoken only of the removal -of parts, when not followed by morbid action: -but, when the operation is thus followed, it is certain that -the deficiency is sometimes inherited. In a former -chapter instances were given, as of a cow, the loss of -whose horn was followed by suppuration, and her calves -were destitute of a horn on the same side of their heads.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_307">307</span> -But the evidence which admits of no doubt is that given -by Brown-Séquard with respect to Guinea-pigs, which, -after their sciatic nerves had been divided, gnawed off -their own gangrenous toes, and the toes of their offspring -were deficient in at least thirteen instances on the corresponding -feet. The inheritance of the lost part in several -of these cases is all the more remarkable as only one -parent was affected; but we know that a congenital deficiency -is often transmitted from one parent alone—for -instance, the offspring of hornless cattle of either sex, -when crossed with perfect animals, are often hornless. -How, then, in accordance with our hypothesis can we account -for mutilations being sometimes strongly inherited, -if they are followed by diseased action? The answer -probably is that all the gemmules of the mutilated or -amputated part are gradually attracted to the diseased -surface during the reparative process, and are there destroyed -by the morbid action.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_173">TRANSMISSION LIMITED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 396.</div> - -<p>The transmission of dormant gemmules -during many successive generations is hardly -in itself more improbable, as previously remarked, than -the retention during many ages of rudimentary organs, -or even only of a tendency to the production of a rudiment; -but there is no reason to suppose that dormant -gemmules can be transmitted and propagated forever. -Excessively minute and numerous as they are believed to -be, an infinite number, derived, during a long course of -modification and descent, from each unit of each progenitor, -could not be supported or nourished by the organism. -But it does not seem improbable that certain gemmules, -under favorable conditions, should be retained and go<span class="pagenum" id="Page_308">308</span> -on multiplying for a much longer period than others. -Finally, on the view here given, we certainly gain some -insight into the wonderful fact that the child may depart -from the type of both its parents, and resemble its grandparents, -or ancestors removed by many hundreds of generations.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 398.</div> - -<p>The child, strictly speaking, does not grow -into the man, but includes germs which slowly -and successively become developed and form the man. -In the child, as well as in the adult, each part generates -the same part. Inheritance must be looked at as merely -a form of growth, like the self-division of a lowly-organized -unicellular organism. Reversion depends on the -transmission from the forefather to his descendants of -dormant gemmules, which occasionally become developed -under certain known or unknown conditions. Each -animal and plant may be compared with a bed of soil -full of seeds, some of which soon germinate, some lie dormant -for a period, while others perish. When we hear -it said that a man carries in his constitution the seeds of -an inherited disease, there is much truth in the expression. -No other attempt, as far as I am aware, has been made, -imperfect as this confessedly is, to connect under one -point of view these several grand classes of facts. An -organic being is a microcosm—a little universe, formed -of a host of self-propagating organisms, inconceivably -minute and numerous as the stars in heaven.</p> -<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" /> - -<div class="chapter"> -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_309">309</span></p> - -<h2 class="nobreak" id="XV">XV.<br /> - -<span class="subhead">OBJECTIONS TO THE THEORY OF DESCENT -WITH MODIFICATION CONSIDERED.</span></h2> -</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 63.</div> - -<p><span class="firstword">Several</span> writers have misapprehended or -objected to the term Natural Selection. Some -have even imagined that natural selection induces -variability, whereas it implies only the preservation -of such variations as arise and are beneficial to the being -under its conditions of life. No one objects to agriculturists -speaking of the potent effects of man’s selection; -and in this case the individual difference given by nature, -which man for some object selects, must of necessity first -occur. Others have objected that the term selection implies -conscious choice in the animals which become modified; -and it has even been urged that, as plants have no -volition, natural selection is not applicable to them! In -the literal sense of the word, no doubt, natural selection -is a false term; but who ever objected to chemists speaking -of the elective affinities of the various elements?—and -yet an acid can not strictly be said to elect the base -with which it in preference combines. It has been said -that I speak of natural selection as an active power or -Deity; but who objects to an author speaking of the attraction -of gravity as ruling the movements of the planets? -Every one knows what is meant and is implied by such -metaphorical expressions; and they are almost necessary<span class="pagenum" id="Page_310">310</span> -for brevity. So again it is difficult to avoid personifying -the word Nature; but I mean by Nature, only the aggregate -action and product of many natural laws, and by -laws the sequence of events as ascertained by us. With a -little familiarity such superficial objections will be forgotten.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_174">MISREPRESENTATIONS CORRECTED.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 421.</div> - -<p>As my conclusions have lately been much -misrepresented, and it has been stated that I -attribute the modification of species exclusively -to natural selection, I may be permitted to remark that -in the first edition of this work, and subsequently, I -placed in a most conspicuous position—namely, at the -close of the introduction—the following words: “I am -convinced that natural selection has been the main but -not the exclusive means of modification.” This has been -of no avail. Great is the power of steady misrepresentation; -but the history of science shows that fortunately -this power does not long endure.</p> - -<p>It can hardly be supposed that a false theory would -explain, in so satisfactory a manner as does the theory of -natural selection, the several large classes of facts above -specified. It has recently been objected that this is an -unsafe method of arguing; but it is a method used in -judging of the common events of life, and has often been -used by the greatest natural philosophers. The undulatory -theory of light has thus been arrived at; and the -belief in the revolution of the earth on its own axis was -until lately supported by hardly any direct evidence. It -is no valid objection that science as yet throws no light -on the far higher problem of the essence or origin of -life. Who can explain what is the essence of the attraction -of gravity? No one now objects to following out<span class="pagenum" id="Page_311">311</span> -the results consequent on this unknown element of attraction; -notwithstanding that Leibnitz formerly accused -Newton of introducing “occult qualities and miracles -into philosophy.”</p> - -<p>I see no good reason why the views given in this -volume should shock the religious feelings of any one. It -is satisfactory, as showing how transient such impressions -are, to remember that the greatest discovery ever made -by man, namely, the law of the attraction of gravity, was -also attacked by Leibnitz, “as subversive of natural, and -inferentially of revealed, religion.” A celebrated author -and divine has written to me that “he has gradually -learned to see that it is just as noble a conception of the -Deity to believe that he created a few original forms -capable of self-development into other and needful forms, -as to believe that he required a fresh act of creation to -supply the voids caused by the action of his laws.”</p> - -<h3 id="sec_175">LAPSE OF TIME AND EXTENT OF AREA.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 82.</div> - -<p>The mere lapse of time by itself does -nothing, either for or against natural selection. -I state this because it has been erroneously -asserted that the element of time has been assumed by -me to play an all-important part in modifying species, as -if all the forms of life were necessarily undergoing change -through some innate law. Lapse of time is only so far -important, and its importance in this respect is great, -that it gives a better chance of beneficial variations arising, -and of their being selected, accumulated, and fixed. -It likewise tends to increase the direct action of the physical -conditions of life, in relation to the constitution of -each organism.</p> - -<p>If we turn to nature to test the truth of these remarks,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_312">312</span> -and look at any small isolated area, such as an -oceanic island, although the number of species inhabiting -it is small, as we shall see in our chapter on “Geographical -Distribution,” yet of these species a very large proportion -are endemic—that is, have been produced there, and -nowhere else in the world. Hence an oceanic island at -first sight seems to have been highly favorable for the -production of new species. But we may thus deceive -ourselves, for, to ascertain whether a small isolated area, -or a large open area like a continent, has been most favorable -for the production of new organic forms, we ought to -make the comparison within equal times; and this we are -incapable of doing.</p> - -<p>Although isolation is of great importance in the production -of new species, on the whole I am inclined to -believe that largeness of area is still more important, especially -for the production of species which shall prove -capable of enduring for a long period, and of spreading -widely. Throughout a great and open area, not only will -there be a better chance of favorable variations, arising -from the large number of individuals of the same species -there supported, but the conditions of life are much more -complex from the large number of already existing species; -and if some of these many species become modified -and improved, others will have to be improved in a corresponding -degree, or they will be exterminated. Each -new form, also, as soon as it has been much improved, -will be able to spread over the open and continuous area, -and will thus come into competition with many other -forms. Moreover, great areas, though now continuous, -will often, owing to former oscillations of level, have -existed in a broken condition; so that the good effects -of isolation will generally, to a certain extent, have concurred. -Finally, I conclude that, although small isolated<span class="pagenum" id="Page_313">313</span> -areas have been in some respects highly favorable for the -production of new species, yet that the course of modification -will generally have been more rapid on large areas; -and what is more important, that the new forms produced -on large areas, which already have been victorious over -many competitors, will be those that will spread most -widely, and will give rise to the greatest number of new -varieties and species. They will thus play a more important -part in the changing history of the organic world.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_176">WHY THE HIGHER FORMS HAVE NOT SUPPLANTED THE -LOWER.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 98.</div> - -<p>But it may be objected that if all organic -beings thus tend to rise in the scale, how is it -that throughout the world a multitude of the -lowest forms still exist; and how is it that in each great -class some forms are far more highly developed than -others? Why have not the more highly developed forms -everywhere supplanted and exterminated the lower? -Lamarck, who believed in an innate and inevitable tendency -toward perfection in all organic beings, seems to -have felt this difficulty so strongly that he was led to -suppose that new and simple forms are continually being -produced by spontaneous generation. Science has not as -yet proved the truth of this belief, whatever the future -may reveal. On our theory the continued existence of -lowly organisms offers no difficulty; for natural selection, -or the survival of the fittest, does not necessarily include -progressive development—it only takes advantage of such -variations as arise and are beneficial to each creature -under its complex relations of life. And it may be asked, -What advantage, as far as we can see, would it be to an -infusorian animalcule—to an intestinal worm—or even to<span class="pagenum" id="Page_314">314</span> -an earth-worm, to be highly organized? If it were no -advantage, these forms would be left, by natural selection, -unimproved or but little improved, and might remain for -indefinite ages in their present lowly condition. And -geology tells us that some of the lowest forms, as the -infusoria and rhizopods, have remained for an enormous -period in nearly their present state. But to suppose that -most of the many now existing low forms have not in the -least advanced since the first dawn of life would be extremely -rash; for every naturalist who has dissected some -of the beings now ranked as very low in the scale must -have been struck with their really wondrous and beautiful -organization.</p> - -<p>Nearly the same remarks are applicable if we look to -the different grades of organization within the same great -group; for instance, in the vertebrata, to the co-existence -of mammals and fish—among mammalia, to the co-existence -of man and the ornithorhynchus—among fishes, to -the co-existence of the shark and the lancelet (Amphioxus), -which latter fish in the extreme simplicity of its -structure approaches the invertebrate classes. But mammals -and fish hardly come into competition with each -other; the advancement of the whole class of mammals, -or of certain members in this class, to the highest grade -would not lead to their taking the place of fishes. Physiologists -believe that the brain must be bathed by warm -blood to be highly active, and this requires aërial respiration; -so that warm-blooded mammals when inhabiting the -water lie under a disadvantage in having to come continually -to the surface to breathe. With fishes, members of -the shark family would not tend to supplant the lancelet; -for the lancelet, as I hear from Fritz Müller, has as sole -companion and competitor on the barren, sandy shore -of South Brazil an anomalous annelid. The three lowest<span class="pagenum" id="Page_315">315</span> -orders of mammals, namely, marsupials, edentata, and -rodents, co-exist in South America in the same region -with numerous monkeys, and probably interfere little -with each other. Although organization, on the whole, -may have advanced and be still advancing throughout -the world, yet the scale will always present many degrees -of perfection; for the high advancement of certain whole -classes, or of certain members of each class, does not at -all necessarily lead to the extinction of those groups with -which they do not enter into close competition. In some -cases, as we shall hereafter see, lowly organized forms -appear to have been preserved to the present day, from -inhabiting confined or peculiar stations, where they have -been subjected to less severe competition, and where their -scanty numbers have retarded the chance of favorable -variations arising.</p> - -<p>Finally, I believe that many lowly organized forms -now exist throughout the world, from various causes. In -some cases variations or individual differences of a favorable -nature may never have arisen for natural selection -to act on and accumulate. In no case, probably, has -time sufficed for the utmost possible amount of development. -In some few cases there has been what we must -call retrogression of organization. But the main cause -lies in the fact that under very simple conditions of life a -high organization would be of no service—possibly would -be of actual disservice, as being of a more delicate nature, -and more liable to be put out of order and injured.</p> - -<p>Looking to the first dawn of life, when all organic -beings, as we may believe, presented the simplest structure, -how, it has been asked, could the first steps in the -advancement or differentiation of parts have arisen?</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_316">316</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 100.</div> - -<p>As we have no facts to guide us, speculation -on the subject is almost useless. It is, -however, an error to suppose that there would be no -struggle for existence, and, consequently, no natural selection, -until many forms had been produced: variations -in a single species inhabiting an isolated station might be -beneficial, and thus the whole mass of individuals might -be modified, or two distinct forms might arise. But, as I -remarked toward the close of the Introduction, no one -ought to feel surprised at much remaining as yet unexplained -on the origin of species, if we make due allowance -for our profound ignorance on the mutual relations of -the inhabitants of the world at the present time, and -still more so during past ages.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_177">THE AMOUNT OF LIFE MUST HAVE A LIMIT.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 101.</div> - -<p>What, then, checks an indefinite increase -in the number of species? The amount of life -(I do not mean the number of specific forms) -supported on an area must have a limit, depending so -largely as it does on physical conditions; therefore, if an -area be inhabited by very many species, each or nearly -each species will be represented by few individuals; and -such species will be liable to extermination from accidental -fluctuations in the nature of the seasons or in the -number of their enemies. The process of extermination -in such cases would be rapid, whereas the production of -new species must always be slow. Imagine the extreme -case of as many species as individuals in England, and -the first severe winter or very dry summer would exterminate -thousands on thousands of species. Rare species, and -each species will become rare if the number of species in -any country becomes indefinitely increased, will, on the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_317">317</span> -principle often explained, present within a given period -few favorable variations; consequently, the process of -giving birth to new specific forms would thus be retarded. -When any species becomes very rare, close interbreeding -will help to exterminate it; authors have thought that -this comes into play in accounting for the deterioration -of the aurochs in Lithuania, of red deer in Scotland, -and of bears in Norway, etc. Lastly, and this I am inclined -to think is the most important element, a dominant -species, which has already beaten many competitors in its -own home, will tend to spread and supplant many others. -Alph. de Candolle has shown that those species which -spread widely tend generally to spread <em>very</em> widely; consequently, -they will tend to supplant and exterminate -several species in several areas, and thus check the inordinate -increase of specific forms throughout the world. -Dr. Hooker has recently shown that in the southeast corner -of Australia, where, apparently, there are many invaders -from different quarters of the globe, the endemic -Australian species have been greatly reduced in number. -How much weight to attribute to these several considerations -I will not pretend to say; but conjointly they must -limit in each country the tendency to an indefinite augmentation -of specific forms.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_178">THE BROKEN BRANCHES OF THE TREE OF LIFE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 104.</div> - -<p>The affinities of all the beings of the same -class have sometimes been represented by a -great tree. I believe this simile largely speaks -the truth. The green and budding twigs may represent -existing species; and those produced during former years -may represent the long succession of extinct species. At -each period of growth all the growing twigs have tried<span class="pagenum" id="Page_318">318</span> -to branch out on all sides, and to overtop and kill the -surrounding twigs and branches, in the same manner as -species and groups of species have at all times overmastered -other species in the great battle for life. The limbs -divided into great branches, and these into lesser and -lesser branches, were themselves once, when the tree was -young, budding twigs; and this connection of the former -and present buds by ramifying branches may well represent -the classification of all extinct and living species in -groups subordinate to groups. Of the many twigs which -flourished when the tree was a mere bush, only two or -three, now grown into great branches, yet survive and -bear the other branches; so with the species which lived -during long-past geological periods, very few have left -living and modified descendants. From the first growth -of the tree, many a limb and branch has decayed and -dropped off; and these fallen branches of various sizes -may represent those whole orders, families, and genera -which have now no living representatives, and which are -known to us only in a fossil state. As we here and there -see a thin straggling branch springing from a fork low -down in a tree, and which by some chance has been favored -and is still alive on its summit, so we occasionally -see an animal like the ornithorhynchus or lepidosiren, -which in some small degree connects by its affinities two -large branches of life, and which has apparently been -saved from fatal competition by having inhabited a protected -station. As buds give rise by growth to fresh -buds, and these, if vigorous, branch out and overtop on -all sides many a feebler branch, so by generation I believe -it has been with the great Tree of Life, which fills with -its dead and broken branches the crust of the earth, and -covers the surface with its ever-branching and beautiful -ramifications.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_319">319</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_179">WHY WE DO NOT FIND TRANSITIONAL FORMS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 134.</div> - -<p>It may be urged that, when several closely-allied -species inhabit the same territory, we -surely ought to find at the present time many -transitional forms.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 137.</div> - -<p>I believe that species come to be tolerably -well-defined objects, and do not at any one -period present an inextricable chaos of varying and intermediate -links: first, because new varieties are very slowly -formed, for variation is a slow process, and natural selection -can do nothing until favorable individual differences -or variations occur, and until a place in the natural polity -of the country can be better filled by some modification -of some one or more of its inhabitants. And such new -places will depend on slow changes of climate, or on the -occasional immigration of new inhabitants, and, probably, -in a still more important degree, on some of the old inhabitants -becoming slowly modified, with the new forms -thus produced and the old ones acting and reacting on -each other. So that, in any one region and at any one -time, we ought to see only a few species presenting slight -modifications of structure in some degree permanent; -and this assuredly we do see.</p> - -<p>Secondly, areas now continuous must often have existed -within the recent period as isolated portions, in -which many forms, more especially among the classes -which unite for each birth and wander much, may have -separately been rendered sufficiently distinct to rank as -representative species. In this case, intermediate varieties -between the several representative species and their common -parent must formerly have existed within each -isolated portion of the land, but these links during the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_320">320</span> -process of natural selection will have been supplanted -and exterminated, so that they will no longer be found -in a living state.</p> - -<p>Thirdly, when two or more varieties have been formed -in different portions of a strictly continuous area, intermediate -varieties will, it is probable, at first have been -formed in the intermediate zones, but they will generally -have had a short duration. For these intermediate varieties -will, from reasons already assigned (namely, from -what we know of the actual distribution of closely-allied -or representative species, and likewise of acknowledged -varieties), exist in the intermediate zones in lesser numbers -than the varieties which they tend to connect. From -this cause alone the intermediate varieties will be liable -to accidental extermination; and, during the process of -further modification through natural selection, they will -almost certainly be beaten and supplanted by the forms -which they connect; for these from existing in greater -numbers will, in the aggregate, present more varieties -and thus be further improved through natural selection -and gain further advantages.</p> - -<p>Lastly, looking not to any one time, but to all time, -if my theory be true, numberless intermediate varieties, -linking closely together all the species of the same group, -must assuredly have existed; but the very process of -natural selection constantly tends, as has been so often -remarked, to exterminate the parent-forms and the intermediate -links. Consequently evidence of their former -existence could be found only among fossil remains, which -are preserved, as we shall attempt to show in a future -chapter, in an extremely imperfect and intermittent -record.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_321">321</span></p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 283.</div> - -<p>Professor Pictet, in commenting on early -transitional forms, and taking birds as an illustration, -can not see how the successive modifications -of the anterior limbs of a supposed prototype could possibly -have been of any advantage. But look at the penguins -of the Southern Ocean; have not these birds their -front limbs in this precise intermediate state of “neither -true arms nor true wings”? Yet these birds hold their -place victoriously in the battle for life; for they exist in -infinite numbers and of many kinds. I do not suppose -that we here see the real transitional grades through -which the wings of birds have passed; but what special -difficulty is there in believing that it might profit the -modified descendants of the penguin, first to become enabled -to flap along the surface of the sea like the logger-headed -duck, and ultimately to rise from its surface and -glide through the air?</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 289.</div> - -<p>The several difficulties here discussed, -namely—that, though we find in our geological -formations many links between the species which now -exist and which formerly existed, we do not find infinitely -numerous fine transitional forms closely joining them -all together; the sudden manner in which several groups -of species first appear in our European formations—the -almost entire absence, as at present known, of formations -rich in fossils beneath the Cambrian strata—are all undoubtedly -of the most serious nature. We see this in -the fact that the most eminent paleontologists, namely, -Cuvier, Agassiz, Barrande, Pictet, Falconer, E. Forbes, -etc., and all our greatest geologists, as Lyell, Murchison, -Sedgwick, etc., have unanimously, often vehemently, -maintained the immutability of species. But Sir Charles -Lyell now gives the support of his high authority to the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_322">322</span> -opposite side; and most geologists and paleontologists -are much shaken in their former belief. Those who believe -that the geological record is in any degree perfect -will undoubtedly at once reject the theory. For my part, -following out Lyell’s metaphor, I look at the geological -record as a history of the world imperfectly kept, and -written in a changing dialect; of this history we possess -the last volume alone, relating only to two or three countries. -Of this volume, only here and there a short chapter -has been preserved; and of each page, only here and there -a few lines. Each word of the slowly-changing language, -more or less different in the successive chapters, may -represent the forms of life which are entombed in our -consecutive formations, and which falsely appear to us -to have been abruptly introduced. On this view, the -difficulties above discussed are greatly diminished, or even -disappear.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_180">HOW COULD THE TRANSITIONAL FORM HAVE SUBSISTED?</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 138.</div> - -<p>It has been asked by the opponents of such -views as I hold, how, for instance, could a -land carnivorous animal have been converted into one -with aquatic habits; for how could the animal in its -transitional state have subsisted? It would be easy to -show that there now exist carnivorous animals presenting -close intermediate grades from strictly terrestrial to aquatic -habits; and, as each exists by a struggle for life, it is clear -that each must be well adapted to its place in nature. -Look at the <i>Mustela vison</i> of North America, which -has webbed feet, and which resembles an otter in its fur, -short legs, and form of tail. During the summer this -animal dives for and preys on fish, but during the long -winter it leaves the frozen waters, and preys, like other<span class="pagenum" id="Page_323">323</span> -polecats, on mice and land animals. If a different case -had been taken, and it had been asked how an insectivorous -quadruped could possibly have been converted into -a flying bat, the question would have been far more difficult -to answer. Yet I think such difficulties have little -weight.</p> - -<p>Here, as on other occasions, I lie under a heavy disadvantage, -for, out of the many striking cases which I -have collected, I can give only one or two instances of -transitional habits and structures in allied species; and -of diversified habits, either constant or occasional, in the -same species. And it seems to me that nothing less than -a long list of such cases is sufficient to lessen the difficulty -in any particular case like that of the bat.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_181">WHY NATURE TAKES NO SUDDEN LEAPS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 156.</div> - -<p>Finally, then, although in many cases it is -most difficult even to conjecture by what transitions -organs have arrived at their present -state, yet, considering how small the proportion of living -and known forms is to the extinct and unknown, I -have been astonished how rarely an organ can be named, -toward which no transitional grade is known to lead. It -certainly is true that new organs, appearing as if created for -some special purpose, rarely or never appear in any being—as -indeed is shown by that old but somewhat exaggerated -canon in natural history of “Natura non facit saltum.” -We meet with this admission in the writings of almost -every experienced naturalist; or as Milne-Edwards -has well expressed it, Nature is prodigal in variety, but -niggard in innovation. Why, on the theory of Creation, -should there be so much variety and so little real novelty? -Why should all the parts and organs of many independent<span class="pagenum" id="Page_324">324</span> -beings, each supposed to have been separately created -for its proper place in nature, be so commonly linked together -by graduated steps? Why should not Nature take -a sudden leap from structure to structure? On the theory -of natural selection, we can clearly understand why -she should not; for natural selection acts only by taking -advantage of slight successive variations; she can never -take a great and sudden leap, but must advance by short -and sure though slow steps.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_182">IMPERFECT CONTRIVANCES OF NATURE ACCOUNTED FOR.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 163.</div> - -<p>If our reason leads us to admire with enthusiasm -a multitude of inimitable contrivances -in nature, this same reason tells us, though we may -easily err on both sides, that some other contrivances are -less perfect. Can we consider the sting of the bee as perfect, -which, when used against many kinds of enemies, -can not be withdrawn, owing to the backward serratures, -and thus inevitably causes the death of the insect by tearing -out its viscera?</p> - -<p>If we look at the sting of the bee, as having existed in -a remote progenitor as a boring and serrated instrument -like that in so many members of the same great order, -and that it has since been modified but not perfected for -its present purpose with the poison originally adapted -for some other object, such as to produce galls, since intensified, -we can perhaps understand how it is that the use of -the sting should so often cause the insect’s own death: -for, if on the whole the power of stinging be useful to -the social community, it will fulfill all the requirements -of natural selection, though it may cause the death of -some few members. If we admire the truly wonderful -power of scent by which the males of many insects find<span class="pagenum" id="Page_325">325</span> -their females, can we admire the production for this single -purpose of thousands of drones, which are utterly useless -to the community for any other purpose, and which -are ultimately slaughtered by their industrious and sterile -sisters? It may be difficult, but we ought to admire the -savage instinctive hatred of the queen-bee, which urges -her to destroy the young queens, her daughters, as soon -as they are born, or to perish herself in the combat; for -undoubtedly this is for the good of the community; and -maternal love or maternal hatred, though the latter fortunately -is most rare, is all the same to the inexorable principle -of natural selection. If we admire the several ingenious -contrivances by which orchids and many other plants -are fertilized through insect agency, can we consider as -equally perfect the elaboration of dense clouds of pollen -by our fir-trees, so that a few granules may be wafted by -chance on to the ovules?</p> - -<h3 id="sec_183">INSTINCTS AS A DIFFICULTY.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 205.</div> - -<p>Many instincts are so wonderful that their -development will probably appear to the reader -a difficulty sufficient to overthrow my whole -theory. I may here premise that I have nothing to do -with the origin of the mental powers, any more than I -have with that of life itself. We are concerned only with -the diversities of instinct and of the other mental faculties -in animals of the same class.</p> - -<p>I will not attempt any definition of instinct. It -would be easy to show that several distinct mental actions -are commonly embraced by this term; but every one understands -what is meant when it is said that instinct -impels the cuckoo to migrate and to lay her eggs in other -birds’ nests. An action, which we ourselves require experience<span class="pagenum" id="Page_326">326</span> -to enable us to perform, when performed by an -animal, more especially by a very young one, without experience, -and when performed by many individuals in the -same way, without their knowing for what purpose it is -performed, is usually said to be instinctive. But I could -show that none of these characters are universal. A little -dose of judgment or reason, as Pierre Huber expresses it, -often comes into play, even with animals low in the scale -of nature.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 206.</div> - -<p>If we suppose any habitual action to become -inherited—and it can be shown that this -does sometimes happen—then the resemblance between -what originally was a habit and an instinct becomes so -close as not to be distinguished. If Mozart, instead of -playing the piano-forte at three years old with wonderfully -little practice, had played a tune with no practice at -all, he might truly be said to have done so instinctively. -But it would be a serious error to suppose that the greater -number of instincts have been acquired by habit in one -generation, and then transmitted by inheritance to succeeding -generations. It can be clearly shown that the -most wonderful instincts with which we are acquainted, -namely, those of the hive-bee and of many ants, could not -possibly have been acquired by habit.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 208.</div> - -<p>Why, it has been asked, if instinct be variable, -has it not granted to the bee “the ability -to use some other material when wax was deficient”? -But what other natural material could bees use? They -will work, as I have seen, with wax hardened with vermilion -or softened with lard. Andrew Knight observed that -his bees, instead of laboriously collecting propolis, used a -cement of wax and turpentine, with which he had covered<span class="pagenum" id="Page_327">327</span> -decorticated trees. It has lately been shown that bees, -instead of searching for pollen, will gladly use a very different -substance, namely, oatmeal. Fear of any particular -enemy is certainly an instinctive quality, as may be seen -in nestling birds, though it is strengthened by experience, -and by the sight of fear of the same enemy in other animals. -The fear of man is slowly acquired, as I have elsewhere -shown, by the various animals which inhabit desert -islands; and we see an instance of this even in England, -in the greater wildness of all our large birds in comparison -with our small birds; for the large birds have been -most persecuted by man. We may safely attribute the -greater wildness of our large birds to this cause; for in -uninhabited islands large birds are not more fearful than -small; and the magpie, so wary in England, is tame in -Norway, as is the hooded crow in Egypt.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_184">SOME INSTINCTS ACQUIRED AND SOME LOST.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 210.</div> - -<p>It may be doubted whether any one would -have thought of training a dog to point, had -not some one dog naturally shown a tendency in this -line; and this is known occasionally to happen, as I once -saw, in a pure terrier: the act of pointing is probably, -as many have thought, only the exaggerated pause of an -animal preparing to spring on its prey. When the first -tendency to point was once displayed, methodical selection -and the inherited effects of compulsory training in -each successive generation would soon complete the work; -and unconscious selection is still in progress, as each man -tries to procure, without intending to improve the breed, -dogs which stand and hunt best. On the other hand, -habit alone in some cases has sufficed; hardly any animal -is more difficult to tame than the young of the wild rabbit;<span class="pagenum" id="Page_328">328</span> -scarcely any animal is tamer than the young of the -tame rabbit; but I can hardly suppose that domestic -rabbits have often been selected for tameness alone; so -that we must attribute at least the greater part of the -inherited change from extreme wildness to extreme tameness -to habit and long-continued close confinement.</p> - -<p>Natural instincts are lost under domestication: a remarkable -instance of this is seen in those breeds of fowls -which very rarely or never become “broody,” that is, -never wish to sit on their eggs. Familiarity alone prevents -our seeing how largely and how permanently the -minds of our domestic animals have been modified. It is -scarcely possible to doubt that the love of man has become -instinctive in the dog. All wolves, foxes, jackals, and -species of the cat genus, when kept tame, are most eager -to attack poultry, sheep, and pigs; and this tendency has -been found incurable in dogs which have been brought -home as puppies from countries such as Tierra del Fuego -and Australia, where the savages do not keep these domestic -animals. How rarely, on the other hand, do our -civilized dogs, even when quite young, require to be -taught not to attack poultry, sheep, and pigs! No doubt -they occasionally do make an attack, and are then beaten; -and, if not cured, they are destroyed; so that habit and -some degree of selection have probably concurred in civilizing -by inheritance our dogs. On the other hand, young -chickens have lost, wholly by habit, that fear of the dog -and cat which no doubt was originally instinctive in -them; for I am informed by Captain Hutton that the -young chickens of the parent-stock, the <i>Gallus bankiva</i>, -when reared in India under a hen, are at first excessively -wild. So it is with young pheasants reared in England -under a hen. It is not that chickens have lost all fear, -but fear only of dogs and cats, for if the hen gives the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_329">329</span> -danger-chuckle, they will run (more especially young turkeys) -from under her, and conceal themselves in the surrounding -grass or thickets; and this is evidently done -for the instinctive purpose of allowing, as we see in wild -ground-birds, their mother to fly away. But this instinct -retained by our chickens has become useless under domestication, -for the mother-hen has almost lost by disuse the -power of flight.</p> - -<p>Hence, we may conclude that, under domestication, -instincts have been acquired, and natural instincts have -been lost, partly by habit, and partly by man selecting -and accumulating, during successive generations, peculiar -mental habits and actions, which at first appeared from -what we must in our ignorance call an accident.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_185">INNUMERABLE LINKS NECESSARILY LOST.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 264.</div> - -<p>The main cause of innumerable intermediate -links not now occurring everywhere -throughout nature depends on the very process -of natural selection, through which new varieties -continually take the places of and supplant their parent-forms. -But just in proportion as this process of extermination -has acted on an enormous scale, so must the -number of intermediate varieties, which have formerly -existed, be truly enormous. Why, then, is not every geological -formation and every stratum full of such intermediate -links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any -such finely-graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, -is the most obvious and serious objection which can be -urged against the theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, -in the extreme imperfection of the geological record.</p> - -<p>In the first place, it should always be borne in mind -what sort of intermediate forms must, on the theory, have<span class="pagenum" id="Page_330">330</span> -formerly existed. I have found it difficult, when looking -at any two species, to avoid picturing to myself forms -<em>directly</em> intermediate between them. But this is a wholly -false view; we should always look for forms intermediate -between each species and a common but unknown progenitor; -and the progenitor will generally have differed -in some respects from all its modified descendants. To -give a simple illustration: the fantail and pouter pigeons -are both descended from the rock-pigeon; if we possessed -all the intermediate varieties which have ever existed, we -should have an extremely close series between both and -the rock-pigeon; but we should have no varieties directly -intermediate between the fantail and pouter; none, for -instance, combining a tail somewhat expanded with a -crop somewhat enlarged, the characteristic features of -these two breeds. These two breeds, moreover, have become -so much modified, that, if we had no historical or -indirect evidence regarding their origin, it would not -have been possible to have determined, from a mere comparison -of their structure with that of the rock-pigeon, -<i>C. livia</i>, whether they had descended from this species or -from some other allied form, such as <i>C. oenas</i>.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 265.</div> - -<p>It is just possible by the theory, that one -of two living forms might have descended -from the other; for instance, a horse from a tapir; and -in this case <em>direct</em> intermediate links will have existed between -them. But such a case would imply that one form -had remained for a very long period unaltered, while its -descendants had undergone a vast amount of change; -and the principle of competition between organism and -organism, between child and parent, will render this a -very rare event; for in all cases the new and improved<span class="pagenum" id="Page_331">331</span> -forms of life tend to supplant the old and unimproved -forms.</p> - -<p>By the theory of natural selection all living species -have been connected with the parent-species of each -genus, by differences not greater than we see between the -natural and domestic varieties of the same species at the -present day; and these parent-species, now generally extinct, -have in their turn been similarly connected with -more ancient forms; and so on backward, always converging -to the common ancestor of each great class. So -that the number of intermediate and transitional links, -between all living and extinct species, must have been -inconceivably great. But assuredly, if this theory be -true, such have lived upon the earth.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_186">PLENTY OF TIME FOR THE NECESSARY GRADATIONS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 266.</div> - -<p>Independently of our not finding fossil remains -of such infinitely numerous connecting -links, it may be objected that time can not have sufficed -for so great an amount of organic change, all changes -having been effected slowly. It is hardly possible for me -to recall to the reader who is not a practical geologist -the facts leading the mind feebly to comprehend the lapse -of time. He who can read Sir Charles Lyell’s grand -work on the “Principles of Geology,” which the future -historian will recognize as having produced a revolution -in natural science, and yet does not admit how vast have -been the past periods of time, may at once close this -volume.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 269.</div> - -<p>When geologists look at large and complicated -phenomena, and then at the figures -representing several million years, the two produce a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_332">332</span> -totally different effect on the mind, and the figures are -at once pronounced too small. In regard to subaërial -denudation, Mr. Croll shows, by calculating the known -amount of sediment annually brought down by certain -rivers, relatively to their areas of drainage, that one thousand -feet of solid rock, as it became gradually disintegrated, -would thus be removed from the mean level of -the whole area in the course of six million years. This -seems an astonishing result, and some considerations lead -to the suspicion that it may be too large, but even if -halved or quartered it is still very surprising. Few of -us, however, know what a million really means: Mr. -Croll gives the following illustration: take a narrow strip -of paper, eighty-three feet four inches in length, and -stretch it along the wall of a large hall; then mark off -at one end the tenth of an inch. This tenth of an inch -will represent one hundred years, and the entire strip a -million years. But let it be borne in mind, in relation -to the subject of this work, what a hundred years implies, -represented as it is by a measure utterly insignificant in -a hall of the above dimensions. Several eminent breeders, -during a single lifetime, have so largely modified some of -the higher animals, which propagate their kind much -more slowly than most of the lower animals, that they -have formed what well deserves to be called a new sub-breed. -Few men have attended with due care to any one -strain for more than half a century, so that a hundred -years represents the work of two breeders in succession.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 270.</div> - -<p>Now let us turn to our richest geological -museums, and what a paltry display we behold! -That our collections are imperfect is admitted by -every one. The remark of that admirable paleontologist, -Edward Forbes, should never be forgotten, namely, that<span class="pagenum" id="Page_333">333</span> -very many fossil species are known and named from single -and often broken specimens, or from a few specimens -collected on some one spot. Only a small portion of the -surface of the earth has been geologically explored, and -no part with sufficient care, as the important discoveries -made every year in Europe prove. No organism wholly -soft can be preserved. Shells and bones decay and disappear -when left on the bottom of the sea, where sediment -is not accumulating. We probably take a quite erroneous -view, when we assume that sediment is being deposited -over nearly the whole bed of the sea, at a rate sufficiently -quick to imbed and preserve fossil remains. Throughout -an enormously large proportion of the ocean, the bright -blue tint of the water bespeaks its purity. The many -cases on record of a formation conformably covered, after -an immense interval of time, by another and later formation, -without the underlying bed having suffered in the -interval any wear and tear, seem explicable only on the -view of the bottom of the sea not rarely lying for ages in -an unaltered condition. The remains which do become -imbedded, if in sand or gravel, will, when the beds are -upraised, generally be dissolved by the percolation of -rain-water charged with carbonic acid. Some of the many -kinds of animals which live on the beach between high -and low water mark seem to be rarely preserved. For -instance, the several species of the <i>Chthamalinæ</i> (a sub-family -of sessile cirripeds) coat the rocks all over the world -in infinite numbers: they are all strictly littoral, with -the exception of a single Mediterranean species, which -inhabits deep water, and this has been found fossil in -Sicily, whereas not one other species has hitherto been -found in any tertiary formation; yet it is known that -the genus <i>Chthamalus</i> existed during the Chalk period. -Lastly, many great deposits, requiring a vast length of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_334">334</span> -time for their accumulation, are entirely destitute of -organic remains, without our being able to assign any -reason; one of the most striking instances is that of the -Flysch formation, which consists of shale and sandstone, -several thousand, occasionally even six thousand, feet in -thickness, and extending for at least three hundred miles -from Vienna to Switzerland; and, although this great -mass has been most carefully searched, no fossils, except -a few vegetable remains, have been found.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_187">WIDE INTERVALS OF TIME BETWEEN THE GEOLOGICAL -FORMATIONS.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 271.</div> - -<p>But the imperfection in the geological -record largely results from another and more -important cause than any of the foregoing; namely, -from the several formations being separated from each -other by wide intervals of time. This doctrine has been -emphatically admitted by many geologists and paleontologists, -who, like E. Forbes, entirely disbelieve in the -change of species. When we see the formations tabulated -in written works, or when we follow them in nature, it -is difficult to avoid believing that they are closely consecutive. -But we know, for instance, from Sir R. Murchison’s -great work on Russia, what wide gaps there are -in that country between the superimposed formations; -so it is in North America, and in many other parts of -the world. The most skillful geologist, if his attention -had been confined exclusively to these large territories, -would never have suspected that, during the periods -which were blank and barren in his own country, great -piles of sediment, charged with new and peculiar forms -of life, had elsewhere been accumulated. And if, in each -separate territory, hardly any idea can be formed of the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_335">335</span> -length of time which has elapsed between the consecutive -formations, we may infer that this could nowhere be -ascertained. The frequent and great changes in the -mineralogical composition of consecutive formations, -generally implying great changes in the geography of the -surrounding lands, whence the sediment was derived, -accord with the belief of vast intervals of time having -elapsed between each formation.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 278.</div> - -<p>It is all-important to remember that naturalists -have no golden rule by which to distinguish -species and varieties; they grant some little -variability to each species, but, when they meet with a -somewhat greater amount of difference between any -two forms, they rank both as species, unless they are -enabled to connect them together by the closest intermediate -gradations; and this, from the reasons just assigned, -we can seldom hope to effect in any one geological -section. Supposing B and C to be two species, and a -third, A, to be found in an older and underlying bed; -even if A were strictly intermediate between B and C, -it would simply be ranked as a third and distinct species, -unless at the same time it could be closely connected by -intermediate varieties with either one or both forms. -Nor should it be forgotten, as before explained, that A -might be the actual progenitor of B and C, and yet would -not necessarily be strictly intermediate between them in -all respects. So that we might obtain the parent-species -and its several modified descendants from the lower and -upper beds of the same formation, and, unless we obtained -numerous transitional gradations, we should not recognize -their blood-relationship, and should consequently -rank them as distinct species.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_336">336</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_188">SUDDEN APPEARANCE OF GROUPS OF ALLIED SPECIES.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 282.</div> - -<p>The abrupt manner in which whole groups -of species suddenly appear in certain formations -has been urged by several paleontologists—for -instance, by Agassiz, Pictet, and Sedgwick—as -a fatal objection to the belief in the transmutation of -species. If numerous species, belonging to the same -genera or families, have really started into life at once, -the fact would be fatal to the theory of evolution through -natural selection. For the development by this means -of a group of forms, all of which are descended from some -one progenitor, must have been an extremely slow process; -and the progenitors must have lived long before -their modified descendants. But we continually overrate -the perfection of the geological record, and falsely infer, -because certain genera or families have not been found -beneath a certain stage, that they did not exist before -that stage. In all cases positive paleontological evidence -may be implicitly trusted; negative evidence is worthless, -as experience has so often shown. We continually forget -how large the world is, compared with the area over -which our geological formations have been carefully examined; -we forget that groups of species may elsewhere -have long existed, and have slowly multiplied, before -they invaded the ancient archipelagoes of Europe and -the United States. We do not make due allowance for -the intervals of time which have elapsed between our -consecutive formations—longer, perhaps, in many cases -than the time required for the accumulation of each -formation. These intervals will have given time for the -multiplication of species from some one parent-form; -and, in the succeeding formation, such groups or species -will appear as if suddenly created.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_337">337</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_189">HOW LITTLE WE KNOW OF FORMER INHABITANTS OF THE -WORLD.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 283.</div> - -<p>Even in so short an interval as that between -the first and second edition of Pictet’s -great work on Paleontology, published in 1844–’46 and in -1853–’57, the conclusions on the first appearance and disappearance -of several groups of animals have been considerably -modified; and a third edition would require still -further changes. I may recall the well-known fact that -in geological treatises, published not many years ago, -mammals were always spoken of as having abruptly come -in at the commencement of the tertiary<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">B</a> series. And now -one of the richest known accumulations of fossil mammals -belongs to the middle of the secondary series; and true -mammals have been discovered in the new red sandstone -at nearly the commencement of this great series. Cuvier -used to urge that no monkey occurred in any tertiary -stratum; but now extinct species have been discovered in -India, South America, and in Europe, as far back as the -Miocene stage. Had it not been for the rare accident of -the preservation of footsteps in the new red sandstone of -the United States, who would have ventured to suppose -that no less than at least thirty different bird-like animals, -some of gigantic size, existed during that period? -Not a fragment of bone has been discovered in these beds. -Not long ago, paleontologists maintained that the whole -class of birds came suddenly into existence during the -Eocene period; but now we know, on the authority of -Professor Owen, that a bird certainly lived during the deposition -of the upper greensand; and still more recently, -that strange bird, the archeopteryx, with a long, lizard-like<span class="pagenum" id="Page_338">338</span> -tail, bearing a pair of feathers on each joint, and with -its wings furnished with two free claws, has been discovered -in the oölitic slates of Solenhofen. Hardly any recent -discovery shows more forcibly than this, how little -we as yet know of the former inhabitants of the world.</p> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="fnanchor">B</a> <span class="smcap">Tertiary.</span>—The latest geological epoch, immediately preceding the -establishment of the present order of things.</p> - -</div> - -<h3 id="sec_190">THE EXTINCTION OF SPECIES INVOLVED IN MYSTERY.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 294.</div> - -<p>The extinction of species has been involved -in the most gratuitous mystery. Some authors -have even supposed that as the individual -has a definite length of life, so have species a definite -duration. No one can have marveled more than I have -done at the extinction of species. When I found in La -Plata the tooth of a horse imbedded with the remains -of mastodon, megatherium, toxodon, and other extinct -monsters, which all co-existed with still living shells at a -very late geological period, I was filled with astonishment; -for, seeing that the horse, since its introduction by the -Spaniards into South America, has run wild over the -whole country and has increased in numbers at an unparalleled -rate, I asked myself what could so recently -have exterminated the former horse under conditions of -life apparently so favorable. But my astonishment was -groundless. Professor Owen soon perceived that the -tooth, though so like that of the existing horse, belonged -to an extinct species. Had this horse been still living, -but in some degree rare, no naturalist would have felt -the least surprise at its rarity; for rarity is the attribute -of a vast number of species of all classes, in all countries. -If we ask ourselves why this or that species is rare, we -answer that something is unfavorable in its conditions of -life; but what that something is we can hardly ever tell. -On the supposition of the fossil horse still existing as a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_339">339</span> -rare species, we might have felt certain, from the analogy -of all other mammals, even of the slow-breeding elephant, -and from the history of the naturalization of the domestic -horse in South America, that under more favorable -conditions it would in a very few years have stocked the -whole continent. But we could not have told what the -unfavorable conditions were which checked its increase, -whether some one or several contingencies, and at what -period of the horse’s life, and in what degree, they severally -acted. If the conditions had gone on, however slowly, -becoming less and less favorable, we assuredly should -not have perceived the fact, yet the fossil horse would certainly -have become rarer and rarer, and finally extinct;—its -place being seized on by some more successful competitor.</p> - -<p>It is most difficult always to remember that the increase -of every creature is constantly being checked by -unperceived hostile agencies; and that these same unperceived -agencies are amply sufficient to cause rarity, and -finally extinction. So little is this subject understood -that I have heard surprise repeatedly expressed at such -great monsters as the mastodon and the more ancient -dinosaurians having become extinct; as if mere bodily -strength gave victory in the battle of life. Mere size, -on the contrary, would in some cases determine, as has -been remarked by Owen, quicker extermination from -the greater amount of requisite food. Before man inhabited -India or Africa, some cause must have checked the -continued increase of the existing elephant. A highly -capable judge, Dr. Falconer, believes that it is chiefly insects -which, from incessantly harassing and weakening -the elephant in India, check its increase; and this was -Bruce’s conclusion with respect to the African elephant -in Abyssinia. It is certain that insects and blood-sucking<span class="pagenum" id="Page_340">340</span> -bats determine the existence of the larger naturalized -quadrupeds in several parts of South America.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 295.</div> - -<p>I may repeat what I published in 1845, -namely, that to admit that species generally -become rare before they become extinct—to feel no surprise -at the rarity of a species, and yet to marvel greatly -when the species ceases to exist, is much the same as to -admit that sickness in the individual is the forerunner of -death—to feel no surprise at sickness, but, when the sick -man dies, to wonder and to suspect that he died by some -deed of violence.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_191">DEAD LINKS BETWEEN LIVING SPECIES.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 302.</div> - -<p>No one will deny that the Hipparion is -intermediate between the existing horse and -certain older ungulate forms. What a wonderful connecting -link in the chain of mammals is the Typotherium -from South America, as the name given to it by Professor -Gervais expresses, and which can not be placed in any -existing order! The Sirenia form a very distinct group -of mammals, and one of the most remarkable peculiarities -in the existing dugong and lamentin is the entire absence -of hind limbs, without even a rudiment being left; but -the extinct Halitherium had, according to Professor -Flower, an ossified thigh-bone “articulated to a well-defined -acetabulum in the pelvis,” and it thus makes some -approach to ordinary hoofed quadrupeds, to which the -Sirenia are in other respects allied. The cetaceans or -whales are widely different from all other mammals, but -the tertiary Zeuglodon and Squalodon, which have been -placed by some naturalists in an order by themselves, -are considered by Professor Huxley to be undoubtedly<span class="pagenum" id="Page_341">341</span> -cetaceans, “and to constitute connecting links with the -aquatic carnivora.”</p> - -<p>Even the wide interval between birds and reptiles -has been shown by the naturalist just quoted to be partially -bridged over in the most unexpected manner, on -the one hand, by the ostrich and extinct Archeopteryx, -and on the other hand, by the Compsognathus, one of -the dinosaurians—that group which includes the most -gigantic of all terrestrial reptiles. Turning to the Invertebrata, -Barrande asserts, and a higher authority could -not be named, that he is every day taught that, although -palæozoic animals can certainly be classed under existing -groups, yet that at this ancient period the groups were -not so distinctly separated from each other as they now -are.</p> - -<p>Some writers have objected to any extinct species, or -group of species, being considered as intermediate between -any two living species or groups of species. If by -this term it is meant that an extinct form is directly intermediate -in all its characters between two living forms -or groups, the objection is probably valid. But in a -natural classification many fossil species certainly stand -between living species, and some extinct genera between -living genera, even between genera belonging to distinct -families. The most common case, especially with respect -to very distinct groups, such as fish and reptiles, seems -to be that, supposing them to be distinguished at the -present day by a score of characters, the ancient members -are separated by a somewhat lesser number of characters; -so that the two groups formerly made a somewhat nearer -approach to each other than they now do.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_342">342</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_192">LIVING DESCENDANTS OF FOSSIL SPECIES.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 311.</div> - -<p>It may be asked in ridicule, whether I suppose -that the megatherium and other allied -huge monsters, which formerly lived in South America, -have left behind them the sloth, armadillo, and ant-eater, -as their degenerate descendants. This can not for an -instant be admitted. These huge animals have become -wholly extinct, and have left no progeny. But in the -caves of Brazil there are many extinct species which are -closely allied in size and in all other characters to the -species still living in South America; and some of these -fossils may have been the actual progenitors of the living -species. It must not be forgotten that, on our theory, -all the species of the same genus are the descendants of -some one species; so that, if six genera, each having -eight species, be found in one geological formation, and -in a succeeding formation there be six other allied or -representative genera each with the same number of -species, then we may conclude that generally only one -species of each of the older genera has left modified descendants, -which constitute the new genera containing -the several species; the other seven species of each old -genus having died out and left no progeny. Or, and this -will be a far commoner case, two or three species in two -or three alone of the six older genera will be the parents -of the new genera: the other species and the other whole -genera having become utterly extinct. In failing orders, -with the genera and species decreasing in numbers as is -the case with the Edentata of South America, still fewer -genera and species will leave modified blood-descendants.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_343">343</span></p> - -<h3 id="sec_193">UNNECESSARY TO EXPLAIN THE CAUSE OF EACH INDIVIDUAL -DIFFERENCE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Animals and -Plants,<br />vol. ii, page 425.</div> - -<p>In accordance with the views maintained -by me in this work and elsewhere, not only -various domestic races, but the most distinct -genera and orders within the same great class—for -instance, mammals, birds, reptiles, and fishes—are all -the descendants of one common progenitor, and we must -admit that the whole vast amount of difference between -these forms has primarily arisen from simple variability. -To consider the subject under this point of view is enough -to strike one dumb with amazement. But our amazement -ought to be lessened when we reflect that beings -almost infinite in number, during an almost infinite lapse -of time, have often had their whole organization rendered -in some degree plastic, and that each slight modification -of structure which was in any way beneficial under excessively -complex conditions of life has been preserved, -while each which was in any way injurious has been -rigorously destroyed. And the long-continued accumulation -of beneficial variations will infallibly have led to -structures as diversified, as beautifully adapted for various -purposes and as excellently co-ordinated, as we see in the -animals and plants around us. Hence I have spoken of -selection as the paramount power, whether applied by -man to the formation of domestic breeds, or by nature to -the production of species.</p> - -<p>If an architect were to rear a noble and commodious -edifice, without the use of cut stone, by selecting from -the fragments at the base of a precipice wedge-formed -stones for his arches, elongated stones for his lintels, and -flat stones for his roof, we should admire his skill and -regard him as the paramount power. Now, the fragments<span class="pagenum" id="Page_344">344</span> -of stone, though indispensable to the architect, -bear to the edifice built by him the same relation which -the fluctuating variations of organic beings bear to the -varied and admirable structures ultimately acquired by -their modified descendants.</p> - -<p>Some authors have declared that natural selection explains -nothing, unless the precise cause of each slight -individual difference be made clear. If it were explained -to a savage utterly ignorant of the art of building, how -the edifice had been raised stone upon stone, and why -wedge-formed fragments were used for the arches, flat -stones for the roof, etc., and if the use of each part and -of the whole building were pointed out, it would be unreasonable -if he declared that nothing had been made -clear to him, because the precise cause of the shape of -each fragment could not be told. But this is a nearly -parallel case with the objection that selection explains -nothing, because we know not the cause of each individual -difference in the structure of each being.</p> - -<p>The shape of the fragments of stone at the base of -our precipice may be called accidental, but this is not -strictly correct; for the shape of each depends on a long -sequence of events, all obeying natural laws; on the nature -of the rock, on the lines of deposition or cleavage, -on the form of the mountain, which depends on its upheaval -and subsequent denudation, and lastly on the -storm or earthquake which throws down the fragments. -But in regard to the use to which the fragments may -be put, their shape may be strictly said to be accidental.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_194">“FACE TO FACE WITH AN INSOLUBLE DIFFICULTY.”</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 427.</div> - -<p>And here we are led to face a great difficulty, -in alluding to which I am aware that -I am traveling beyond my proper province. An omniscient<span class="pagenum" id="Page_345">345</span> -Creator must have foreseen every consequence which -results from the laws imposed by him. But can it be -reasonably maintained that the Creator intentionally ordered, -if we use the words in any ordinary sense, that -certain fragments of rock should assume certain shapes -so that the builder might erect his edifice? If the various -laws which have determined the shape of each fragment -were not predetermined for the builder’s sake, can -it be maintained with any greater probability that he -specially ordained for the sake of the breeder each of the -innumerable variations in our domestic animals and -plants—many of these variations being of no service to -man, and not beneficial, far more often injurious, to the -creatures themselves? Did he ordain that the crop and -tail-feathers of the pigeon should vary in order that the -fancier might make his grotesque pouter and fantail -breeds? Did he cause the frame and mental qualities -of the dog to vary in order that a breed might be formed -of indomitable ferocity, with jaws fitted to pin down the -bull for man’s brutal sport? But if we give up the -principle in one case—if we do not admit that the variations -of the primeval dog were intentionally guided in -order that the greyhound, for instance, that perfect image -of symmetry and vigor, might be formed—no shadow of -reason can be assigned for the belief that variations, alike -in nature and the result of the same general laws, which -have been the groundwork through natural selection of -the formation of the most perfectly adapted animals in -the world, man included, were intentionally and specially -guided. However much we may wish it, we can hardly -follow Professor Asa Gray in his belief “that variation -has been led along certain beneficial lines,” like a stream -“along definite and useful lines of irrigation.” If we -assume that each particular variation was from the beginning<span class="pagenum" id="Page_346">346</span> -of all time preordained, then that plasticity of -organization, which leads to many injurious deviations -of structure, as well as the redundant power of reproduction -which inevitably leads to a struggle for existence, -and, as a consequence, to the natural selection or survival -of the fittest, must appear to us superfluous laws of nature. -On the other hand, an omnipotent and omniscient -Creator ordains everything and foresees everything. Thus -we are brought face to face with a difficulty as insoluble -as is that of free-will and predestination.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_195">WHY DISTASTEFUL?</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 618.</div> - -<p>The main conclusion arrived at in this -work, namely, that man is descended from -some lowly organized form, will, I regret to -think, be highly distasteful to many. But there can -hardly be a doubt that we are descended from barbarians. -The astonishment which I felt on first seeing a party of -Fuegians on a wild and broken shore will never be forgotten -by me, for the reflection at once rushed into my -mind—such were our ancestors. These men were absolutely -naked and bedaubed with paint, their long hair -was tangled, their mouths frothed with excitement, and -their expression was wild, startled, and distrustful. They -possessed hardly any arts, and like wild animals lived on -what they could catch; they had no government, and -were merciless to every one not of their own small tribe. -He who has seen a savage in his native land will not feel -much shame, if forced to acknowledge that the blood of -some more humble creature flows in his veins. For my -own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic -little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to -save the life of his keeper, or from that old baboon, who,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_347">347</span> -descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph -his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs—as -from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers -up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, -treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is -haunted by the grossest superstitions.</p> - -<p>Man may be excused for feeling some pride at having -risen, though not through his own exertions, to the very -summit of the organic scale; and the fact of his having -thus risen, instead of having been aboriginally placed -there, may give him hope for a still higher destiny in the -distant future. But we are not here concerned with -hopes or fears, only with the truth as far as our reason -permits us to discover it; and I have given the evidence -to the best of my ability. We must, however, acknowledge, -as it seems to me, that man with all his noble qualities, -with sympathy which feels for the most debased, -with benevolence which extends not only to other men -but to the humblest living creature, with his godlike -intellect which has penetrated into the movements and -constitution of the solar system—with all these exalted -powers—man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible -stamp of his lowly origin.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_196">“ACCORDS BETTER WITH WHAT WE KNOW OF THE CREATOR’S -LAWS.”</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Origin of -Species,<br /> -page 428.</div> - -<p>Authors of the highest eminence seem to -be fully satisfied with the view that each species -has been independently created. To my -mind it accords better with what we know of the laws -impressed on matter by the Creator, that the production -and extinction of the past and present inhabitants of the -world should have been due to secondary causes, like<span class="pagenum" id="Page_348">348</span> -those determining the birth and death of the individual. -When I view all beings not as special creations, but as -the lineal descendants of some few beings which lived -long before the first bed of the Cambrian system was deposited, -they seem to me to become ennobled. Judging -from the past, we may safely infer that not one living -species will transmit its unaltered likeness to a distant -futurity. And of the species now living very few will -transmit progeny of any kind to a far distant futurity; -for the manner in which all organic beings are grouped, -shows that the greater number of species in each genus, -and all the species in many genera, have left no descendants, -but have become utterly extinct. We can so far -take a prophetic glance into futurity as to foretell that it -will be the common and widely-spread species, belonging -to the larger and dominant groups within each class, -which will ultimately prevail and procreate new and dominant -species. As all the living forms of life are the lineal -descendants of those which lived long before the Cambrian -epoch, we may feel certain that the ordinary succession -by generation has never once been broken, and that -no cataclysm has desolated the whole world. Hence we -may look with some confidence to a secure future of great -length. And as natural selection works solely by and for -the good of each being, all corporeal and mental endowments -will tend to progress toward perfection.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_197">THE GRANDEUR OF THIS VIEW OF LIFE.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote page">Page 429.</div> - -<p>It is interesting to contemplate a tangled -bank, clothed with many plants of many -kinds, with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects -flitting about, and with worms crawling through the -damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately constructed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_349">349</span> -forms, so different from each other, and dependent -upon each other in so complex a manner, have all -been produced by laws acting around us. These laws, -taken in the largest sense, being growth with reproduction; -inheritance which is almost implied by reproduction; -variability from the indirect and direct action of the -conditions of life, and from use and disuse: a ratio of -increase so high as to lead to a struggle for life, and as a -consequence to natural selection, entailing divergence of -character and the extinction of less-improved forms. -Thus, from the war of nature, from famine and death, -the most exalted object which we are capable of conceiving, -namely, the production of the higher animals, directly -follows. There is grandeur in this view of life, with -its several powers, having been originally breathed by the -Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, while -this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law -of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most -beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being -evolved.</p> - -<h3 id="sec_198">NOT INCOMPATIBLE WITH THE BELIEF IN IMMORTALITY.</h3> - -<div class="sidenote">Descent -of Man,<br /> -page 612.</div> - -<p>I am aware that the assumed instinctive -belief in God has been used by many persons -as a rash argument for his existence. But this is -a rash argument, as we should thus be compelled to believe -in the existence of many cruel and malignant spirits, -only a little more powerful than man; for the belief in -them is far more general than in a beneficent Deity. The -idea of a universal and beneficent Creator does not seem -to arise in the mind of man, until he has been elevated -by long-continued culture.</p> - -<p>He who believes in the advancement of man from<span class="pagenum" id="Page_350">350</span> -some low organized form, will naturally ask, How does -this bear on the belief in the immortality of the soul? -The barbarous races of man, as Sir J. Lubbock has shown, -possess no clear belief of this kind; but arguments derived -from the primeval beliefs of savages are, as we have -just seen, of little or no avail. Few persons feel any anxiety -from the impossibility of determining at what precise -period in the development of the individual, from the -first trace of a minute germinal vesicle, man becomes an -immortal being; and there is no greater cause for anxiety -because the period can not possibly be determined in the -gradually ascending organic scale.</p> - -<p>I am aware that the conclusions arrived at in this -work will be denounced by some as highly irreligious; -but he who denounces them is bound to show why it -is more irreligious to explain the origin of man as a -distinct species by descent from some lower form, -through the laws of variation and natural selection, -than to explain the birth of the individual through the -laws of ordinary reproduction. The birth both of the -species and of the individual are equally parts of that -grand sequence of events, which our minds refuse to -accept as the result of blind chance. The understanding -revolts at such a conclusion, whether or not we are -able to believe that every slight variation of structure—the -union of each pair in marriage—the dissemination -of each seed—and other such events, have all been ordained -for some special purpose.</p> - -<div class="tb">* * * * *</div> - -<div class="sidenote">Journal of -Researches,<br /> -page 503.</div> - -<p>Among the scenes which are deeply impressed -on my mind, none exceed in sublimity -the primeval forests undefaced by the -hand of man; whether those of Brazil, where the powers<span class="pagenum" id="Page_351">351</span> -of life are predominant, or those of Tierra del Fuego, -where death and decay prevail. Both are temples filled -with the varied productions of the God of Nature; no -one can stand in these solitudes unmoved, and not -feel that there is more in man than the mere breath of -his body.</p> - -<p class="p2 center">THE END.</p> - -<div class="chapter"><div class="transnote"> -<h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_Notes">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> - -<p>Punctuation, hyphenation, and spelling were made -consistent when a predominant preference was found -in the original book; otherwise they were not changed.</p> - -<p>Simple typographical errors were corrected; unbalanced -quotation marks were remedied when the change was -obvious or could be determined by reference to Darwin’s -original books; and otherwise left unbalanced.</p> -</div></div> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DARWINISM STATED BY DARWIN HIMSELF ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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