Page 38 of The Descent of Man


  229 ‘The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,’ vol. i. p. 309.

  230 ‘Fraser’s Magazine,’ Sept. 1868, p. 353. This article seems to have struck many persons, and has given rise to two remarkable essays and a rejoinder in the ‘Spectator,’ Oct. 3rd and 17th 1868. It has also been discussed in the ‘Q. Journal of Science,’ 1869, p. 152, and by Mr. Lawson Tait in the ‘Dublin Q. Journal of Medical Science,’ Feb. 1869, and by Mr. E. Ray Lankester in his ‘Comparative Longevity,’ 1870, p. 128. Similar views appeared previously in the ‘Australasian,’ July 13, 1867. I have borrowed ideas from several of these writers.

  231 For Mr. Wallace, see ‘Anthropolog. Review,’ as before cited. Mr. Galton in ‘Macmillan’s Magazine,’ Aug. 1865, p. 318; also his great work, ‘Hereditary Genius,’ 1870.

  232 ‘Hereditary Genius,’ 1870, p. 132-140.

  233 See the fifth and sixth columns, compiled from good authorities, in the table given in Mr. E. R. Lankester’s ‘Comparative Longevity,’ 1870, p. 115.

  234 ‘Hereditary Genius,’ 1870, p. 330.

  235 ‘Origin of Species’ (fifth edition, 1869), p. 104.

  236 ‘Hereditary Genius,’ 1870, p. 347.

  237 E. Ray Lankester, ‘Comparative Longevity,’ 1870, p. 115. The table of the intemperate is from Nelson’s ‘Vital Statistics.’ In regard to profligacy, see Dr. Farr, “Influence of Marriage on Mortality,” ‘Nat. Assoc. for the Promotion of Social Science,’ 1858.

  238 ‘Fraser’s Magazine,’ Sept. 1868, p. 353. ‘Macmillan’s Magazine,’ Aug. 1865, p. 318. The Rev. F. W. Farrar (‘Fraser’s Mag.,’ Aug. 1870, p. 264) takes a different view.

  239 “On the Laws of the Fertility of Women,” in ‘Transact. Royal Soc.’ Edinburgh, vol. xxiv. p. 287. See, also, Mr. Galton, ‘Hereditary Genius,’ p. 352-357, for observations to the above effect.

  240 ‘Tenth Annual Report of Births, Deaths, &c., in Scotland,’ 1867, p. xxix.

  241 These quotations are taken from our highest authority on such questions, namely, Dr. Farr, in his paper “On the Influence of Marriage on the Mortality of the French People,” read before the Nat. Assoc. for the Promotion of Social Science, 1858.

  242 Dr. Farr, ibid. The quotations given below are extracted from the same striking paper.

  243 I have taken the mean of the quinquennial means, given in ‘The Tenth Annual Report of Births, Deaths, &c., in Scotland,’ 1867. The quotation from Dr. Stark is copied from an article in the ‘Daily News,’ Oct. 17th, 1868, which Dr. Farr considers very carefully written.

  244 See the ingenious and original argument on this subject by Mr. Galton, ‘Hereditary Genius,’ p. 340-342.

  245 Mr. Greg, ‘Fraser’s Magazine,’ Sept. 1868, p. 357.

  246 ‘Hereditary Genius,’ 1870, p. 357-359. The Rev. F. H. Farrar (‘Fraser’s Mag.’, Aug. 1870, p. 257) advances arguments on the other side. Sir C. Lyell had already (‘Principles of Geology,’ vol. ii. 1868, p. 489) called attention, in a striking passage, to the evil influence of the Holy Inquisition in having lowered, through selection, the general standard of intelligence in Europe.

  247 Mr. Galton, ‘Macmillan’s Magazine,’ August, 1865, p. 325. See, also, ‘Nature,’ “On Darwinism and National Life,” Dec. 1869, p. 184.

  248 ‘Last Winter in the United States,’ 1868, p. 29.

  249 ‘On the Origin of Civilisation,’ ‘Proc. Ethnological Soc.’ Nov. 26, 1867.

  250 ‘Primeval Man,’ 1869.

  251 ‘Royal Institution of Great Britain,’ March 15, 1867. Also, 'Researches into the Early History of Mankind,’ 1865.

  252 ‘Primitive Marriage,’ 1865. See, likewise, an excellent article, evidently by the same author, in the ‘North British Review,’ July, 1869. Also, Mr. L. H. Morgan, “A Conjectural Solution of the Origin of the Class. System of Relationship,” in ‘Proc. American Acad. of Sciences,’ vol. vii. Feb. 1868. Prof. Schaaffhausen (‘Anthropolog. Review,’ Oct. 1869, p. 373) remarks on “the vestiges of human sacrifices found both in Homer and the Old Testament.”

  253 Sir J. Lubbock, ‘Prehistoric Times,’ 2nd edit. 1869, chap. xv. and xvi. et passim.

  254 Dr. F. Müller has made some good remarks to this effect in the 'Reise der Novara: Anthropolog. Theil,’ Abtheil. iii. 1868, s. 127.

  255 Isidore Geoffroy St.-Hilaire gives a detailed account of the position assigned to man by various naturalists in their classifications: ‘Hist. Nat. Gén.’ tom. ii. 1859, p. 170-189.

  256 See the very interesting article, “L’Instinct chez les Insectes,” by M. George Pouchet, ‘Revue des Deux Mondes,’ Feb. 1870, p. 682.

  257 Westwood, ‘Modern Class. of Insects,’ vol. ii. 1840, p. 87.

  258 ‘Proc. Zoolog. Soc.’ 1869, p. 4.

  259 ‘Evidence as to Man’s Place in Nature,’ 1863, p. 70, et passim.

  260 Isid. Geoffroy, ‘Hist. Nat. Gén.’ tom. ii. 1859, p. 217.

  261 “Ueber die Richtung der Haare,” &c., Müller’s ‘Archiv für Anat. und Phys.’ 1837, s. 51.

  262 On the hair in Hylobates, see ‘Nat. Hist. of Mammals,’ by C. L. Martin, 1841, p. 415. Also, Isid. Geoffroy on the American monkeys and other kinds, ‘Hist. Nat. Gén.’ vol. ii. 1859, p. 216, 243. Eschricht, ibid. s. 46, 55, 61. Owen, ‘Anat. of Vertebrates,’ vol. iii. p. 619. Wallace, ‘Contributions to the Theory of Natural Selection,’ 1870. p. 344.

  263 ‘Origin of Species,’ 5th edit. 1869, p. 194. ‘The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,’ vol. ii. 1868, p. 348.

  264 ‘An Introduction to the Classification of Animals,’ 1869, p. 99.

  265 This is nearly the same classification as that provisionally adopted by Mr. St. George Mivart (‘Transact. Philosoph. Soc.’ 1867, p. 300), who, after separating the Lemuridæ, divides the remainder of the Primates into the Hominidæ, the Simiadæ answering to the Catarhines, the Cebidæ, and the Hapalidæ,—these two latter groups answering to the Platyrhines.

  266 ‘Transact. Zoolog. Soc.’ vol. vi. 1867, p. 214.

  267 Mr. St. G. Mivart, ‘Transact. Phil. Soc.’ 1867, p. 410.

  268 Messrs. Murie and Mivart on the Lemuroidea. ‘Transact. Zoolog. Soc.’ vol. vii. 1869, p. 5.

  269 Häckel has come to this same conclusion. See ‘Ueber die Entstehung des Menschengeschlechts,’ in Virchow’s ‘Sammlung. gemein. wissen. Vorträge,’ 1868, s. 61. Also his ‘Natürliche Schöpfungsgeschichte,’ 1868, in which he gives in detail his views on the genealogy of man.

  270 ‘Anthropological Review,’ April, 1867, p. 236.

  271 ‘Elements of Geology,’ 1865, p. 583-585. ‘Antiquity of Man’, 1863; p. 145.

  272 ‘Man’s Place in Nature,’ p. 105.

  273 Elaborate tables are given in his ‘Generelle Morphologie’ (B. ii. s. cliii. and s. 425); and with more especial reference to man in his 'Natürliche Schöpfungsgeschichte,’ 1868. Prof. Huxley, in reviewing this latter work (‘The Academy,’ 1869, p. 42) says, that he considers the phylum or lines of descent of the Vertebrata to be admirably discussed by Häckel, although he differs on some points. He expresses, also, his high estimate of the value of the general tenor and spirit of the whole work.

  274 ‘Palæontology,’ 1860, p. 199.

  275 I had the satisfaction of seeing, at the Falkland Islands, in April, 1833, and therefore some years before any other naturalist, the locomotive larvæ of a compound Ascidian, closely allied to, but apparently generically distinct from, Synoicum. The tail was about five times as long as the oblong head, and terminated in a very fine filament. It was plainly divided, as sketched by me under a simple microscope, by transverse opaque partitions, which I presume represent the great cells figured by Kowalevsky. At an early stage of development the tail was closely coiled round the head of the larva.

  276 ‘Mémoires de l’Acad. des Sciences de St. Pétersbourg,’ tom. x. No. 15, 1866.

  277 This is the conclusion of one of the highest authorities in comparative anatomy, namely, Prof. Gegenbaur: ‘Grundzüge der vergleich. Anat.’ 1870, s. 876. The result has be
en arrived at chiefly from the study of the Amphibia; but it appears from the researches of Waldeyer (as quoted in Humphry’s ‘Journal of Anat. and Phys.’ 1869, p. 161), that the sexual organs of even “the higher vertebrata are, in their early condition, hermaphrodite.” Similar views have long been held by some authors, though until recently not well based.

  278 The male Thylacinus offers the best instance. Owen, ‘Anatomy of Vertebrates,’ vol. iii. p. 771.

  279 Serranus is well known often to be in an hermaphrodite condition; but Dr. Günther informs me that he is convinced that this is not its normal state. Descent from an ancient androgynous prototype would, however, naturally favour and explain, to a certain extent, the recurrence of this condition in these fishes.

  280 Mr. Lockwood believes (as quoted in ‘Quart. Journal of Science,’ April, 1868, p. 269), from what he has observed of the development of Hippocampus, that the walls of the abdominal pouch of the male in some way afford nourishment. On male fishes hatching the ova in their mouths, see a very interesting paper by Prof. Wyman, in ‘Proc. Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist.’ Sept. 15, 1857; also Prof. Turner, in ‘Journal of Anat. and Phys.’ Nov. 1, 1866, p. 78. Dr. Günther has likewise described similar cases.

  281 All vital functions tend to run their course in fixed and recurrent periods, and with tidal animals the periods would probably be lunar; for such animals must have been left dry or covered deep with water,—supplied with copious food or stinted,—during endless generations, at regular lunar intervals. If then the Vertebrata are descended from an animal allied to the existing tidal Ascidians, the mysterious fact, that with the higher and now terrestrial Vertebrata, not to mention other classes, many normal and abnormal vital processes run their course according to lunar periods, is rendered intelligible. A recurrent period, if approximately of the right duration, when once gained, would not, as far as we can judge, be liable to be changed; consequently it might be thus transmitted during almost any number of generations. This conclusion, if it could be proved sound, would be curious; for we should then see that the period of gestation in each mammal, and the hatching of each bird’s eggs, and many other vital processes, still betrayed the primordial birthplace of these animals.

  282 ‘History of India,’ 1841, vol. i. p. 323. Father Ripa makes exactly the same remark with respect to the Chinese.

  283 A vast number of measurements of Whites, Blacks, and Indians, are given in the ‘Investigations in the Military and Anthropolog. Statistics of American Soldiers,’ by B. A. Gould, 1869, p. 298-358; on the capacity of the lungs, p. 471. See also the numerous and valuable tables, by Dr. Weisbach, from the observations of Dr. Scherzer and Dr. Schwarz, in the ‘Reise der Novara: Anthropolog. Theil,’ 1867.

  284 See, for instance, Mr. Marshall’s account of the brain of a Bush-woman, in ‘Phil. Transact.’ 1864, p. 519.

  285 Wallace, ‘The Malay Archipelago,’ vol. ii. 1869, p. 178.

  286 With respect to the figures in the famous Egyptian caves of Abou-Simbel, M. Pouchet says (‘The Plurality of the Human Races,’ Eng. translat. 1864, p. 50), that he was far from finding recognisable representations of the dozen or more nations which some authors believe that they can recognise. Even some of the most strongly-marked races cannot be identified with that degree of unanimity which might have been expected from what has been written on the subject. Thus Messrs. Nott and Gliddon (‘Types of Mankind,’ p. 148) state that Rameses II., or the Great, has features superbly European; whereas Knox, another firm believer in the specific distinction of the races of man (‘Races of Man,’ 1850, p. 201), speaking of young Memnon (the same person with Rameses II., as I am informed by Mr. Birch) insists in the strongest manner that he is identical in character with the Jews of Antwerp. Again, whilst looking in the British Museum with two competent judges, officers of the establishment, at the statue of Amunoph III., we agreed that he had a strongly negro cast of features; but Messrs. Nott and Gliddon (ibid. p. 146, fig. 53) describe him as “a hybrid, but not of negro intermixture.”

  287 As quoted by Nott and Gliddon, ‘Types of Mankind,’ 1854, p. 439. They give also corroborative evidence; but C. Vogt thinks that the subject requires further investigation.

  288 “Diversity of Origin of the Human Races,” in the ‘Christian Examiner,’ July, 1850.

  289 ‘Transact. B. Soc. of Edinburgh,’ vol. xxii. 1861, p. 567.

  290 ‘On the Phenomena of Hybridity in the Genus Homo,’ Eng. translat. 1864.

  291 See the interesting letter by Mr. T. A. Murray, in the ‘Anthropolog. Review,’ April, 1868, p. liii. In this letter Count Strzelecki’s statement, that Australian women who have borne children to a white man are afterwards sterile with their own race, is disproved. M. A. de Quatrefages has also collected (‘Revue des Cours Scientifiques,’ March, 1869, p. 239) much evidence that Australians and Europeans are not sterile when crossed.

  292 ‘An Examination of Prof. Agassiz’s Sketch of the Nat. Provinces of the Animal World,’ Charleston, 1855, p. 44.

  293 ‘Military and Anthropolog. Statistics of American Soldiers,’ by B. A. Gould, 1869, p. 319.

  294 ‘The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,’ vol. ii. p. 109. I may here remind the reader that the sterility of species when crossed is not a specially-acquired quality; but, like the incapacity of certain trees to be grafted together, is incidental on other acquired differences. The nature of these differences is unknown, but they relate more especially to the reproductive system, and much less to external structure or to ordinary differences in constitution. One important element in the sterility of crossed species apparently lies in one or both having been long habituated to fixed conditions; for we know that changed conditions have a special influence on the reproductive system, and we have good reason to believe (as before remarked) that the fluctuating conditions of domestication tend to eliminate that sterility which is so general with species in a natural state when crossed. It has elsewhere been shewn by me (ibid. vol. ii. p. 185, and ‘Origin of Species,’ 5th edit. p. 317) that the sterility of crossed species has not been acquired through natural selection: we can see that when two forms have already been rendered very sterile, it is scarcely possible that their sterility should be augmented by the preservation or survival of the more and more sterile individuals; for as the sterility increases fewer and fewer offspring will be produced from which to breed, and at last only single individuals will be produced, at the rarest intervals. But there is even a higher grade of sterility than this. Both Gärtner and Kölreuter have proved that in genera of plants including numerous species, a series can be formed from species which when crossed yield fewer and fewer seeds, to species which never produce a single seed, but yet are affected by the pollen of the other species, for the germen swells. It is here manifestly impossible to select the more sterile individuals, which have already ceased to yield seeds; so that the acme of sterility, when the germen alone is affected, cannot be gained through selection. This acme, and no doubt the other grades of sterility, are the incidental results of certain unknown differences in the constitution of the reproductive system of the species which are crossed.

  295 ‘The Variation of Animals,’ &c., vol. ii. p. 92.

  296 M. de Quatrefages has given (‘Anthropolog. Review,’ Jan. 1869, p. 22) an interesting account of the success and energy of the Paulistas in Brazil, who are a much crossed race of Portuguese and Indians, with a mixture of the blood of other races.

  297 For instance with the aborigines of America and Australia. Prof. Huxley says (‘Transact. Internat. Congress of Prehist. Arch.’ 1868. p. 105) that the skulls of many South Germans and Swiss are “as short and as broad as those of the Tartars,” &c.

  298 See a good discussion on this subject in Waitz, ‘Introduct. to Anthropology,’ Eng. translat. 1863, p. 198-208, 227. I have taken some of the above statements from H. Tuttle’s ‘Origin and Antiquity of Physical Man,’ Boston, 1866, p. 35.

  299 Prof. Nägeli has carefully described several striking cases in
his 'Botanische Mittheilungen,’ B. ii. 1866, s. 294-369. Prof. Asa Gray has made analogous remarks on some intermediate forms in the Compositæ of N. America.

  300 ‘Origin of Species,’ 5th edit. p. 68.

  301 See Prof. Huxley to this effect in the ‘Fortnightly Review,’ 1865, p. 275.

  302 ‘Lectures on Man,’ Eng. translat. 1864, p. 468.

  303 ‘Die Racen des Schweines,’ 1860, s. 46. ‘Vorstudien für Geschichte, &c., Schweineschädel,’ 1864, s. 104. With respect to cattle, see M. de Quatrefages, ‘Unité de l’Espèce Humaine,’ 1861, p. 119.

  304 Tylor’s ‘Early History of Mankind,’ 1865; for the evidence with respect to gesture-language, see p. 54. Lubbock’s ‘Prehistoric Times,’ 2nd edit. 1869.

  305 ‘The Primitive Inhabitants of Scandinavia,’ Eng. translat. edited by Sir J. Lubbock, 1868, p. 104.

  306 Hodder M. Westropp, on Cromlechs, &c., ‘Journal of Ethnological Soc.’ as given in ‘Scientific Opinion,’ June 2nd. 1869, p. 3.