Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- INTRODUCTION
- PART I ON THE DESCENT OF MAN
- CHAPTER I THE EVIDENCE OF THE DESCENT OF MAN FEOM SOME LOWER FORM
- CHAPTER II COMPARISON OF THE MENTAL POWERS OF MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS
- CHAPTER III COMPARISON OF THE MENTAL POWERS OF MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMAL—continued
- CHAPTER IV ON THE MANNER OF DEVELOPMENT OF MAN FROM SOME LOWER FORM
- CHAPTER V ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL FACULTIES DURING PRIMEVAL AND CIVILISED TIMES
- CHAPTER VI ON THE AFFINITIES AND GENEALOGY OF MAN
- CHAPTER VII ON THE RACES OF MAN
- PART II SEXUAL SELECTION
CHAPTER IV - ON THE MANNER OF DEVELOPMENT OF MAN FROM SOME LOWER FORM
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 August 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- INTRODUCTION
- PART I ON THE DESCENT OF MAN
- CHAPTER I THE EVIDENCE OF THE DESCENT OF MAN FEOM SOME LOWER FORM
- CHAPTER II COMPARISON OF THE MENTAL POWERS OF MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS
- CHAPTER III COMPARISON OF THE MENTAL POWERS OF MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMAL—continued
- CHAPTER IV ON THE MANNER OF DEVELOPMENT OF MAN FROM SOME LOWER FORM
- CHAPTER V ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL FACULTIES DURING PRIMEVAL AND CIVILISED TIMES
- CHAPTER VI ON THE AFFINITIES AND GENEALOGY OF MAN
- CHAPTER VII ON THE RACES OF MAN
- PART II SEXUAL SELECTION
Summary
We have seen in the first chapter that the homological structure of man, his embryological development and the rudiments which he still retains, all declare in the plainest manner that he is descended from some lower form. The possession of exalted mental powers is no insuperable objection to this conclusion. In order that an ape-like creature should have been transformed into man, it is necessary that this early form, as well as many successive links, should all have varied in mind and body. It is impossible to obtain direct evidence on this head; but if it can be shewn that man now varies—that his variations are induced by the same general causes, and obey the same general laws, as in the case of the lower animals—there can be little doubt that the preceding intermediate links varied in a like manner. The variations at each successive stage of descent must, also, have been in some manner accumulated and fixed.
The facts and conclusions to be given in this chapter relate almost exclusively to the probable means by which the transformation of man has been effected, as far as his bodily structure is concerned. The following chapter will be devoted to the development of his intellectual and moral faculties. But the present discussion likewise bears on the origin of the different races or species of mankind, whichever term may be preferred.
It is manifest that man is now subject to much variability.
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- The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex , pp. 107 - 157Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009First published in: 1871