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in the malesā€”Examplesā€”Not due to the direct action of the conditions of lifeā€”Colours adapted for protectionā€”Colours of mothsā€”Displayā€”Perceptive powers of the Lepidopteraā€”Variabilityā€” Causes of the difference in colour between the males and femalesā€”Mimicry, female butterflies more brilliantly coloured than the malesā€”Bright colours of caterpillarsā€”Summary and concluding remarks on the secondary sexual character of insectsā€”Birds and insects compared. CHAPTER XII.

Secondary Sexual Characters of Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles.

Fishes: Courtship and battles of the malesā€”Larger size of the femalesā€” Males, bright colours and ornamental appendages; other strange charactersā€” Colours and appendages acquired by the males during the breeding-season aloneā€”Fishes with both sexes brilliantly colouredā€”Protective coloursā€”The less conspicuous colours of the female cannot be accounted for on the principle of protectionā€”Male fishes building nests, and taking charge of the ova and young. AMPHIBIANS: Differences in structure and colour between the sexesā€”Vocal organs. REPTILES: Cheloniansā€”Crocodilesā€” Snakes, colours in some cases protectiveā€”Lizards, battles ofā€”Ornamental appendagesā€”Strange differences in structure between the sexesā€”Coloursā€” Sexual differences almost as great as with birds.

CHAPTER XIII.

Secondary Sexual Characters of Birds.

Sexual differencesā€”Law of battleā€”Special weaponsā€”Vocal organsā€” Instrumental musicā€”Love-antics and dancesā€”Decorations, permanent and seasonalā€”Double and single annual moultsā€”Display of ornaments by the males.

CHAPTER XIV.

Birdsā€”continued.

Choice exerted by the femaleā€”Length of courtshipā€”Unpaired birdsā€”Mental qualities and taste for the beautifulā€”Preference or antipathy shewn by the female for particular malesā€”Variability of birdsā€”Variations sometimes abruptā€”Laws of variationā€”Formation of ocelliā€”Gradations of characterā€” Case of Peacock, Argus pheasant, and Urosticte.

CHAPTER XV.

Birdsā€”continued.

Discussion as to why the males alone of some species, and both sexes of others are brightly colouredā€”On sexually-limited inheritance, as applied to various structures and to brightly-coloured plumageā€”Nidification in relation to colourā€”Loss of nuptial plumage during the winter.

CHAPTER XVI.

Birdsā€”concluded.

The immature plumage in relation to the character of the plumage in both sexes when adultā€”Six classes of casesā€”Sexual differences between the males of closely-allied or representative speciesā€”The female assuming the characters of the maleā€”Plumage of the young in relation to the summer and winter plumage of the adultsā€”On the increase of beauty in the birds of the worldā€”Protective colouringā€”Conspicuously coloured birdsā€”Novelty appreciatedā€”Summary of the four chapters on birds.

CHAPTER XVII.

Secondary Sexual Characters of Mammals.

The law of battleā€”Special weapons, confined to the malesā€”Cause of absence of weapons in the femaleā€”Weapons common to both sexes, yet primarily acquired by the maleā€”Other uses of such weaponsā€”Their high importanceā€” Greater size of the maleā€”Means of defenceā€”On the preference shewn by either sex in the pairing of quadrupeds.

CHAPTER XVIII.

Secondary Sexual Characters of Mammalsā€”continued.

Voiceā€”Remarkable sexual peculiarities in sealsā€”Odourā€”Development of the hairā€”Colour of the hair and skinā€”Anomalous case of the female being more ornamented than the maleā€”Colour and ornaments due to sexual selectionā€” Colour acquired for the sake of protectionā€”Colour, though common to both sexes, often due to sexual selectionā€”On the disappearance of spots and stripes in adult quadrupedsā€”On the colours and ornaments of the Quadrumanaā€”Summary.

PART III. SEXUAL SELECTION IN RELATION TO MAN, AND CONCLUSION. CHAPTER XIX.

Secondary Sexual Characters of Man.

Differences between man and womanā€”Causes of such differences, and of certain characters common to both sexesā€”Law of battleā€”Differences in mental powers, and voiceā€”On the influence of beauty in determining the marriages of mankindā€”Attention paid by savages to ornamentsā€”Their ideas of beauty in womenā€”The tendency to exaggerate each natural peculiarity.

CHAPTER XX.

Secondary Sexual Characters of Manā€”continued.

On the effects of the continued selection of women according to a different standard of beauty in each raceā€”On the causes which interfere with sexual selection in civilised and savage nationsā€”Conditions favourable to sexual selection during primeval timesā€”On the manner of action of sexual selection with mankindā€”On the women in savage tribes having some power to choose their husbandsā€”Absence of hair on the body, and development of the beardā€”Colour of the skinā€”Summary.

CHAPTER XXI.

General Summary and Conclusion.

Main conclusion that man is descended from some lower formā€”Manner of developmentā€”Genealogy of manā€”Intellectual and moral facultiesā€”Sexual selectionā€”Concluding remarks.

SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE. INDEX.

THE DESCENT OF MAN; AND SELECTION IN RELATION TO SEX.

...

INTRODUCTION.

The nature of the following work will be best understood by a brief account of how it came to be written. During many years I collected notes on the origin or descent of man, without any intention of publishing on the subject, but rather with the determination not to publish, as I thought that I should thus only add to the prejudices against my views. It seemed to me sufficient to indicate, in the first edition of my ā€˜Origin of Species,ā€™ that by this work ā€œlight would be thrown on the origin of man and his history;ā€ and this implies that man must be included with other organic beings in any general conclusion respecting his manner of appearance on this earth. Now the case wears a wholly different aspect. When a naturalist like Carl Vogt ventures to say in his address as President of the National Institution of Geneva (1869), ā€œpersonne, en Europe au moins, nā€™ose plus soutenir la creation independante et de toutes pieces, des especes,ā€ it is manifest that at least a large number of naturalists must admit that species are the modified descendants of other species; and this especially holds good with the younger and rising naturalists. The greater number accept the agency of natural selection; though some urge, whether with justice the future must decide, that I have greatly overrated its importance. Of the older and honoured chiefs in natural science, many unfortunately are still opposed to evolution in every form.

In consequence of the views now adopted by most naturalists, and which will ultimately, as in every other case, be followed by others who are not scientific, I have been led to put together my notes, so as to see how far the general conclusions arrived at in my former works were applicable to man. This seemed all the more desirable, as I had never deliberately applied these views to a species taken singly. When we confine our attention to any one form, we are deprived of the weighty arguments derived from the nature of the affinities which connect together whole groups of organismsā€”their geographical distribution in past and present times, and their geological succession. The homological structure, embryological development, and rudimentary organs of a species remain to be considered, whether it be man or any other animal, to which our attention may be directed; but these great classes of facts afford, as it appears to me, ample and conclusive evidence in favour of the principle of gradual evolution. The strong support derived from the other arguments should, however, always be kept before the mind.

The sole object of this work is to consider, firstly, whether man, like every other species, is descended from some pre-existing form; secondly, the manner of his development; and thirdly, the value of the differences between the so-called races of man. As I shall confine myself to these points, it will not be necessary to describe in detail the differences between the several racesā€”an enormous subject which has been fully described in many valuable works. The high antiquity of man has recently been demonstrated by the labours of a host of eminent men, beginning with M. Boucher de Perthes; and this is the indispensable basis for understanding his origin. I shall, therefore, take this conclusion for granted, and may refer my readers to the admirable treatises of Sir Charles Lyell, Sir John Lubbock, and others. Nor shall I have occasion to do more than to allude to the amount of difference between man and the anthropomorphous apes; for Prof. Huxley, in the opinion of most competent judges, has conclusively shewn that in every visible character man differs less from the higher apes, than these do from the lower members of the same order of Primates.

This work contains hardly any original facts in regard to man; but as the conclusions at which I arrived, after drawing up a rough draft, appeared to me interesting, I thought that they might interest others. It has often and confidently been asserted, that manā€™s origin can never be known: but ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science. The conclusion that man is the co-descendant with other species of some ancient, lower, and extinct form, is not in any degree new. Lamarck long ago came to this conclusion, which has lately been maintained by several eminent naturalists and philosophers; for instance, by Wallace, Huxley, Lyell, Vogt, Lubbock, Buchner, Rolle, etc. (1. As the works of the first- named authors are so well known, I need not give the titles; but as those of the latter are less well known in England, I will give them:ā€”ā€˜Sechs Vorlesungen uber die Darwinā€™sche Theorie:ā€™ zweite Auflage, 1868, von Dr L. Buchner; translated into French under the title ā€˜Conferences sur la Theorie Darwinienne,ā€™ 1869. ā€˜Der Mensch im Lichte der Darwinā€™sche Lehre,ā€™ 1865, von Dr. F. Rolle. I will not attempt to give references to all the authors who have taken the same side of the question. Thus G. Canestrini has published (ā€˜Annuario della Soc. d. Nat.,ā€™ Modena, 1867, page 81) a very curious paper on rudimentary characters, as bearing on the origin of man. Another work has (1869) been published by Dr. Francesco Barrago, bearing in Italian the title of ā€œMan, made in the image of God, was also made in the image of the ape.ā€), and especially by Haeckel. This last naturalist, besides his great work, ā€˜Generelle Morphologieā€™ (1866), has recently (1868, with a second edition in 1870), published his ā€˜Naturliche Schopfungsgeschichte,ā€™ in which he fully discusses the genealogy of man. If this work had appeared before my essay had been written, I should probably never have completed it. Almost all the conclusions at which I have arrived I find confirmed by this naturalist, whose knowledge on many points is much fuller than mine. Wherever I have added any fact or view from Prof. Haeckelā€™s writings, I give his authority in the text; other statements I leave as they originally stood in my manuscript, occasionally giving in the foot-notes references to his works, as a confirmation of the more doubtful or interesting points.

During many years it has seemed to me highly probable that sexual selection has played an important part in differentiating the races of man; but in my ā€˜Origin of Speciesā€™ (first edition, page 199) I contented myself by merely alluding to this belief. When I came to apply this view to man, I found it indispensable to treat the whole subject in full detail. (2. Prof. Haeckel was the only author who, at the time when this work first appeared, had discussed the subject of sexual selection, and had seen its full importance, since the publication of the ā€˜Originā€™; and this he did in a very able manner in his various works.) Consequently the second part of the present work, treating of sexual selection, has extended to an inordinate length, compared with the first part; but this could not be avoided.

I had intended adding to the present volumes an essay on the expression of the various emotions by man and the lower animals. My attention was called to this subject many years ago by Sir Charles Bellā€™s admirable work. This illustrious anatomist maintains that man is endowed with certain muscles solely for the sake of expressing his emotions. As this view is obviously opposed to the belief that man is descended from some other and lower form, it was necessary for me to consider it. I likewise wished to ascertain how far the emotions are expressed in the same manner by

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