346 THE LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION 



hairy, which is not clone in this case. The hairy family 

 in Birmah have, indeed, hair on the back rather longer 

 than on the breast, thus reproducing the true mam- 

 malian character, but they have still longer hair on the 

 face, forehead, and inside the ears, which is quite ab- 

 normal ; and the fact that their teeth are all very im- 

 perfect, shows that this is a case of monstrosity rather 

 than one of true reversion to the ancestral type of man 

 before he lost his hairy covering. 



Savage Man feels the Want of this Hairy Covering. 



We must now enquire if we have any evidence to 

 show, or any reason to believe, that a hairy covering to 

 the back would be in any degree hurtful to savage 

 man, or to man in any stage of his progress from his 

 lower animal form ; and if it were merely useless, could 

 it have been so entirely and completely removed as not 

 to be continually reappearing in mixed races ? Let 

 us look to savage man for some light on these points. 

 One of the most common habits of savages is to use 

 some covering for the back and shoulders, even when 

 they have none on any other part of the body. The 

 early voyagers observed with surprise, that the Tas- 

 manians, both men and women, wore the kangaroo- 

 skin, which was their only covering, not from any 

 feeling of modesty, but over the shoulders to keep the 

 back dry and warm. A cloth over the shoulders was 

 also the national dress of the Maories. The Patago- 

 nians wear a cloak or mantle over the shoulders, and 

 the Fuegians often wear a small piece of skin on the 



