BUFFO N FULLER QUOTATIONS, 157 



man " his body, limbs, senses, brain and tongue are the 

 same as ours. He can execute whatever movements 

 man can execute ; yet he can neither think nor speak, 

 nor do any action of a distinctly human character. Is 

 this merely through want of training? or may it not be 

 through wrong comparison on our own parts? We 

 compare the wild ape in the woods to the civilized citi- 

 zen of our great towns. No wonder the ape shows to 

 disadvantage. He should be compared with the hideous 

 Hottentot rather, who is himself almost as much above 

 the lowest man, as the lowest man is above the Orang- 

 outang." * 



The passage is a much stronger one than I have 

 thought it fit to quote. The reader can refer to it for 

 himself. After reading it I entertain no further doubt 

 that Buffon intended to convey the impression that 

 men and apes are descended from common ancestors. 

 He was not, however, going to avow this conclusion 

 openly. 



" I admit," he continues, " that if we go by mere struc- 

 ture the ape might be taken for a variety of the human 

 race; the Creator did not choose to model mankind 

 upon an entirely distinct system from the other animals : 

 He comprised their form and man's under a plan which 

 is in the main uniform." t Buffon then dwells upon the 

 possession of a soul by man ; " even the lowest crea- 

 ture," he avers, " which had this, would have become 

 man's rival." 



" The ape then is purely an animal, far from being a 

 variety of our own species, he does not even come first in 

 * Tom. xiv. p. 31, 1766. f Ibid. p. 32, 1766. 



