40 MAN [CHAP. VIII 



Letter 408 writes : " In the brain of the lowest savages, and, as far as we know, 

 of the prehistoric races, we have an organ . . . little inferior in size and 

 complexity to that of the highest types. . . . But the mental require- 

 ments of the lowest savages, such as the Australians or the Andaman 

 Islanders, are very little above those of many animals. . . . How, then, 

 was an organ developed so far beyond the needs of its possessor? 

 Natural Selection could only have endowed the savage with a brain 

 a little superior to that of an ape, whereas he actually possesses one 

 but very little inferior to that of the average members of our learned 

 societies." This passage is marked in Mr. Darwin's copy with a triply 

 underlined "No," and with a shower of notes of exclamation. It was 

 probably the first occasion on which he realised the extent of this great 

 and striking divergence in opinion between himself and his colleague. 

 He had, however, some indication of it in Wallace's paper on 

 Man, Anthropological Review, 1864. (See Letter 406.) He wrote 

 to Lyell, May 4th, 1869, " I was dreadfully disappointed about Man ; it 

 seems to me incredibly strange." And to Mr. Wallace, April I4th, 1869, 

 " If you had not told me, I should have thought that [your remarks on 

 Man] had been added by some one else. As you expected, I differ 

 grievously from you, and I am very sorry for it." 



Letter 409 To T. H. Huxley. 



Down, Thursday, Feb. 2ist [1868-70?]. 



I received the Jermyn Street programme, but have hardly 

 yet considered it, for I was all day on the sofa on Tuesday 

 and Wednesday. Bad though I was, I thought with constant 

 pleasure of your very great kindness in offering to read the 

 proofs of my essay on man. I do not know whether I said 

 anything which might have appeared like a hint, but I assure 

 you that such a thought had never even momentarily passed 

 through my mind. Your offer has just made all the differ- 

 ence, that I can now write, whether or no my essay is ever 

 printed, with a feeling of satisfaction instead of vague dread. 



Beg my colleague, Mrs. Huxley, not to forget the 

 corrugator supercilii : it will not be easy to catch the exact 

 moment when the child is on the point of crying, and is 

 struggling against the wrinkling up [of] its little eyes ; for 

 then I should expect the corrugator, from being little under 

 the command of the will, would come into play in checking 

 or stopping the wrinkling. An explosion of tears would tell 

 nothing. 



