G. GENERAL NATURAL HISTORY AND ZOOLOGY. 159 



hot, consequently involving the loss of his hairy covering, 

 and he is supposed to have lived upon fruits. The period of 

 divergence of man from the monkey stock is thought by Mr. 

 Darwin to have been as remote as that of the eocene ; and at 

 a time still more recent he supposes him to have been cover- 

 ed with hair, both sexes to have had beards, ears pointed and 

 capable of movement, and tails having the proper muscles. 

 The foot is supposed to have been prehensile at that time, 

 judging from the position of the great toe in the fetus, and 

 resting-places were probably occupied by him in trees, like 

 those of many apes of the present day. The males are sup- 

 posed by him to have been provided with great canine teeth, 

 serving as formidable weapons. 



After presenting a summary of Mr. Darwin's views, as un- 

 derstood by Mr. Wallace in the article referred to, the latter 

 writer proceeds to take exceptions to some points enumera- 

 ted, as derived from his own extended observations in the 

 line of scientific research, but finally concludes his notice by 

 conceding that Mr. Darwin has all but demonstrated the' or- 

 igin of man by descent from some inferior form, that he has 

 proved the vast importance of sexual influences in modifying 

 the characters of the more highly organized animals, and that 

 he has thrown fresh light upon the mode of development of 

 the moral and intellectual nature of man. 



In giving the views of Mr. Darwin as condensed by Mr. 

 Wallace, we of course are not to be considered as indorsing 

 them as having been accepted by the scientific world. The 

 work itself, in its immense array of facts, or, at least, of state- 

 ments, and in the logical precision with which they are ar- 

 rayed and brought up, either to form a hypothesis or sustain 

 it, is a store-house of information and a masterpiece of reason- 

 ing ; and though the general inferences may not be accepted 

 and adopted, there is no doubt that it will exercise a very 

 powerful influence upon the science of the day. It may be 

 stated, however, that the doctrine of evolution, which forms 

 so important a feature in Mr. Darwin's views, apart from 

 that of natural selection, is accepted to a very great extent 

 by a large proportion of the leading naturalists of the day, 

 and that their number is constantly increasing. 13 A, 1871, 

 177. 



