CiiAP. XIX. MUSICAL POWERS. c3 ^ 



human progenitors of man, during the season of court- 

 ship, when animals of all kinds are excited by the 

 strongest passions. In this case, from the deeply-laid 

 principle of inherited associations, musical tones would 

 be likely to excite in us, in a vague and indefinite man- 

 ner, the strong emotions of a long-past age. Bearing in 

 mind that the males of some quadrumanous animals 

 have their vocal organs much more developed than in 

 the females, and that one anthropomorphous species 

 pours forth a whole octave of musical notes and may be 

 said to sing, the suspicion does not appear improbable 

 that the progenitors of man, either the males or females, 

 or both sexes, before they had acquired the power 

 of expressiug their mutual love in articulate language, 

 endeavoured to charm each other with musical notes 

 and rhvthm. So little is known about the use of the 

 voice by the Qiiadrumana during the season of love, that 

 we have hardly any means of judging whether the habit 

 of singing was first acquired by the male or female 

 progenitors of mankind. Women are generally thought 

 to possess sweeter voices than men, and as far as this 

 serves as any guide we may infer that they first acquired 

 musical powers in order to attract the other sex.^^ But 

 if so, this must have occurred long ago, before the pro- 

 genitors of man had become sufficiently human to treat 

 and value their women merely as useful slaves. The 

 impassioned orator, bard, or musician, when with his 

 varied tones and cadences he excites the stronoest 

 emotions in his hearers, little suspects that he uses the 

 same means by which, at an extremely remote period, 

 his half-human ancestors aroused each other's ardent 

 passions, during their mutual courtship and rivalry. 



3" See an interesting discussion on this subject by Hackel, ' Geuerelle 

 Morpb.' B. ii. 1866, s. 246. 



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