Chap. II.] MENTAL POWERS. 51 



while thus employed, would have been a serious incon- 

 venience. As all the higher mammals possess vocal or- 

 gans constructed on the same general plan with ours, and 

 which are used as a means of communication", it was ob- 

 viously probable, if the power of communication had to 

 be improved, that these same organs would have been 

 still further developed ; and this has been effected by the 

 aid of adjoining and well-adapted parts, namely, the 

 tongue and lips. 40 The fact of the higher apes not using 

 their vocal organs for speech, no doubt depends on their 

 intelligence not having been sufficiently advanced. The 

 possession by them of organs, which with long-continued 

 practice might have been used for speech, although not 

 thus used, is paralleled by the case of many birds which 

 possess organs fitted for singing, though they never sing. 

 Thus, the nightingale and crow have vocal organs simi- 

 larly constructed, these being used by the former for di- 

 versified song, and by the latter merely for croaking. 41 



The formation of different Ian om ages and of distinct 

 species, and the proofs that both have been developed 

 through a gradual process, are curiously the same. 42 But 

 we can trace the origin of many words further back than 

 in the case of species, for we can perceive that they have 

 arisen from the imitation of various sounds, as in allitera- 

 tive poetry. We find in distinct languages striking ho- 



40 See some good remarks to this effect by Dr. Maudsley, ' The 

 Physiology and Pathology of Mind,' 1868, p. 199. 



41 Macgillivray, 'Hist, of British Birds,' vol. ii. 1839, p. 29. An ex. 

 cellent observer, Mr. Blackwall, remarks that the magpie learns to pro 

 nounce single words, and even short sentences, more readily than almosl 

 any other British bird ; yet, as he adds, after long and closely investigat 

 ing its habits, he has never known it, in a state of nature, display any 

 unusual capacity for imitation. 'Researches in Zoology,' 1834, p. 158. 



42 See the very interesting parallelism between the development of 

 species and languages, given by Sir C. Lyell, in ' The Geolog. Evidences 

 of the Antiquity of Man,' 1863, chap, xxiii. 



