156 THE DESCENT OF MAN. Part I. 



" the structure of brutes, in the direction of greater 

 <( physical helplessness and weakness. That is to say, 

 " it is a divergence which of all others it is most 

 " impossible to ascribe to mere natural selection." He 

 adduces the naked and unprotected state of the body, 

 the absence of great teeth or claws for defence, the 

 little strength of man, his small speed in running, and 

 his slight power of smell, by which to discover food or 

 to avoid danger. To these deficiencies there might 

 have been added the still more serious loss of the power 

 of quickly climbing trees, so as to escape from enemies. 

 Seeing that the unclothed Fuegians can exist under 

 their wretched, climate, the loss of hair would not 

 have been a great injury to primeval man, if he inha- 

 bited a warm country. When we compare defenceless 

 man with the apes, many of which are provided with 

 formidable canine teeth, w r e must remember that these 

 in their fully-developed condition are possessed by the 

 males alone, being chiefly used by them for fighting 

 with their rivals ; yet the females which are not thus 

 provided, are able to survive. 



In regard to bodily size or strength, we do not know 

 whether man is descended from some comparatively 

 small species, like the chimpanzee, or from one as 

 powerful as the gorilla ; and, therefore, we cannot say 

 whether man has become larger and stronger, or smaller 

 and weaker, in comparison with his progenitors. We 

 should, however, bear in mind that an animal possessing 

 great size, strength, and ferocity, and which, like the 

 gorilla, could defend itself from all enemies, would 

 probably, though not necessarily, have failed to become 

 social ; and this would most effectually have checked 

 the acquirement by man of his higher mental quali- 

 ties, such as sympathy and the love of his fellow- 

 creatures. Hence it might have been an immense 



