Chap. VI. AFFINITIES AND GENEALOGY. 185 



CHAPTEE VI. 



On the Affinities axd Genealogy of Man. 



Position of man in the animal series — The natural system genea- 

 logical — Adaptive characters of slight value — Various small 

 points of resemblance between man and the Quadrumana — 

 Rank of man in the natural system — Birthplace and antiquity 

 of man — Absence of fossil connecting-links — Lower stages in 

 the genealogy of man, as inferred, firstly from his affinities and 

 secondly from his structure — Early androgynous condition of 

 the Vertebrata — Conclusion. 



Even if it be granted that the difference between man 

 and his nearest allies is as great in corporeal structure as 

 some naturalists maintain, and although we must grant 

 that the difference between them is immense in mental 

 power, yet the facts given in the previous chapters 

 declare, as it appears to me, in the plainest manner, 

 that man is descended from some lower form, notwith- 

 standing that connecting-links have not hitherto been 

 discovered. 



Man is liable to numerous, slight, and diversified 

 variations, which are induced by the same general 

 causes, are governed and transmitted in accordance 

 with the same general laws, as in the lower animals. 

 Man tends to multiply at so rapid a rate that his off- 

 spring are necessarily exposed to a struggle for existence, 

 and consequently to natural selection. He has given 

 rise to many races, some of which are so different that 

 they have often been ranked by naturalists as distinct 

 species. His body is constructed on the same homo- 

 logical plan as that of other mammals, independently 

 of the uses to which the several parts may be put. He 



