Chap. VI. AFFINITIES AND GENEALOGY. 195 



perhaps claim a distinct Sub-order or Family. Prof. 

 Huxley, in liis last work, 10 divides the Primates into 

 three Sub-orders ; namely, the Anthropidae with man 

 alone, the Simiadse including monkeys of all kinds, and 

 the Lemuridaa with the diversified genera of lemurs. As 

 far as differences in certain important points of structure 

 are concerned, man may no doubt rightly claim the 

 rank of a Sub-order ; and this rank is too low, if we look 

 chiefly to his mental faculties. Nevertheless, under a 

 genealogical point of view it appears that this rank is 

 too high, and that man ought to form merely a Family, 

 or possibly even only a Sub-family. If we imagine 

 three lines of descent proceeding from a common source, 

 it is quite conceivable that two of them might after 

 the lapse of ages be so slightly changed as still to 

 remain as species of the same genus ; whilst the third 

 line might become so greatly modified as to deserve 

 to rank as a distinct Sab-family, Family, or even 

 Order. But in this case it is almost certain that 

 the third line would still retain through inheritance 

 numerous small points of resemblance with the other 

 two lines. Here then would occur the difficulty, at 

 present insoluble, how much weight we ought to assign 

 in our classifications to strongly-marked differences in 

 some few points, — that is to the amount of modification 

 undergone ; and how much to close resemblance in 

 numerous unimportant points, as indicating the lines of 

 descent or genealogy. The former alternative is the 

 most obvious, and perhaps the safest, though the latter 

 appears the most correct as giving a truly natural 

 classification. 



To form a judgment on this head, with reference 

 to man we must glance at the classification of the 



10 ' An Introduction to the Classification of Animals,' 1869, p. 99. 



o 2 



