Chap. VII. THE EACES OF MAN. 235 



languages, some philologists have inferred that when 

 man first became widely diffused he was not a speaking 

 animal; but it may be suspected that languages, far 

 less perfect than any now spoken, aided by gestures, 

 might have been used, and yet have left no traces 

 on subsequent and more highly-developed tongues. 

 Without the use of some language, however imperfect, 

 it appears doubtful whether man's intellect could have 

 risen to the standard implied by his dominant position 

 at an early period. 



Whether primeval man, when he possessed very few 

 arts of the rudest kind, and when his power of language 

 was extremely imperfect, would have deserved to be 

 called man, must depend on the definition which we 

 employ. In a series of forms graduating insensibly 

 from some ape-like creature to man as he now exists, 

 it would be impossible to fix on any definite point when 

 the term " man " ought to be used. But this is a matter 

 of very little importance. So again it is almost a 

 matter of indifference whether the so-called races of 

 man are thus designated, or are ranked as species 

 or sub-species; but the latter term appears the most 

 appropriate. Finally, we may conclude that when 

 the principles of evolution are generally accepted, as 

 they surely will be before long, the dispute between the 

 monogenists and the polygenists will die a silent and 

 unobserved death. 



One other question ought not to be passed over 

 without notice, namely, whether, as is sometimes 

 assumed, each sub-species or race of man has sprung 

 from a single pair of progenitors. With our domestic 

 animals a new race can readily be formed from a single 

 pair possessing some new character, or even from a 

 single individual thus characterised, by carefully match- 



