170 THE DESCENT OF MAN. [Fart I. 



but every one must have known instances of men, who 

 with weak health during youth did not marry, and yet have 

 survived to old age, though remaining weak and there- 

 fore always with a lessened chance of life. There is anoth- 

 er remarkable circumstance which seems to support Dr. 

 Stark's conclusion, namely, that widows and widowers in 

 France suffer in comparison with the married a very heavy 

 rate of mortality ; but Dr. Farr attributes this to the pov- 

 erty and evil habits consequent on the disruption of the 

 family, and to grief. On the whole we may conclude with 

 Dr. Farr that the lesser mortality of married than of un- 

 married men, which seems to be a general law, " is mainly 

 due to the constant elimination of imperfect types, and to 

 the skilful selection of the finest individuals out of each 

 successive generation ; " the selection relating only to the 

 marriage state, and acting on all corporeal, intellect ual, 

 and moral qualities. We may, therefore, infer that sound 

 and good men who out of prudence remain for a time un- 

 married do not suffer a high rate of mortality. 



If the various checks specified in the two last paragraphs, 

 and perhaps others as yet unknown, do not prevent the reck- 

 less, the vicious, and otherwise inferior members of society 

 from increasing at a quicker rate than the better class of 

 men, the nation will retrograde, as has occurred too often 

 in the history of the world. "We must remember that prog- 

 ress is no invariable rule. It is most difficult to say why one 

 civilized nation rises, becomes more powerful, and spreads 

 more widely, than another; or why the same nation pro- 

 gresses more at one time than at another. We can only say 

 that it depends on an increase in the actual number of the 

 population, on the number of the men endowed with high in- 

 tellectual and moral faculties, as well as on their standard 

 of excellence. Corporeal structure, except so far as vigor of 

 body leads to vigor of mind, appears to have little influence. 



It has been urged by several writers that as high in- 



