386 GENERAL SUMMARY [Part II. 



struo-crle. Otherwise he would soon sink into indolence, 

 and the more highly-gifted men would not be more suc- 

 cessful in the battle of life 'than the less gifted. Hence 

 our natural rate of increase, though leading to many and 

 obvious evils, must not be greatly diminished by any 

 means. There should be open competition for all men ; 

 and the most able should not be prevented by laws or cus- 

 toms from succeeding best and rearing the largest number 

 of offspring. Important as the struggle for existence has 

 been and even still is, yet as far as the highest part of 

 man's nature is concerned there are other agencies more 

 important. For the moral qualities are advanced, either 

 directly or indirectly, much more through the effects of 

 habit, the reasoning powers, instruction, religion, etc., than 

 through natural selection ; though to this latter agency 

 the social instincts, which afforded the basis for the devel- 

 opment of the moral sense, may be safely attributed. 



The main conclusion arrived at in this work, namely, 

 that man is descended from some lowly-organized form, 

 will, I regret to think, be highly distasteful to many per- 

 sons. But there can hardly be a doubt that we are de- 

 scended from barbarians. The astonishment which I felt 

 on first seeing a party of Fuegians on a wild and broken 

 shore will never be forgotten by me, for the reflection at 

 once rushed into my mind — such were our ancestors. 

 These men were absolutely naked and bedaubed with 

 paint, their long hair was tangled, their mouths frothed 

 with excitement, and their expression was wild, startled, 

 and distrustful. They possessed hardly any arts, and, like 

 wild animals, lived on what they could catch ; they had no 

 government, and were merciless to every one not of their 

 own small tribe. He who has seen a savage in his native 

 land will not feel much shame, if forced to acknowledge 

 that the blood of some more humble creature flows in his 



