Me 



Jhap. XIX. Mental power* of Man and Woman. 563 



There can be little doubt that the greater size and strength of 

 man, in comparison with woman, together with his broader 

 shoulders, more developed muscles, rugged outline of body, his 

 greater courage and pugnacity, are all due in chief part to in- 

 heritance from his half-human male ancestors. These characters 

 would, however, have been preserved or even augmented during 

 the long ages of man's savagery, by the success of the strongest 

 and boldest men, both in the general struggle for life and in 

 their contests for wives ; a success which would have ensured 

 their leaving a more numerous progeny than their less favoured 

 brethren. It is not probable that the greater strength of man 

 was primarily acquired through the inherited effects of his 

 having worked harder than woman for his own subsistence 

 and that of his family ; for the women in all barbarous nations 

 are compelled to work at least as hard as the men. With 

 civilised people the arbitrament of battle for the possession of 

 the women has long ceased ; on the other hand, the men, as a 

 general rule, have to work harder than the women for their 

 joint subsistence, and thus their greater strength will have been 

 kept up. 



Difference in the Mental Powers of the two Sexes. — "With respect 

 to differences of this nature between man and woman, it is 

 probable that sexual selection has played a highly important 

 part. I am aware that some writers doubt whether there is any 

 such inherent difference ; but this is at least probable from the 

 analogy of the lower animals which present other secondary 

 sexual characters. No one disputes that the bull differs in 

 disposition from the cow, the wild-boar from the sow, the 

 stallion from the mare, and, as is well known to the keepers of 

 menageries, the males of the larger apes from the females. 

 Woman seems to differ from man in mental disposition, chiefly 

 in her greater tenderness and less selfishness; and this holds 

 good even with savages, as shewn by a well-known passage in 

 Mungo Park's Travels, and by statements made by many other 

 travellers. Woman, owing to her maternal instincts, displays 

 these qualities towards her infants in an eminent degree ; there- 

 fore it is likely that she would often extend them towards her 

 fellow- creatures. Man is the rival of other men; he delights 

 in competition, and this leads to ambition which passes too 

 easily into selfishness. These latter qualities seem to be his 

 natural and unfortunate birthright. It is generally admitted 

 that with woman the powers of intuition, of rapid perception, 

 and perhaps of imitation, are more strongly marked than in 

 man; but some, at least, of these faculties are characteristic 



