THE 



POPULAR SCIEI^CE 

 MOITTHLY. 



OCTOBER, 1888. 



THE RELATION OF THE SEXES TO GOVERNMENT. 



By Prof. EDWAED D. COPE. 



AS is well known, tlie diversity of sex is of very ancient origin. 

 - It appeared in the history of life before the rise of any but 

 the most rudimental mentality, and has at various points in the 

 line of development of living things displayed itself in the most 

 pronounced manner. Great peculiarities of sex structure are wit- 

 nessed in the higher forms of life, as in birds and mammalia. The 

 greatest peculiarity of mental sex character can only be seen where 

 mind is most developed — that is, in man. 



From what we know of sexual as compared with non-sexual 

 reproduction, the advent of the former marked an important ad- 

 vance in the possibilities of progress. Reproduction by gemma- 

 tion in non-sexual forms, and parthenogenesis in sexual animals, 

 have a different result from sexual reproduction. In the former 

 the characters of the single parent are reproduced with great 

 fidelity. The cultivator who wishes to keep his stock true, uses 

 buds and cuttings. On the other hand, seedlings are variable ; 

 because the offspring of two sexes inherit twice as many elements 

 of difference as those of a single sex. Another great gain was 

 secured in the development of a male sex. Being free from the 

 disabilities imposed by maternity, the male could acquire a greater 

 mastery over his environment than the female. His time would 

 be less occupied, and his opportunity for physical exertion greater, 

 and he could and would take a more active part in the struggle 

 for existence. Hence, of the two sexes the male became the 

 fighter and the provider, and necessarily, from the increasing 

 muscular strength acquired in this more active life, the master 

 of the two. He, therefore, became more specialized in some re- 

 spects, particularly in those necessary to success in his various 

 VOL. XXXIII. — 46 



