450 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST; [Vol. VI. 



what Mr. Darwin calls " sexual selection," as an actual fact ; and 

 in the case of man it is undeniable that such a kind of selection 

 must have existed, whilst it is almost certain that it must have 

 played some important part in the development of the species. 

 It is one thing to admit this; but it is quite another thing to 

 admit that any of the peculiarities which separate man from the 

 brutes are due to this cause. Few will be disposed to deny the 

 existence of selection, both natural and sexual, amongst mankind, 

 but many will be disposed to doubt if any adequate ground has 

 as yet been advanced for the belief that man's distinctive charac- 

 ters have been acquired in consequence of the action of either of 

 these causes. In the case of sexual selection, with which alone 

 we are dealing at present, Mr. Darwin himself admits the weak- 

 ness of his case, as regards man ; and does not hesitate to candidly 

 confess that his views on this subject " want scientific precision." 

 We shall endeavour to show, not only that this is the case, but 

 that some important elements in settling this question have been 

 altogether overlooked ; whilst we must fully recognize the ability 

 with which Mr. Darwin supports his views, and the vast research 

 which characterises all his observations on this and kindred topics. 



Mr. Darwin begins by pointing out the chief physical differ- 

 ences which distinguish the man from the woman; and he indi- 

 cates that " as with animals of all classes, so with man, the dis- 

 tinctive characters of the male sex are not fully developed until 

 he is nearly mature; and if emasculated they never appear." It 

 follows from this — as, indeed e^'ery one will admit — that some of 

 the characters of the male, as his possession of a beard and his 

 bass voice, are characters clearly connected with his relations 

 with the other sex ; so that if these relations be disturbed or 

 abolished, they do not appear. A still more striking fact, point- 

 ing in the same direction, and showing how certain apparently 

 trivial characters are in both sexes connected with the function 

 of reproduction, is the not uncommon growth of hair to a greater 

 or less extent upon the face of women in whom the reproductive 

 functions have naturally ceased to be active. 



A curious consideration, however, arises here. If we take the 

 case of a male who has been emasculated in early life, we find 

 that, more or less perfectly, he retains throughout life some of 

 the characters of his boyhood, which are also common to the 

 female, such as smoothness of skin, a beardless face, and a treble 

 voice. Are we^ however, on this account to conclude that we 



