575. i84 



599.9 



V. 



Human Evolution. 



I. — According to Mr. H. G. Wells. 



IVf R. WELLS' contribution to this discussion in the Fortnightly 

 ^^^ Review for October, 1896, though interesting, appears to me 

 more ingenious than convincing ; and his conclusion that " man is 

 still, mentally, morally, and physically, what he was during the later 

 Palaeolithic Period," may be attacked on both a priori and a posteriori 

 grounds. 



Mr. Wells' contrast of slowly-breeding mankind with quickly- 

 breeding rabbitkind is undeniable so far as it goes : but does it go very 

 far ? His argument depends on the assumption that the plasticity — the 

 tendency to variation — of mankind is no greater than that of rabbits ; 

 whereas, if the plasticity of man exceed that of the rabbit more than 

 the fertility of rabbits exceeds that of men, it is obvious that a large 

 part of Mr. Wells' argument vanishes at once. Now, I do not intend 

 to support this proposition ; but the onus of proof lies upon Mr. Wells, 

 and unless he can demonstrate the negative, he must abandon part of 

 his argument. 



As a matter of fact there is a large amount of evidence of 

 a general character that Mr. Wells will find it very awkward to 

 deal with ; for it is one of the fundamental positions of evolutionists 

 that domestication — deprival of natural habitat and natural environ- 

 ment — is one of the most powerful causes of variation. Darwin's 

 writings are full of evidence upon this point ; and it is well known to 

 experimenters that the first step in artificial selection is to cultivate 

 or domesticate a plant or animal, since the constitution of the species 

 is thereby so profoundly affected, its normal equilibrium is so much 

 disturbed, that marked varieties may be expected to arise ; and until, 

 varieties arise, selection, of course, cannot enter upon the scene. Now, 

 seeing that no animal has been so long or so completely removed from 

 natural conditions as man, we should a priori expect to find this species 

 more variable, and more unstable in constitution, than any other. 



Another potent cause of variation is cross-breeding. To this also 

 no animal has been so long and so thoroughly subjected as man — a 

 fact that renders Mr. Wells' case even weaker. But both the a priori- 



