^00 THE DESCENT OF MAN, 



a rank. Now if we reflect on the weighty arguments above 

 given, for raising the races of man to the dignity of species, 

 and the insuperable difficulties on the other side in defining 

 them, it seems that the term ^^ sub-species" might here be 

 used with propriety. But from long habit the term '^ race " 

 will perhaps always be employed. The choice of terms is 

 only so far important in that it is desirable to use, as far as 

 possible, the same terms for the same degrees of difference. 

 Unfortunately this can rarely be done; for the larger genera 

 generally include closely-allied forms, which can be distin- 

 guished only with much difficulty, while the smaller genera 

 within the same family include forms that are perfectly dis- 

 tinct; yet all must be ranked equally as species. So again, 

 species within the same large genus by no means resemble 

 each other to the same degree; on the contrary, some of 

 them can generally be arranged in little groups round other 

 species, like satellites round planets.* 



The question whether mankind consists of one or sev- 

 eral species has of late years been much discussed by anthro- 

 pologists, who are divided into the two schools of monogen- 

 ists and polygenists. Those who do not admit the prin- 

 ciple of evolution must look at species as separate creations, 

 or as in some manner as distinct entities; and they must 

 decide what forms of man they will consider as species by the 

 analogy of the method commonly pursued in ranking other 

 organic beings as species. But it is a hopeless endeavor to 

 decide this point, until some definition of the term 

 *' species "is generally accepted; and the definition must 

 not include an intermediate element such as an act of 

 creation. We might as well attempt without any definition 

 to decide whether a certain number of houses should be 

 called a village, town or city. We have a practical illus- 

 tration of the difficulty in the never-ending doubts whether 

 many closely-allied mammals, birds, insects and plants, which 

 represent each other respectively in North America and 

 Europe, should be ranked as species or geographical races; 

 and the like holds true of the productions of many islands 

 situated at some little distance from the nearest continent. 



Those naturalists, on the other hand, who admit the 

 principle of evolution, and this is now admitted by the 



*** Origin of Species," 5th edit. p. 68. 



