178 MR. DARWIN’S CRITICS v 
tolerably advanced society. And, in such a society, 
there are abundant conditions by which a selective 
influence is exerted in favour of those persons wh > 
exhibit an approximation towards the possession 
of these capacities. : 
The savage who can amuse his fellows by telling” 
a good story over the nightly fire, is held by them 
in esteem and rewarded, in one way or another, 
for so doing—in other words, it is an advantage to 
him to possess this power. He who can carve a 
paddle, or the figure-head of a canoe better, 
similarly profits beyond his duller neighbour. He 
who counts a little better than others, gets mo st 
yams when barter is going on, and forms the 
shrewdest estimate of the numbers of an opposing 
tribe. The experience of daily life shows that the 
conditions of our present social existence exercise 
the most extraordinarily powerful selectiveinfluence 
in favour of novelists, artists, and strong intellects 
of all kinds ; and it seems unquestionable that all 
forms of social existence must have had the § 
tendency, if we consider the indisputable facts that 
even animals possess the power of distinguishing 
form and number, and that they are capable 
deriving pleasure from particular forms and 
sounds. If we admit, as Mr. Wallace does, that— 
the lowest savages are not raised “many grades 3 
above the elephant and the ape;” and if we- 
further admit, as I contend must be admitted, that 
the conditions of social life tend, powerfully, to 
