252 DARWINISM STATED BY DARWIN HIMSELF. 



Although savages are now extremely licentious, and 

 although communal marriages may formerly have largely 

 prevailed, yet many tribes practice some form of mar- 

 riage, but of a far more lax nature than that of civilized 

 nations. Polygamy, as just stated, is almost universally 

 followed by the leading men in every tribe. Neverthe- 

 less, there are tribes, standing almost at the bottom of 

 the scale, which are strictly monogamous. This is the 

 case with the Veddahs of Ceylon ; they have a saying, 

 according to Sir J. Lubbock, that "death alone can sepa- 

 rate husband and wife." An intelligent Kandyan chief, 

 of course a polygamist, " was perfectly scandalized at the 

 utter barbarism of living with only one wife, and never 

 parting until separated by death." It was, he said, "just 

 like the Wanderoo monkeys." Whether savages who now 

 enter into some form of marriage, either polygamous or 

 monogamous, have retained this habit from primeval 

 times, or whether they have returned to some form of 

 marriage, after passing through a stage of promiscuous 

 intercourse, I will not pretend to conjecture. 



UNNATURAL SELECTION IN MAREIAGE. 



Descent Man scans with scrupulous care the char- 



of Man, acter and pedigree of his horses, cattle, and 

 page ' dogs before he matches them ; but, when he 

 comes to his own marriage, he rarely or never takes any 

 such care. He is impelled by nearly the same motives as 

 the lower animals, when they are left to their own free 

 choice, though he is in so far superior to them that he 

 highly values mental charms and virtues. On the other 

 hand, he is strongly attracted by mere wealth or rank. 

 Yet he might by selection do something not only for the 

 bodily constitution and frame of his offspring, but for 



