INTELLECTUAL EVOLUTION 329 



only such as would enable him to assimilate what facts his nation 

 had learnt by experience, and which survived through tradition 

 or written record. Each tribe, to hold its own against rivals, 

 would have occasionally to produce a genius who would advance 

 a little in knowledge beyond the stage already attained. But 

 in order to accomplish this, he need not be a greater intellect 

 than others who preceded him. In fact, a new path of progress 

 having been opened up, progress through accumulation of know- 

 ledge, would not the old path be deserted in favour of the new ? 

 In reflecting on this, we cannot help recalling how much a 

 son of savage parents may learn when put under European in- 

 structors. 



Weismann's essay on The Musical Sense puts the case with The 

 telling force. Many animals have the nice discrimination of 

 tones that is required in a great musician, and many have voice 

 power enough to make fine vocalists. But yet they are not 

 fine musicians. In the same way a man may have a fine musical 

 ear and a fine voice, and yet, having had no training, he may be 

 capable of nothing that is worthy of the name of singing. Music 

 is, in fact, an art and has to be learnt like other arts. The vocal 

 chords are a musical instrument and he who would sing must 

 learn his instrument, just as an intending violinist must learn his. 

 I am often struck by the utterly uncouth noises that proceed 

 from English throats, when contrasted with the music of which 

 many of them are capable with the help of proper training. 

 And, no doubt, before they had emerged from savagery men's 

 sense of hearing and their voices had been perfected sufficiently 

 for the production, with the help of instruction, of splendid . 

 music. Is it not possible, then, that the brain long ago, having 

 reached a standard high enough to assimilate the knowledge 

 accumulated and make slight additions to it, ceased to develop 

 further ? 



To illustrate this we may take the human hand and consider The hand 

 its past and its possible future. In long ages it has become a 

 splendid grasping instrument ; the thumb instead of being in a 

 line with the fingers has become opposable to them. But no 

 further improvement is likely, since whenever the hand fails to 



