168 NATURAL SELECTION ^ vnr 



fresh evidence to clear up those points which all admit to be 

 full of doubt, on other and not less obscure and difficult 

 questions a considerable amount of dogmatism is exhibited ; 

 doctrines are put forward as established truths, no doubt or 

 hesitation is admitted, and it seems to be supposed that no 

 further evidence is required, or that any new facts can 

 modify our convictions. This is especially the case when we 

 inquire, Are the various forms under which man now 

 exists primitive, or derived from pre-existing forms ; in 

 other words, is man of one or many species ? To this ques- 

 tion we immediately obtain distinct answers diametrically 

 opposed to each other : the one party positively maintaining 

 that man is a species and is essentially one that all differences 

 are but local and temporary variations, produced by the 

 different physical and moral conditions by which he is 

 surrounded ; the other party maintaining with equal con- 

 fidence that man is a genus of many species, each of which 

 is practically unchangeable, and has ever been as distinct, or 

 even more distinct, than we now behold them. This differ- 

 ence of opinion is somewhat remarkable, when we consider 

 that both parties are well acquainted with the subject ; both 

 use the same vast accumulation of facts ; both reject those 

 early traditions of mankind which profess to give an account 

 of his origin ; and both declare that they are seeking fear- 

 lessly after truth alone ; yet each will persist in looking only 

 at the portion of truth on his own side of the question, and at 

 the error which is mingled with his opponent's doctrine. It 

 is my wish to show how the two opposing views can be com- 

 bined, so as to eliminate the error and retain the truth in 

 each, and it is by means of Mr. Darwin's celebrated theory 

 of Natural Selection that I hope to do this, and thus to har- 

 monise the conflicting theories of modern anthropologists. 



Let us first see what each party has to say for itself. In 

 favour of the unity of mankind it is argued that there are 

 no races without transitions to others ; that every race 

 exhibits within itself variations of colour, of hair, of feature, 

 and of form, to such a degree as to bridge over, to a large 

 extent, the gap that separates it from other races. It is 

 asserted that no race is homogeneous ; that there is a tend- 

 ency to vary; that climate, food, and habits produce, and 



