THE LAWS OF SPEECH. 207 



of man, \ve reply, Quis negavit ? Only those ignorant of what evolu- 

 tion implies, could for a moment credit the upholders of that explana- 

 tion of the origin of man with holding such an opinion. What is more 

 to the purpose, is the task of investigating the question whether 

 or not there may be such likenesses between primitive tongues 

 and between the mental states of the lowest sane men, insane 

 or idiotic men, and of brutes, as to warrant the belief that 

 allowing for steps in the transition, now indistinct or absent, the 

 higher phases of mind and language have been evolved from the 

 instincts and emotions of lower life. The arguments drawn from 

 what we observe at present in lower life, and from what we see in 

 lower human existence to-day, are eloquent in their support of the 

 belief, that it is easier to assume such a development of language, 

 than to assent to its supernatural and occult origin. Nor does a full 

 consideration of human existence in its various phases militate 

 against the evolutionist's views. Take, for instance, the extended 

 period of human infancy, as compared with that of other animals, 

 in its influences upon the development of the higher intellectual 

 powers of man, the importance of such a consideration being specially 

 insisted upon by Mr. Fiske. Says this author : " The increase 

 of intelligence in complexity and specialty involves a lengthening 

 of the period during which the nervous connections involved 

 in ordinary adjustments are becoming organised ; . . . the fact 

 remains undeniable, that while the nervous connections accom- 

 panying a simple intelligence are already organised at birth, the 

 nervous connections accompanying a complex intelligence are chiefly 

 organised after birth." And again : " This period, which only begins 

 to exist when the intelligence is considerably complex, becomes 

 longer and longer as the intelligence increases in complexity. In the 

 human race it is much longer than in any other race of mammals, 

 and it is much longer in the civilised man than in the savage. Indeed, 

 among the educated classes of civilised society its average duration 

 may be said to be rather more than a quarter of a century, since 

 during all this time those who live by brain- work are simply 

 acquiring the capacity to do so, and are usually supported upon the 

 products of parental labour." 



Thus mankind, entering upon a long period of infancy, claims 

 time for the formation of new habits of brain, new combinations 

 of nervous acts. Whatever may be thought of this idea in its 

 application to other phases of human evolution, there can be no 

 doubt that its influence has been most marked in inducing the 

 growth of new mental powers in man. It is in some such soil, and 

 surrounded by some such conditions favourable to the growth of new 

 ideas, that the germs of language may be reasonably supposed to 

 have first made their appearance. The real difficulty attending the 



