CIVIL TZED NtL TIONS. 3 51 



T.iorra del Fuego, it struck me that the possession of some 

 property, a fixed abode, and the union of many families under 

 a chief, were the indispensable requisites for civilization. 

 Such habits almost necessitate the cultivation of the ground: 

 and the first steps in cultivation would probably result, as 

 I have elsewhere shown,* from, some such accident as the 

 seeds of a fruit-tree falling on a heap of refuse, and pro- 

 lucing an unusually fine variety. The problem, however, 

 of the first advance of savages toward civilization is at pres- 

 ent much too difficult to be solved. 



Natural Selection as Affecting Civilized Nations. I have 

 hitherto only considered* the advancement of man from a 

 semi-human condition to that of the modern savage. But 

 some remarks on the action of natural selection on civilized 

 nations may be worth adding. This subject has been ably 

 discussed by Mr. W. R. Greg,f and previously by Mr. Wal- 

 lace and Mr. Gal ton. J Most of my remarks are taken from 

 these three authors. With savages, the weak in body or 

 mind are soon eliminated; and those that survive commonly 

 exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilized men, on 

 the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elim- 

 ination; we build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed, 

 and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men 

 exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the 

 last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination 

 has preserved thousands, who from a weak constitution 

 would formerly have succumbed to small-pox. Thus the 

 weak members of civilized societies propagate their kind. 

 No one who has attended to the breeding of domestic ani- 



* " The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication," 

 rol. i, p. 309. 



f " Eraser's Magazine," Sept., 1868, p. 353. Tliis article seems to 

 have struck many persons, and has given rise to two remarkable 

 essays and a rejoinder in the "Spectator," Oct. 3 and 17. 18G8. It 

 has also been discussed in the " Q. Journal of Science," 1869, p. 152, 

 and by Mr. Lawson Tait in the " Dublin Q. Journal of Medical 

 Science," Feb., 1369, and by Mr. E. Bay Lankester in his "Com- 

 parative Longevity," 1870. p. 128. Similar views appeared pre- 

 viously in the " Australasian," July 13, 1867. I have borrowed ideas 

 from several of these writers. 



J For Mr. Wallace, see " Anthropolog. Review," as before cited. 

 Mr. Gallon in " Macinillan's Magazine." Aug., 1865, p. 318; also liis 

 great work, "Hereditary Genius," 1870. 



