150 THE DESCENT OF MAN. [Part I. 



of the body, the absence of great teeth or cla-w's for de- 

 fence, the little strength of man, his small speed in run- 

 ning, and his slight power of smell, by which to discover 

 food or to avoid danger. To these deficiencies there 

 might have been added the still more serious loss of the 

 power of quickly climbing trees, so as to escape from ene- 

 mies. Seeing that the unclothed Fuegians can exist under 

 their ■\\Tetchcd climate, the loss of hair would not have 

 been a great injury to primeval man, if he inhabited a 

 warm count^3^ When we compare defenceless man with 

 the apes, many of which are provided with formidable 

 canine teeth, we must remember that these in their fully- 

 developed condition are possessed by the males alone, 

 being chiefly used by them for fighting with their rivals ; 

 yet the females, which are not thus provided, are able to 

 survive. 



In regard to bodily size or strength, we do not know 

 whether man is descended from some comparatively small 

 species, like the chimpanzee, or from one as powerful as 

 the gorilla ; and, therefore, we cannot say whether man 

 has become larger and stronger, or smaller and weaker, 

 in comparison with his progenitors. We should, how- 

 ever, bear in mind that an animal possessing great size, 

 strength, and ferocity, and which, like the gorilla, could 

 defend itself from all enemies, would probably, though 

 not necessarily, have failed to become social ; and thi^ 

 would most eftectually have checked the acquirement by 

 man of his higher mental qualities, such as sympathy and 

 the love of his fellow-creatures. Hence it might have 

 been an immense advantage to man to have sprung from 

 some comparatively weak creature. 



The slight corporeal strength of man, his little speed, 

 his want of natural weapons, etc., are more than counter- 

 balanced, firstly by his intellectual powers, through which 

 he has, while still remaining in a barbarous state, formed 



