THE DESCENT OF MAN 

 Charles Darwin 



[Concluding chapter of "The Descent of Man," New 

 York, D. Appleton & Co.] 



A brief summary will be sufficient to recall 

 to the reader's mind the more salient points 

 in this work. Many of the views which have 

 been advanced are highly speculative, and 

 some, no doubt, will prove erroneous; but I 

 have in every case given the reasons which 

 have led me to one view rather than to another. 

 It seemed worth while to try how far the prin- 

 ciple of evolution would throw light on some 

 of the more complex problems in the natural 

 history of man. False facts are highly injurious 

 to the progress of science, for they often endure 

 long; but false views, if supported by some 

 evidence, do little harm, for every one takes a 

 salutary pleasure in proving their falseness; 

 and, when this is done, one path toward error 

 is closed and the road to truth is often at the 

 same time opened. 



The main conclusion arrived at in this work, 

 and now held by many naturalists who are 

 well competent to form a sound judgment, is 

 that man is descended from some less highly 

 organized form. The grounds upon which this 

 conclusion rests will never be shaken, for the 

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