114 " The Descent of Man" 



Darwin's great characteristic of never publishing till he had carefully 

 weighed all aspects of his subject for years, solely, in short, his most 

 fastidious scientific conscience that restrained him from challenging 

 the world in 1859 with a book in which the theory of the descent 

 of man was fully set forth. Three years, frequently interrupted 

 by ill-health, were needed for the actual writing of the book 1 : the 

 first edition, which appeared in 1871, was followed in 1874 by a much 

 improved second edition, the preparation of which he very reluctantly 

 undertook 2 . 



This, briefly, is the history of the work, which, with the Origin 

 of Species, marks an epoch in the history of biological sciences— the 

 work with which the cautious, peace-loving investigator ventured 

 forth from his contemplative life into the arena of strife and unrest, 

 and laid himself open to all the annoyances that deep-rooted belief 

 and prejudice, and the prevailing tendency of scientific thought at 

 the time could devise. 



Darwin did not take this step lightly. Of great interest in this 

 connection is a letter written to Wallace on Dec. 22, 1857 3 , in which 

 he says, " You ask whether I shall discuss ' man.' I think I shall avoid 

 the whole subject, as so surrounded with prejudices ; though I fully 

 admit that it is the highest and most interesting problem for the 

 naturalist." But his conscientiousness compelled him to state briefly 

 his opinion on the subject in the Origin of Species in 1859. Never- 

 theless he did not escape reproaches for having been so reticent. 

 This is unmistakably apparent from a letter to Fritz Miiller dated 

 Feb. 22 [1869?], in which he says: "I am thinking of writing a little 

 essay on the Origin of Mankind, as I have been taunted with con- 

 cealing my opinions 4 ." 



It might be thought that Darwin behaved thus hesitatingly, and 

 was so slow in deciding on the full publication of his collected 

 material in regard to the descent of man, because he had religious 

 difficulties to overcome. 



But this was not the case, as we can see from his admirable 

 confession of faith, the publication of which we owe to his son 

 Francis 5 . Whoever wishes really to understand the lofty character 

 of this great man should read these immortal lines in which he unfolds 

 to us in simple and straightforward words the development of his 

 conception of the universe. He describes how, though he was still 

 quite orthodox during his voyage round the world on board the 

 Beagle, he came gradually to see, shortly afterwards (1836 — 1839) 

 that the Old Testament was no more to be trusted than the Sacred 



1 Life and Letters, Vol. i. p. 94. 2 Ibid. Vol. in. p. 175. 



» Ibid. Vol. n. p. 109. 4 Ibid. Vol. in. p. 112. 



8 Ibid. Vol. i. pp. 304—317. 



