36 THOUGHTS UPON THE MUSICAL SENSE [X. 



species has been largely increased since the days of primitive 

 man. Intelligence is man's chief weapon, — a weapon which 

 must have been as important for his existence as physical 

 qualities, and this too even in the most primitive times. Think, 

 for instance, of a race that depends solely upon the products 

 of the chase. In such a case, not only are keen senses and 

 bodily strength and endurance essential for the existence of 

 the individual, but he also needs intelligence, cunning, and 

 astuteness in hunting game ; boldness and the gift of working 

 in combination in conquering enemies ; wise foresight in pre- 

 venting starvation during unfavourable seasons. Any improve- 

 ment in these qualities must have given the possessor a greater 

 chance of survival and of leaving offspring. Hence these 

 beneficial attributes would be slowly intensified in the course 

 of generations : the average degree of intelligence would con- 

 tinue to increase so long as the difference between life and 

 death, between failure and success in begetting offspring, was 

 dete-rmined by its means. 



There can be no reason why this gradual increase in the 

 human intellect should not be going on at the present day : it 

 would at least be difficult to bring forward conclusive argu- 

 ments against such an opinion. It must be granted that, 

 even under the conditions imposed by modern civilization, the 

 highly intelligent man, in any calling, has, ceteris paribus^ more 

 chance of founding a family than one with less intelligence. 

 If this be true, although only when large numbers are con- 

 sidered, it must also follow that the average of very many 

 cases would show that the mental power of man is increasing, 

 although very gradually. It is quite true that we fail to detect 

 any historical evidence of this progress, when, for instance, we 

 compare the Greek and Latin poets and philosophers with 

 those of our own day. But this fact does not conflict with the 

 argument, for the leading nations of the present day are not 

 descended from the ancient Greeks. The development of 

 mankind does not proceed along a straight road, but a very 

 interrupted one. The intellectual achievements of the ancient 

 Greeks did not pass into their descendants, but into the 

 Romano-germanic nations, and these only received the intel- 

 lectual achievement, and not the intellectual power. It is also 

 to be noted that an increase in the intelligence of mankind may 



