PRIMITIVE MAN- 307 



that he must have been a harmless and frugivorous 

 creature, fitted to subsist only in the mildest climates 

 and where exempt from the attacks of the more 

 powerful carnivorous animals. No one reasoning on 

 the purely physical constitution of man, could infer 

 that he might be a creature more powerful and 

 ferocious than the lion or the tiger. 



It is also worthy of mention that the existence of 

 primitive man as a savage hunter is, in another point 

 of view, absolutely opposed to the Darwinian idea of 

 his origin from a frugivorous ape. These creatures, 

 while comparatively inoffensive, conform to the general 

 law of lower animals in having strong jaws and power- 

 ful, canines for defence, hand -like feet to aid them in 

 securing food, and escaping from their enemies, and 

 hairy clothing to protect them from cold and heat. 

 On the hypothesis of evolution we might conceive 

 that if these creatures were placed in some Eden of 

 genial warmth, peace, and plenty, which rendered 

 those appliances unnecessary, they might gradually 

 lose these now valuable structures, from want of 

 necessity to use them. But, on the contrary, if sucli 

 creatures were obliged to contend against powerful 

 enemies, and to feed on flesh, all analogy would lead 

 us to believe that they would become in their struc- 

 tures more like carnivorous beasts than men. On 

 the other hand, the anthropoid apes, in the circum- 

 stances in which we find them, are not only as un- 

 progressive as other animals, but little fitted to extend 

 their range, and less gifted with the power of adapt- 



