308 FOSSIL MEN. 



Is it a consequence of a fixed instinct, like that of the 

 bee and beaver ? Is it merely the effect of the action 

 of similar powers and wants on similar resources ; or, 

 to put it in the other way, of similar surroundings on 

 tendencies and powers in the main similar ? 



Views of one or other of these kinds have floated 

 before the minds of writers on the subject, either 

 singly or in combination of two or more of them. 

 Nor are they inconsistent with one another. Primi- 

 tive instincts and tendencies implanted in man at the 

 first may have tended to develop themselves along 

 certain lines among all peoples, and the influence of 

 surrounding circumstances and means may have been 

 in the main similar, though with subordinate differ- 

 ences of detail. These have been the material or 

 terrestrial causes of the unity with diversity which 

 characterises our species, and to these we have only 

 to add such spiritual influences from without as may 

 have acted directly on man's soul either for good 

 or evil, and such new thoughts and purposes as may 

 have been struck out from the interaction of human 

 minds, or by the appearance of men of rare and ex- 

 ceptional powers. 



Looking thus upon the current of human affairs, 

 two great truths are apparent. First, unity of result 

 from the influence of all these complicated causes 

 upon human nature implies to the naturalist unity of 

 origin and genetic affiliation, just as surely as if the 

 perfect genealogical tree of the human race from its 

 origin were in our hands. Second, the earliest arts, 



