TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION H. 891 



forces of nature he essays to supply by calling in the fyuiding influence of a 

 ' superior intelligence.' In defending this hypothesis from hostile criticism he ex- 

 plains that by ' superior intelligence ' he means some intelligence higher than the 

 ' modern cultivated mind,' somethins: intermediate between it and Deity. But as 

 this is a pure supposition, unsupported by any evidence, and merely a matter of 

 personal belief, it is unnecessary to discuss it further. I would just, en passant, asli 

 Mr. Wallace why he dispenses with this ' higher intelligence' in the early stages of 

 man's evolution, and finds its assistance only requisite to give the tinal touches to 

 humanity. 



In dealing with the detailed objections raised by Mr. Wallace against the theory 

 of natural selection as applied to man, we are, however, strictly within the sphere 

 of legitimate argument ; and evolutionists are fairly called upon to meet them. As- 

 his own theory is founded on the supposed failure of natural selection to explain 

 certain specified peculiarities in the life of man, it is clear that if these difficulties 

 can be removed, cadit qucestio. It is only one of his objections, however, that comes 

 within the scope of my present inquiry, viz., that which is founded on the 

 supposed ' surplusage ' of brain power in savage and prehistoric races. 



In comparing the brains of the anthropoid apes and man Mr. Wallace adopts 

 the following numbers to represent their proportional average capacities, viz., 

 anthropoid apes 10, savages 26, and civilised man 32 — numbers to which there can 

 be no objectioD, as they are based on data sufficiently accurate for the requirements 

 of this discussion. In commenting on the mental ability displayed in actual life 

 by the recipients of these various brains he states that savage man has 'in an un- 

 developed state faculties which he never requires to use,' and that his brain is much 

 beyond his actual requirements in daily life. He concludes his argument thus : — 

 ' We see, then, that whether we compare the savage with the higher developments 

 of man, or with the brutes around him, we are alike driven to the conclusion that 

 in his large and well-developed brain he possesses an organ quite disproportionate 

 to his actual requirements — an organ that seems prepared in advance, only to be 

 fully utilised as he progresses in civilisation. A brain one half larger than that of 

 the gorilla would, according to the evidence before us, fully have sufficed for the 

 limited mental development of the savage ; and we must therefore admit that the 

 large brain he actually possesses could never have been solely developed by any of 

 those laws of evolution whose essence is that they lead to a degree of organisation 

 exactly proportionate to the wants of each species, never beyond those wants ; 

 that no preparation can be made for the future development of the race ; that one 

 part of the body can never increase in size or complexity, except in strict co-ordina- 

 tion to the pressing wants of the whole. The brain of prehistoric and of savage 

 man seems to me to prove the existence of some power distinct from that which 

 has guided the development of the lower animals through their ever-varying forms 

 of being.' ^ 



With regard to the closing sentence of the above quotation, let me observe 

 that the cosmic forces, under which the lower animals have been produced by 

 means of natural selection, do not disclose, either in their individual or collective 

 capacity, any guiding power in the sense of a sentient influence, and I believe 

 that the ' distinct power ' which the author summons to his aid, apparently from 

 the 'vasty deep,' to account for the higher development of humanity is nothing 

 more than the gradually acquired product of the reasoning faculties themselves. 

 Not that, for this reason, it is to be reckoned less genuine and less powerful in it& 

 operations than if it had emanated from an outside source. The reasoning power- 

 displayed by man is virtually a higher intelligence, and, ever since its appearance 

 on the field of organic life, it has, to a certain extent, superseded the laws of 

 natural selection. Physical science has made us acquainted with the fact that two 

 or three simple bodies will sometimes combine chemically so as to produce a new 

 substance, having properties totally different from those of either constituents in a 

 state of disunion. Something analogous to this has taken place in the development 

 of man's capacity for reasoning by induction. Its primary elements, which are- 



> Natural Selection, ^c, 1891, p, 193. 



