66 PRIMEVAL MAN. 



structure of the brutes. It diverges in the 

 direction of greater physical helplessness and 

 weakness. That is to say, it is a divergence 

 which of all others it is most impossible to 

 ascribe to mere "Natural Selection." The 

 unclothed and unprotected condition of the 

 human body, its comparative slowness of foot, 

 the absence of teeth adapted for prehension or 

 for defence, the same want of power for similar 

 purposes in the hands and fingers, the blunt- 

 ness of the sense of smell, such as to render 

 it useless for the detection of prey which is 

 concealed, — all these are features which stand 

 in strict and harmonious relation to the mental 

 powers of Man. But, apart from these, they 

 would place him at an immense disadvantage 

 in the struggle for existence. This, therelore, 



