FIFTH DAY'S SITTINC. 97 



common to man with the lower animals." I might object 

 to statements he makes regarding " the emotions, curiosity, 

 imitation, memory," &c., but we had better proceed at once 

 to what he refers to as points in which man is supposed to 

 differ essentially from all other animals. 



Lord G. "Will Mr. Darwin mention what these points 

 are ? 



Darwin. " It has been asserted," my Lord, " that man 

 alone is capable of progressive improvement ; that he alone 

 makes use of tools or fire ; domesticates other animals ; 

 possesses property, or employs language ; that no other 

 animal is self-conscious, comprehends itself, has the power 

 of abstraction, or possesses general ideas ; that man alone 

 has a sense of beauty, is liable to caprice, has the feeling of 

 gratitude, mystery, &c. ; believes in God, or is endowed 

 with a conscience. I will hazard a few remarks on the 

 more important and interesting of these points. Archbishop 

 Sumner formerly maintained that man alone is capable of 

 progressive improvement." (Vol. i. p. 49.) 



Homo. It is clear, my Lord, that by "progressive im- 

 provement," the Archbishop meant indefinite progressive 

 improvement. He meant that man has gone on advancing, 

 as Mr. Darwin himself admits, from the earliest dawn of his 

 existence until now ; and that there is apparently no limit 

 to his capacity for advancement. Man alone inherits, and 

 is able to use, the accumulated knowledge of the past, and 

 to transmit it augmented to the future. 



Lord C. Precisely so ; Mr. Darwin himself cannot doubt 

 this. 



Darwin. My Lord, " every one who has had experience 

 in setting traps, knows that young animals can be caught 

 more easily than old ones ; and they can be much more 

 easily approached by an enemy. Even with respect to old 



