130 THE DESCENT OF MAN. 



Nomadic habits, whether over wide plains, or through the dense 

 forests of the tropics, or along the shores of the sea, have in 

 every case been highly detrimental. Whilst observing the bar- 

 barous inhabitants of Tierra del Puego, it struck me that the pos- 

 session ot some property, a fixed abode, and the union of many 

 families under a chief, were the indispensable requisites for civil- 

 ization. Such habits almost necessitate the cultivation of the 

 ground; and the first steps in cultivation would probably result, 

 as I have elsewhere shown,' from some such accident as the seeds 

 of a fruit-tree falling on a heap of refuse, and producing an un- 

 usually fine variety. The problem, however, of the first advance 

 of savages towards civilization is at present much too diflBcult to 

 be solved. 



Natural Selection as affecting Cimilized Nations. — I have hither- 

 to only considered the advancement of man from a semi-human 

 condition to that of the modern savage. But some remarks on 

 the action of natural selection on civilized nations may be worth 

 adding. This subject has been ably discussed by Mr. W. R. 

 Greg,' and previously by Mr. Wallace and Mr. Galton." Most 

 of my remarks are taken from these three authors. With sav- 

 ages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated; and those 

 that survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health. We 

 civilized men, on the other hand, do our utmost to check the 

 process of elimination; we build asylums for the Imbecile, the 

 maimed, and the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical 

 men exert their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the 

 last moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has 

 preserved thousands, who from a weak constitution would for- 

 merly have succumbed to small-pox. Thus the weak members of 

 civilized societies propagate their kind. No one who has attended 

 to the breeding of domestic animals will doubt that this must 

 be highly injurious to the race of man. It is surprising how soon 

 a want of care, or care wrongly directed, leads to the degenera- 



s 'The "Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,' vol. i. 

 p. 309. 



» 'Fraser's Magazine," Sept. 1868, p. 353. This article seems to have 

 strucli; many persons, and has given rise to two remarkable essays, 

 and a rejoinder in the 'Spectator,' Oct. 3rd and 17th, 1868. It has also 

 been discussed in the 'Q. Journal of Science,' 1869, p. 152, and by Mr. 

 Jjawson Tait in the 'Dublin Q. Journal of MedicaJ Science,' Feb. 1869, 

 and by Mr. E. Ray Lankester in his 'Comparative Longevity,' 1870, p. 

 128. Similar views appeared previously m the 'Australasian,' July 13, 

 1867. I have borrowed ideas from several of these writers. 



11 For Mr. Wallace, see 'Anthropolog. Review,' as before cited. Mr. 

 Galton in 'Macmillan's Magazine,' Aug. 1865, p. 318; also his great work, 

 'Hereditary Genius,' 1870. 



