142 THE DESCENT OP MAN. 



CHAPTER VI. 



ON THE AFFINITIES AND GENEALOGY OF MAN. 



Position of man in the animal series— The natural system genealogical 

 —Adaptive characters of slight value— Various small points of re- 

 semblance between man and the Quadrumana— Rank of man in the 

 natural system — Birthplace and antiquity of man— Absence of fossil 

 connecting-links — Lower stages in the genealogy of man, as in- 

 ferred, firstly from his affinities and secondly from his structure- 

 Early androgynous condition of the Vertebrata— Conclusion. 



Even if it be granted that the difference between man and his 

 nearest allies is as great in corporeal structure as some natu- 

 ralists maintain, and although v/e must grant that the difference 

 between them is immense in mental power, yet the facts given in 

 the earlier chapters appear to declare, in the plainest manner, 

 that man is descended from some lower form, notwithstanding 

 that connecting links have not hitherto been discovered. 



Man is liable to numerous, slight, and diversified variations, 

 which are induced by the same general causes, are governed 

 and transmitted in accordance with the same general laws, as in 

 the lower animals. Man has multiplied so rapidly, that he has 

 necessarily been exposed to struggle for existence, and con- 

 sequently to natural selection. He has given rise to many races, 

 some of which differ so much from each other, that they have 

 often t)een ranked by naturalists as distinct species. His body 

 is constructed on the same homological plan as that of other 

 mammals. He passes through the same phases of embryological 

 development. He retains many rudimentary and useless struc- 

 tures, which no doubt were once serviceable. Characters occa- 

 sionally make their re-appearance in him, which we have reason 

 to believe were possessed by his early progenitors. If the origin 

 of man has been wholly different from that of all other animals, 

 these various appearances would be mere empty deceptions; 

 but such an admission is incredible. These appearances, on the 

 other hand, are intelligible, at least to a large extent, if man 

 is the co-descendant with other mammals of some unknown and 

 lower form. 



Some naturalists, from being deeply impressed with the mental 



