THE RACES OF MAN. 173 



It is however possible, though far more probable, that the 

 early progenitors of man might formerly have diverged much In 

 character, until they became more unlike each other than any 

 now existing races; but that subsequently, as suggested by 

 Vogt,^^ they converged in character. When man selects the off- 

 spring of two distinct species for the same object, he sometimes 

 induces a considerable amount of convergence, as far as general 

 appearance is concerned. This is the case, as shown by' Von Nath- 

 usius,^" with the improved breeds of the pig, which are descend- 

 ed from two distinct species; and in a less marked manner with 

 the improved breeds of cattle. A great anatomist, Gratiolet, 

 maintains that the anthropomorphous apes do not form a natural 

 sub-group; but that the orang is a highly developed gibbon or 

 semnoplthecus, the chimpanzee a highly developed macacus, and 

 the gorilla a highly developed mandrill. If this conclusion, 

 which rests almost exclusively on brain-characters, be admitted, 

 we should have a case of convergence at least in external char- 

 acters, for the anthropomorphous apes are certainly more like 

 each other in many points, than they are to other apes. All 

 analogical resemblances, as of a whale to a fish, may indeed be 

 said to be cases of convergence; but this term has never been ap- 

 plied to superficial and adaptive resemblances. It would, how- 

 ever, be extremely rash to attribute to convergence close similar- 

 ity of character in many points of structure amongst the modified 

 descendants of widely distinct beings. The form of a crystal is 

 determined solely by the molecular forces, and It is not surprising 

 that dissimilar substances should sometimes assume the same 

 form; but with organic beings we should bear in mind that the 

 form of each depends on an infinity of complex relations, namely 

 on variations, due to causes far too intricate to be followed, — 

 on the nature of the variations preserved, these depending on the 

 physical conditions, and still more on the surrounding organisms 

 which compete with each, — and lastly, on inheritance (in itself a 

 fluctuating element) from innumerable progenitors, all of which 

 have had their forms determined through equally complex rela- 

 tions. It appears incredible that the modified descendants of two 

 organisms, if these differed from each other in a marked manner, 

 should ever afterwards converge so closely as to lead to a near 

 approach to identity throughout their whole organization. In 

 the case of the convergent races of pigs above referred to, evi- 

 dence of their descent from two primitive stocks is, according to 

 Von Nathusius, still plainly retained, in certain bones of their 



22 'Lectures on Man,' Bng-. translat. 1864, p. 468. 



23 'Die Racen des Schweines,' 1860, s. 46. 'Vorstudien fur Gesohiohte, 

 &c., Schweineschadel,' 1864, d. 104. With respect to cattle, see M. de 

 Quatrefages, 'Unite de I'Espece Humaine,' 1861, p. US. 



