346 THE LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION 
hairy, which is not done in this case. The hairy family 
in Birmah have, indeed, hair on the back rather longer 
than on the breast, thus reproducing the true mam- 
malian character, but they have still longer hair on the 
face, forehead, and inside the ears, which is quite ab- 
normal; and the fact that their teeth are all very im- 
perfect, shows that this is a case of monstrosity rather 
than one of true reversion to the ancestral type of man 
before he lost his hairy covering. - 
Savage Man feels the Want of this Hairy Covering. 
We must now enquire if we have any evidence to 
show, or any reason to believe, that a hairy covering to 
the back would be in any degree hurtful to savage 
man, or to man in any stage of his progress from his 
lower animal form ; and if it were merely useless, could 
it have been so entirely and completely removed as not 
_to be continually reappearing in mixed races? Let 
us look to savage man for some light on these points. 
One of the most common habits of savages is to use 
some covering for the back and shoulders, even when 
they have none on any other part of the body. The 
early voyagers observed with surprise, that the Tas- 
manians, both men and women, wore the kangaroo- 
skin, which was their only covering, not from any 
feeling of modesty, but over the shoulders to keep the 
back dry and warm. Avcloth over the shoulders was 
also the national dress of the Maories. The Patago- 
nians wear a cloak or mantle over the shoulders, and 
the Fuegians often wear a small piece of skin on the 
