350 - THE LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION 
an organ prepared for the use of civilized man, and 
one which was required to render: civilization possi- 
ble. Apes make little use of their separate fingers 
and opposable thumbs. They grasp objects rudely 
and clumsily, and look as if a much less specialized 
extremity would have served their purpose as well. 
I do not Jay much stress on this, but, if it be proved 
that some intelligent power has guided or determined 
the development of man, then we may see indications 
of that power, in facts which, by themselves, would 
not serve to prove its existence. 
The voice of man.—The same remark will apply 
to another peculiarly human character, the wonder- 
ful power, range, flexibility, and sweetness, of the 
musical sounds producible by the human larynx, 
especially in the female sex. The habits of savages 
give no indication of how this faculty could have 
been developed by natural selection; because it is 
never required or used by them. The singing of 
savages is a more or less monotonous howling, and 
the females seldom sing at all. Savages certainly 
never choose their wives for fine voices, but for rude 
health, and strength, and physical beauty. Sexual 
selection could not therefore have developed this won- 
derful power, which only comes into play among 
civilized people. It seems as if the organ had been 
prepared in anticipation of the future progress of man, 
since it contains latent capacities which are useless 
to him in his earlier condition. The delicate correla- 
tions of structure that give it such marvellous powers, 
