SEXUAL SELECTION IN RELATION TO MAN 795 



through the exertion of choice, the influence of love and 

 jealousy, and the appreciation of the beautiful in sound, 

 color, or form; and these powers of the mind manifestly 

 depend on the development of the brain. 



^ Man scans with scrupulous care the character and pedi- 

 gree of his horses, cattle, and dogs before he matches them; 

 but when he comes to his own marriage he rarely, or never, 

 takes any such care. He is impelled by nearly the same 

 motives as the lower animals, when they are left to their 

 own free choice, though he is in so far superior to them 

 that he highly values mental charms and virtues. On the 

 other hand, he is strongly attracted by mere wealth or rank. 

 Yet he might by selection do something not only for the 

 bodily constitution and frame of his offspring, but for their 

 intellectual and moral qualities. Both sexes ought to re- 

 r frain from marriage if they are in any marked degree in- 

 i ferior in body or mind; but such hopes are IJtopian, and 

 ^jrill never be even partially realized until the laws of in- 

 heritance are thoroughly known. Every one does good 

 service who aids toward this end. When the principles of 

 breeding and inheritance are better understood, we shall 

 not hear ignorant members of our legislature rejecting with 

 scorn a plan for ascertaining whether or not consanguineous 

 marriages are injurious to man. 



The advancement of the welfare of mankind is a most 

 intricate problem: all ought to refrain from marriage who 

 cannot avoid abject poverty for their children ; for poverty 

 is not only a great evil, but tends to its own increase by 

 leading to recklessness in marriage. On the other hand, as 

 Mr. Galton has remarked, if the prudent avoid marriage, 

 while the reckless marry, the inferior members tend to sup- 

 plant the better members of society. Man, like every other 

 animal, has no doubt advanced to his present high condi- 

 tion through a struggle for existence consequent on his 

 rapid multiplication; and if he is to advance still higher, 

 it is to be feared that he must remain subject to a severe 



