180 THE DESCENT OF MAN 



del Fuego, it struck me that the possession of some property, 

 a fixed abode, and the union of many families under a chief, 

 were the indispensable requisites for civilization. Such hab- 

 its almost necessitate the cultivation of the ground; and the 

 first steps in cultivation would probably result, as I have 

 elsewhere shown, ° from some such accident as the seeds of 

 a fruit-tree falling on a heap of refuse, and producing an 

 unusually fine variety. The problem, however, of the first 

 advance of savages toward civilization is at present much 

 too difficult to be solved. 



Natural Selection as Affecting Civilized Nations. — I have 

 hitherto only considered the advancement of man from a 

 semi-human condition to that of the modern savage. But 

 some remarks on the action of natural selection on civilized 

 natrons may be worth adding. This subject has been ably 

 discussed by Mr. W. E. Greg,° and previously by Mr. Wal- 

 lace and Mr. Gralton. " Most of my remarks are taken from 

 these three authors. With savages, the weak in body or 

 mind are soon eliminated ; and those that survive commonly 

 exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilized men, on 

 the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimi- 

 nation; we build asylums -for the imbecile, the maimed, and 

 the sick; we institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert 

 their utmost skill to save the life of every one to the last 

 moment. There is reason to believe that vaccination has 

 preserved thousands who from a weak constitution would 



8 "The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication," vol. i. 

 p. 309. 



' "Praaer's Magazine," Sept. 1868, p. 353. This article seems to have 

 struck many persons, and has given rise to two remarkable essays and a re- 

 joinder in the "Spectator," Oct. 3d and IVth, 1868. It has also been discussed 

 in the "Q. Journal of Science," 1869, p. 152, and by Mr. Lawson Tait in the 

 "Dublin Q. Journal of Medical Science," Feb. 1869, and by Mr. E. Eay 

 Lankester in his "Comparative Longevity," 1810, p. 128. Similar views ap- 

 peared previously in the "Australasian," July '13, 186'?. I have borrowed 

 ideas from several of these writers. 



"> Eor Mr. Wallace, see "Anthropolog. Review," as before cited. Mr. 

 Galton in "Macmillan's Magazine," Aug. 1865, p. 318; also his great work, 

 "Hereditary Genius," 1810. 



