156 THE DESCENT OF MAN. Part L 
“ the structure of brutes* in the direction of greater 
“ physical helplessness and weakness. That is to say, 
“ it is a divergence which of all others it is most 
“ impossible to ascribe to mere natural selection.” He 
adduces the naked and unprotected state of the body, 
the absence of great teeth or claws for defence, the 
little strength of man* his small speed in running* and 
his slight power of smell* by which to discover food or 
to avoid danger. To these deficiencies there might 
have been added the still more serious loss of the power 
of quickly climbing trees* so as to escape from enemies. 
Seeing that the unclothed Fuegians can exist under 
their wretched climate, the loss of hair would not 
have been a great injury to primeval man* if he inha- 
bited a warm country. When we compare defenceless 
man with the apes, many of which are provided with 
formidable canine teeth, we must remember that these 
in their fully-developed condition are possessed by the 
males alone, being chiefly used by them for fighting 
with their rivals ; yet the females which are not thus 
provided* are able to survive. 
In regard to bodily size or strength* we do not know 
whether man is descended from some comparatively 
small species, like the chimpanzee, or from one as 
powerful as the gorilla ; and, therefore* we cannot say 
whether man has become larger and stronger* or smaller 
and weaker, in comparison with his progenitors. We 
should* however, bear in mind that an animal possessing 
great size, strength, and ferocity, and which* like the 
gorilla* could defend itself from all enemies, would 
probably, though not necessarily, have failed to become 
social ; and this would most effectually have checked 
the acquirement by man of his higher mental quali- 
ties, such as sympathy and the love of his fellow- 
creatures. Hence it might have been an immense 
