324 
SEXUAL SELECTION: MAN. 
Part II. 
server, Hearn e ,- 1 says : — “ It has ever been the custom 
“ among these people for the men to wrestle for any 
“ woman t0 " llom they are attached ; and, of course, the 
“ strongest party always carries off the prize. A weak 
“ man unless he be a good hunter, and well-beloved, 
“is seldom permitted to keep a wife that a stronger 
“man thinks worth his notice. This custom prevails 
t loughout all the tribes, and causes a great spirit 
“ of emulation among their youth, who are upon all 
' occas,ons > from their childhood, trying their strength 
“ and skill in wrestling.” With the Guanas of South 
America, Azara states that the men rarely marry till 
twenty or more years old, as before that age "they 
cannot conquer their rivals. 
Other similar facts could he given ; but even if we 
had no evidence on this head, we might feel almost 
sure, from the analogy of the higher Quadrumana , 22 
that the law of battle had prevailed with man during 
the early stages of his development. The occasional 
appearance at the present day of canine teeth which 
project above the others, with traces of a diastema or 
open space for the reception of the opposite canines, is 
m all probability a case of reversion to a former state, 
when the progenitors of man were provided with these 
weapons, like so many existing male Quadrumana, It 
was remarked in a former chapter that as man gra- 
dually became erect, and continually used his hands 
and arms for fighting with sticks and stones, as well as 
tor the other purposes of life, he would have used his 
ln . A , f T fT C0 01 Wales Fort '’ 8to - «lit. Dublin, 1796, 
p m Sa J Lubbock (‘Origin of Civilisation,’ 1S70, p. 69) gives 
other and similar eases ia North America. For the Guanas of S. 
America see Azara, Voyages,’ &o. tom. ii. p. 94. 
r 22 °? “ ale Serillas, see Dr. .Savage, in ‘ Boston 
Journal of Nat Hist, voh v. 1847, p. 423. On Preslytis cnteUns, see 
the 1 Indian Field,’ 1859, p. 146. 
