The Descent of Man | Page 7

has recently been demonstrated by the labours
of a host of eminent men, beginning with M. Boucher de Perthes; and this is the
indispensable basis for understanding his origin. I shall, therefore, take this conclusion
for granted, and may refer my readers to the admirable treatises of Sir Charles Lyell, Sir
John Lubbock, and others. Nor shall I have occasion to do more than to allude to the
amount of difference between man and the anthropomorphous apes; for Prof. Huxley, in
the opinion of most competent judges, has conclusively shewn that in every visible
character man differs less from the higher apes, than these do from the lower members of
the same order of Primates.
This work contains hardly any original facts in regard to man; but as the conclusions at
which I arrived, after drawing up a rough draft, appeared to me interesting, I thought that
they might interest others. It has often and confidently been asserted, that man's origin
can never be known: but ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does
knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively
assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science. The conclusion that man
is the co-descendant with other species of some ancient, lower, and extinct form, is not in
any degree new. Lamarck long ago came to this conclusion, which has lately been
maintained by several eminent naturalists and philosophers; for instance, by Wallace,
Huxley, Lyell, Vogt, Lubbock, Buchner, Rolle, etc. (1. As the works of the first- named
authors are so well known, I need not give the titles; but as those of the latter are less well
known in England, I will give them:--'Sechs Vorlesungen uber die Darwin'sche Theorie:'
zweite Auflage, 1868, von Dr L. Buchner; translated into French under the title
'Conferences sur la Theorie Darwinienne,' 1869. 'Der Mensch im Lichte der Darwin'sche
Lehre,' 1865, von Dr. F. Rolle. I will not attempt to give references to all the authors who
have taken the same side of the question. Thus G. Canestrini has published ('Annuario
della Soc. d. Nat.,' Modena, 1867, page 81) a very curious paper on rudimentary
characters, as bearing on the origin of man. Another work has (1869) been published by
Dr. Francesco Barrago, bearing in Italian the title of "Man, made in the image of God,
was also made in the image of the ape."), and especially by Haeckel. This last naturalist,
besides his great work, 'Generelle Morphologie' (1866), has recently (1868, with a second
edition in 1870), published his 'Naturliche Schopfungsgeschichte,' in which he fully
discusses the genealogy of man. If this work had appeared before my essay had been
written, I should probably never have completed it. Almost all the conclusions at which I
have arrived I find confirmed by this naturalist, whose knowledge on many points is
much fuller than mine. Wherever I have added any fact or view from Prof. Haeckel's
writings, I give his authority in the text; other statements I leave as they originally stood
in my manuscript, occasionally giving in the foot-notes references to his works, as a
confirmation of the more doubtful or interesting points.
During many years it has seemed to me highly probable that sexual selection has played
an important part in differentiating the races of man; but in my 'Origin of Species' (first

edition, page 199) I contented myself by merely alluding to this belief. When I came to
apply this view to man, I found it indispensable to treat the whole subject in full detail. (2.
Prof. Haeckel was the only author who, at the time when this work first appeared, had
discussed the subject of sexual selection, and had seen its full importance, since the
publication of the 'Origin'; and this he did in a very able manner in his various works.)
Consequently the second part of the present work, treating of sexual selection, has
extended to an inordinate length, compared with the first part; but this could not be
avoided.
I had intended adding to the present volumes an essay on the expression of the various
emotions by man and the lower animals. My attention was called to this subject many
years ago by Sir Charles Bell's admirable work. This illustrious anatomist maintains that
man is endowed with certain muscles solely for the sake of expressing his emotions. As
this view is obviously opposed to the belief that man is descended from some other and
lower form, it was necessary for me to consider it. I likewise wished to ascertain how far
the emotions are expressed in the same manner by the different races of man. But owing
to the length of the present work, I have thought it better to reserve my essay for separate
publication.