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Show 58 THE DESCENT OF MAN. PART I. ing.37 Nevertheless a long succession of vivid and connected ideas, may pass through the mind without the aid of any form of language, as we may infer from the prolonged dreams of dogs. We have, also, seen that retriever-dogs are able to reason to a certain extent ; and this they manifestly do without the aid of language. The intimate connection between the brain, as it is now developed in us, and the faculty of speech, is well shewn by those curious cases of brain-disease, in which speech is specially affected, as when the power to remember substantives is lost, whilst other words can be correctly used.38 There is no more improbability in the effects of the continued use of the vocal and mental organs being inherited, than in the case of handwriting, which depends partly on the structure of the hand and partly on the disposition of the mind; and hand-writing is certainly inherited.39 Why the organs now used for speech should have been originally perfected for this purpose, rather than any other organs, it is not difficult to see. Ants have considerable powers of intercommunication by means of their antennre, as shewn by Huber, who devotes a whole chapter to their language. We might have used our fi~gers as efficient instruments, for a person with pra?twe ca~ report to a deaf man every word of a speech rapidly dehvered at a public meeting ; but the loss of our hands, whilst thus employed, would have been a serious inconvenience. As all the higher mammals possess vocal organs constructed on the same general 37 See remarks on this bead by Dr. l\faudsley, 'The Physiology an~ Pathology ?f Mind,' 2nd edit. 1868, p. 199. o , l\~~ny curwus cases have been recorded. See, for instance, Inqumes Concerning the Intellectual Powers,' by Dr. Abercrombie, 1838, p. 150. • • 39 ''rhe Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication,' vol. u. p. G. MENTAL POWERS. 59 plan with ours, and which are used a~ a means of communication, it was obviously probable, If the power of communication had to be improved, that these same organs would have been still further developed ; and this has been effected by the aid of adjoining and well-adapted parts, namely the tongue and lips.40 The fact of the higher apes not using their vocal organs for s~eech, no doubt depends on their intelligence not havmg been sufficiently advanced. The possession by them of organs, which with long-continued practice might have been used for speech, although not thus used, is paralleled by the case of many birds which possess organs fitted for singing, though they never sing. Thus, the nightingale and crow have vocal organs similarly constructed, these being used by the former for diversified song, and by the latter merely for croaking.41 The formation of different languages and of distinct species and the proofs that both have been developed throug'h a gradual process, are cun.o usly t h e same. 42 But we can trace the origin of many words further back than in the case of species, for we can perceive that they have arisen from the imitation of various sounds, as in alliterative poetry. We find in distinct lan<Yuages striking homologies due to community of des~ent, and analogies due to . a similar process of 4o See some good remarks to this effect by Dr. l\faudsley, ' The Physiology and P athology of Mind,' 1868, p. 199. 41 Macgillivray, • Hist. of British Birds,' vol. ii. 1839, _P· 29. An excellent observer, Mr. Blackwall, remarks that the magp1e learns to pronounce single words, and even short sentences, more readily than almost any other British bird ; yet, as be adds, after long and closely investigating its habits, he has never known it, in a state of nature, .display any unusual capacity for imitation. • Resea.rches in Zoology,' 1834, p. 158. 42 See the very interesting pamllelism between the development of speech and languages, given by Sir C. Lyell in 'The Geolog. Evidences <Jf the Antiquity of Man,' 1863, chap. xxiii. |