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Show W3G SEXUAL SELEC'l'ION: MAN. P .\RT I f. Dr. Scem·:mn observes, greater intensity of feeling in a single musical note than in pages of writing. Nearly the Harne motions, but much wenl{rr and less complex, arc probably felt by birds when the male pours forth his full volume of song, in rivalry with other males, for the sake of captivating the ft male. Love is still the commonest theme of our own song. . As IIm·bert Spenecr r marks, music "arouses dormant sentiments of which we had not " conceived the po sibility, and do not know the meaning; "or, as Hichtcr says, tells ns of things we have not seen "and shall not see." 33 Conversely, when vivid motions arc felt and cxprc. sed by tho orator or even in common Hpcech, musical cadences and rhythm are in stinctively used. l\Ionkeys al so express strong feelings in different tones- anger and impatience by low,-fear and pain by high notes.34 The sensations and ideas excited in us by musi<', or by the cadences of impassioned oratory, appear from their vagueness, yet depth, like mental reversions to the emotions and thoughts of a long-past age. All these facts with respect to music become to a eertain extent intelligible if we may assume that musical tones and rhythm were used by the half- 33 , co tho vrry interesting discussion on tho Origin nml Func.t ion of 1\iusic, by Mr. Herbert Sp nccr, in his collected ' Rssn.ys,' 185R, p. :InD. Mr. Spencer comes to an exactl y opposite conclusion to that ot which I have arrived. H e concludes that tho cadences used in emotional speech aiford tho foundatio 11 from which mus ic hos been 4lcvclopc<l ; whilst I conclude thnt musical notes and rhythm were first ncquin 'd by the male or female progenitors of mankind for 1hc sake of charming the opposite sex. Thus mus ical tones become firmly as. ociatcd with some of the strongest passions an animnl is capn.b lo or feeling, and nrc consequently used illstinctivcly, or through a ssociation, when ~:~tron ~ emotions arc cx pr sscd in spe ch . Mr. Sp nccr docs not oircr any :sat i~ fndo ry cxplnnoiion, nor can I , why high or deep notes shoul4L lie exprcssi vc, both wilh mon and the lower animals, of certain emotions. illr. Spencer g ives also un inter esting discussion on the relat ions between poetry, rocitativr, and s11ng. 3 ~ Rcnggcr, ' S~iu ge tllicrc von Puro.guay,' s. 49. ' IIAP. XIX:. l\IUSICAL POWERS. 337 hmnau progenitors of mun, during the senson of courtship, when animals of all kinds arc excited by the 'trongest passions. In this case, from the deeply-laid principle of inherited associations, musical tones would be likely to excite in us, in a vague and indefinite manncr, the strong emotions of a long-past age. Bearing in mind that the males of some quadrumanous animals have their vocal organs mnch more developed than in the females, and that one anthropomorphous speeies pours forth a whole octave of musical notes and may be said to sing, the suspicion does not appear improbable that the progenitors of man, either the males or females, or both sexes, before they had acquired the power of expressing their mutual love in articulate languaw', endeavoured to eharm each other with musical not.es and rh ythm. So little is known about the use of the voice by the Quadrumana during the season of love, that we haYe hardly any means of judging whether the l1aLit of singing was first acquired by the male or female progenitors of mankind. vVomen are generally thought to possess sweeter voices than men, and ns far as this erves as any guide "·e may infer that they first acquired musical powers in order to attract the other sex.35 But if so, this must have occurred long ago, before the progenitors of man had become sufficiently human to treat and value theit· women merely as useful slaves. Tl1e impassioned orator, bard, or musician, when with his varied tones and cadences he excites the strongest emotions in his hearers, little suspects that he uses the same means by which, at an extremely remote period, his half-human ancestors arol!sed each other's ardent passions, during their mutual courtship and rimlry. 35 Sec an intl3rCFting discussion on this subject by Hiickcl, 'Gener~llc Morph.' B. ii. 1866, s. 21.6. VOL IL Z |
