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Show 402 GENERAL SUl\1:M:AUY. PART H. 'fhe reader who has taken the t~·ouble to go throngh the several cha.ptors devoted to sexual sele?tion, will be able to judge how far tho conclusions at wluch I have arrived are supported by sufficient evidence. If he accepts these conclusions, he may, I think, safely extend them to mankind· but it would Le superfluous here to repeat whn.t I hav~ so lately said on the manner in which sexual selection bas apparently acted on both the male and female side, causing the two sexes of ma~ to differ in body and mind, and the several races to differ fro~ each other in various characters, as well as from their ancient and lowly-organised progenitors. . . He who admits the principle of sexual select10n Will be led to the remarkable conclusion that the cerebral system not only regulates most of the existing functi~ns of the body, but has indirectly influenced the progresstve development of various bodily struct~res and of certain mental qualities. Courage, pugnamty, perseverance, strenoth and size of body, weapons of all kinds, musical Oraal~S both vocal and instrumental, bright colours, 0 ' stripes and marks, and ornamental appendages, have all been indirectly gained by the one sex or the other, through the influence of love and jealousy, through the appreciation of the beautiful in sound, colour or form, and through the exertion of a choice ; and these powers of the mind manifestly depend on the development of the cerebral system. Man scans with scrupulous care the character and pedigree of his horses, cattle, and dogs before he matches them ; but when he comes to his own marriage he rarely, or never, takes any such care. He is impelled by nearly the same motives as are the lower animals when left to their own free choice, though he is in so far superior to them that he highly values mental charms !CHAP. XXI. AND CONCLUDING REMARKS. 403 and virtues. On the other hand he is strongly attracted by mere wealth or rank. Yet he might by selection do something not only for the bodily constitution and frame of his offspring, but for their intellectual and moral qualities. Both sexes ought to refrain from marriage if in any marked degree inferior in body or mind; but such hopes are Utopian and will never be even partially realised until the laws of inheritance are thoroughly known. All do good service who aid towards this end. When the principles of breeding and of inheritance are better understood, we shall not hear ignorant members of our legislature rejecting with scorn a plan for ascertaining by an easy method whether or not consanguineous marriages are injurious to man. The advancement of the welfare of mankind is a most intricate problem: all ought to refrain from marriage who cannot avoid abject poverty for their children ; for poverty is not only a great evil, but tends to its owE. increase by leading to recklessness in marriage. On the other hand, as Mr. Galton has remarked, if the prudent .avoid marriage, whilst the reckless marry, the inferior members will tend to supplant the better members of -society. Man, like every other animal, has no doubt adYanced to his present high condition through a struggle for existence consequent on his rapid multiplicatirm; and if he is to advance still higher he must remain subject to a severe struggle. Otherwise he would soon sink into indolence, and the more highly-gifted men would not be more successful in the battle of life than the less gifted. Hence our natural rate of increase, though leading to many and obvious evils, must not be greatly diminished by any means. There should be ·open competition for all men; and the most able should not be prevented by Jaws or customs f1'0m succeeding ibest and rearing the largest number of offspring. Im- 2 D 2 |