OCR Text |
Show 114 THE DESCENT OF MAN. PART I. that changed conditions produce some effect, and occasionally a considerable effect, on organisms of all kinds; and it seems at first probable that if sufficient time were allowed this would be the invariable result. But I have failed to obtain clear evidence in favour of this conclusion; and valid reasons may be urged on the other side, at least as far as the innumerable structures are concerned, which are adapted for special ends. There can, however, be no doubt that changed conditions induce an almost indefinite amount of fluctuating variability, by which the whole organisation is rendered in some degree plastic. In the United States, above 1,000,000 soldiers, who served in the late war, were measured, and the States in which they were bom and reared recorded.16 From this astonishing number of observations it is proved that local influences of some kind act directly on stature; and we further learn that "the State where the physical " growth has in great measure taken place, and the State "of birth, which indicates the ancestry, seem to exert ': a marked influence on the stature." For instance it is established, " that residence in the \¥estern States, " during the years of growth, tends to produce increase " of stature." On the other hand, it is certain that with sailors, their manner of life delays growth, as shewn " by " the great difference between the statures of soldiers and "sailors at the ages of 17 ancll8 years." Mr. B. A. GouldJ . endeavoured to ascertain the nature of the influences. which thus act on stature; but he arrived only at negative results, namely, that they did not relate to climate, the elevation of the land, soil, nor even "in any con." trolling degree" to the abundance or need of the com- 16 'Investigations in Military and Anthrop. Statistics,' &c. 1869, by B. A. Gould, p. 93, 107, 126, 131, 134. CHAr. I\'. MANNER OF DEVELOPMENT. 115 forts of life. This latter conclusion is directly opposed to that arrived at by Villerme from the statistics of the height of the conscripts in different parts of France. vVhen we compare the differences in stature between the Polynesian chiefs and the lower orders within the same islands, or between the inhabitants of the fertile volcanic aud low barren coral islands of the same ocean,17 or again between the Fuegians on the eastern and western shores of their country, where the means of subsistence are very different, it is scarcely possible to avoid the conclusion that better food and greater comfort do infl. uence stature. But the preceding statements shew how difficult it is to arrive at any precise result. Dr. Beddoe has lately proved that, with the inhabitants of Britain, residence in towns and certain occupations have a deteriorating influence on height; and he infers that the result is to a certain extent inherited, as is likewise the case in the United States. Dr. Beddoe further believes that wherever a "race attains its maximum of ., physical development, it rises highest in energy and " moral vigour."Hl Whether external conditions produce any other direct effect on man is not known. It might have been expected that differences of climate would have had a marked influence, as the lungs and kidneys are brought into fuller activity tmder a low temperature, and the . liver and skin under a high one.19 It was formerly thought that the colour of the skin and the character 17 For the Polynesians, see Prichard's • Physical Hist. of Mankind,' vol. v. 1847, p. 145, 283. Also Godron, 'De l'Espece,' tom. ii. p. 289. T~ere is ~lso a r~mar~a?le difference in appearance between the closelyalhed Hmdoos mhab1tmg the Upper Ganges and Beno-al; see Elphin-stone's 'History of India,' vol. i. p. 324. 0 18 'Memoirs, Anthropolog. Soc.' vol. iii. 1867-69, p. 561, 5G5, 567. 10 Dr. Brakenridge, 'Theory of Diathesis,' 'Medical Times,' June 19 and July 17, 1869. I 2 |