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Show 116 THE DESCENT OF l\IAN. PAnT I. of the hair were determined by light or heat; and although it can hardly be denied that some effect is thus produced, almost all observers now agree that the effect has been very small, even after exposure during many ages. But this subject will be more properly discussed when we treat of the different races of mankind. vVith our domestic animals there are grounds for believing that cold and damp directly affect the growth of the hair; but I have not met with any evidence on this head in the case of man. Effects of the inm·eased Use and Disuse of Parts.It is well known that use strengthens the muscles in the individual, and complete disuse, or the destruction ?f the proper nerve~ weakens them. vVhen the eye IS destroyed the optic nerve often becomes atrophied. When an artery is tied, the lateral channels increase not on~y in diameter, but in the thickness and strength o~ their coats. When oue kidney ceases acting from disease, the other increases in size and does double work. Bones increase not only in thickness, but in length, from carrying a greater weio·ht.20 Different occupatio~s ha~itually followed lead to changed proportwns m varwus parts of the body. Thus it was clearly ascertained by the United States Commission 21 that the legs of the sailors employed in the late war were longer by 0·217 of an inch than those of the soldiers, though the sailors were on an a veraO'e shorter men; whilst their arms were shorter by 1·09 ~fan inch, and therefore out of proportion shorter in relation to • 20 I ha.v? given authorities for these several statements in my 'Varia~, 10n of ~mma~~ under Domestication,' vol. ii. p. 297-300. Dr. Jaeger, B Uober .. da~ Langenwachsthum cler Knochen," 'Jenaischcn Zeitschrift' . v. Heft 1. , 21 , Investigations,' &c. By B. A. Gould, 18G9, p. 288. CHAP. IY. 1\IA.NNETI OF DEVELOPMENT. 117 their lesser height. This shortness of the arms is apparently due to their greater use, and is an unexpected result; but sailors chiefly use their arms in pulling and not in supporting weights. The girth of the neck and the depth of the instep are greater, whilst the circumference of the chest, waist, and hips is less iu sailors than in soldiers. Whether the several foregoing modifications would become hereditary, if the same habits of life were followed during many generations, is not known, but is probable. Renggerz~ attributes the thin legs and thick arms of the Payaguas Indians to successive generations having passed nearly their whole lives in canoes, with their lower extremities motionless. Other writers have come to a similar conclusion in other analogous cases. According to Cranz,23 who lived for a long time with the Esquimaux, "the natives believe that ingenuity and " dexterity in seal-catching (their highest art and virtue) " is hereditary; there is really something in it, for the " son of a celebrated seal-catcher will distinguish him" self though he lost his father in childhood." But in this case it is mental aptitude, quite as much as bodily structure, which appears to be inherited. It is asserted that the hands of English labourers are at birth larger than those of the gentry.24 From the correlation which exists, at least in some cases/·~ between the development of the extremities and of the jaws, it is possible that in those classes which do not labour much with their hands and feet, the jaws would be reduced in size from this cause. rrhat they are generally smaller in refined and civilised men than in hard-working men or savages, 22 • Saugcthiere von Paraguay,' 1830, s. 4. 23 'History of Greenland,' Eng. translat. 1767, vol. i. p. 230 . 24 • Intermarriage.' By Alex. Walker, 1838, p. 377. 2s • The Variation of Animnls under Domestication,' \Ol. i. p. 173. |
