distribution and geological succession. It is only our natural prejudice,
and that arrogance which made our forefathers declare that they were
descended from demi-gods, which leads us to demur to this conclusion. But
the time will before long come, when it will be thought wonderful that
naturalists, who were well acquainted with the comparative structure and
development of man, and other mammals, should have believed that each was
the work of a separate act of creation.


CHAPTER II.

ON THE MANNER OF DEVELOPMENT OF MAN FROM SOME LOWER FORM.

Variability of body and mind in man--Inheritance--Causes of variability--
Laws of variation the same in man as in the lower animals--Direct action of
the conditions of life--Effects of the increased use and disuse of parts--
Arrested development--Reversion--Correlated variation--Rate of increase--
Checks to increase--Natural selection--Man the most dominant animal in the
world--Importance of his corporeal structure--The causes which have led to
his becoming erect--Consequent changes of structure--Decrease in size of
the canine teeth--Increased size and altered shape of the skull--Nakedness
--Absence of a tail--Defenceless condition of man.

It is manifest that man is now subject to much variability. No two
individuals of the same race are quite alike. We may compare millions of
faces, and each will be distinct. There is an equally great amount of
diversity in the proportions and dimensions of the various parts of the
body; the length of the legs being one of the most variable points. (1.
'Investigations in Military and Anthropological Statistics of American
Soldiers,' by B.A. Gould, 1869, p. 256.) Although in some quarters of the