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The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin
page 59 of 1105 (05%)
frightful rate of mortality. Nevertheless Mr. Forbes found a few pure
families which had survived during two generations: and he observed that
they still inherited their characteristic peculiarities. But it was
manifest, even without measurement, that these peculiarities had all
decreased; and on measurement, their bodies were found not to be so much
elongated as those of the men on the high plateau; whilst their femora had
become somewhat lengthened, as had their tibiae, although in a less degree.
The actual measurements may be seen by consulting Mr. Forbes's memoir.
From these observations, there can, I think, be no doubt that residence
during many generations at a great elevation tends, both directly and
indirectly, to induce inherited modifications in the proportions of the
body. (35. Dr. Wilckens ('Landwirthschaft. Wochenblatt,' No. 10, 1869)
has lately published an interesting essay shewing how domestic animals,
which live in mountainous regions, have their frames modified.)

Although man may not have been much modified during the latter stages of
his existence through the increased or decreased use of parts, the facts
now given shew that his liability in this respect has not been lost; and we
positively know that the same law holds good with the lower animals.
Consequently we may infer that when at a remote epoch the progenitors of
man were in a transitional state, and were changing from quadrupeds into
bipeds, natural selection would probably have been greatly aided by the
inherited effects of the increased or diminished use of the different parts
of the body.

ARRESTS OF DEVELOPMENT.

There is a difference between arrested development and arrested growth, for
parts in the former state continue to grow whilst still retaining their
early condition. Various monstrosities come under this head; and some, as
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