Darwinism stated by Darwin himself: Characteristic passages from the writings of Charles DarwinDarwin, Charles
Science
Darwinism stated by Darwin himself: Characteristic passages from the writings of Charles Darwin
Darwin, Charles
Evolution (Biology)
as milch-cows. They go out to battle in regular bands, and freely
sacrifice their lives for the common weal. They emigrate according to
a preconcerted plan. They capture slaves. They move the eggs of their
aphides, as well as their own eggs and cocoons, into warm parts of the
nest, in order that they may be quickly hatched; and endless similar
facts could be given. On the whole, the difference in mental power
between an ant and a coccus is immense; yet no one has ever dreamed
of placing these insects in distinct classes, much less in distinct
kingdoms. No doubt the difference is bridged over by other insects; and
this is not the case with man and the higher apes. But we have every
reason to believe that the breaks in the series are simply the results
of many forms having become extinct.
MAN A SUB-ORDER.
[Page 149.]
The greater number of naturalists who have taken into consideration the
whole structure of man, including his mental faculties, have followed
Blumenbach and Cuvier, and have placed man in a separate order,
under the title of the Bimana, and therefore on an equality with the
orders of the Quadrumana, Carnivora, etc. Recently many of our best
naturalists have recurred to the view first propounded by Linnæus, so
remarkable for his sagacity, and have placed man in the same order
with the Quadrumana, under the title of the Primates. The justice of
this conclusion will be admitted: for, in the first place, we must
bear in mind the comparative insignificance for classification of the
great development of the brain in man, and that the strongly-marked
differences between the skulls of man and the Quadrumana (lately
insisted upon by Bischoff, Aeby, and others) apparently follow from
their differently developed brains. In the second place, we must
remember that nearly all the other and more important differences
between man and the Quadrumana are manifestly adaptive in their nature,
and relate chiefly to the erect position of man; such as the structure
of his hand, foot, and pelvis, the curvature of his spine, and the
position of his head. The family of seals offers a good illustration of
the small importance of adaptive characters for classification. These
animals differ from all other Carnivora in the form of their bodies and
in the structure of their limbs, far more than does man from the higher
apes; yet in most systems, from that of Cuvier to the most recent one
by Mr. Flower, seals are ranked as a mere family in the order of the
Carnivora. If man had not been his own classifier, he would never have
thought of founding a separate order for his own reception.
* * * * *
[Page 152.]
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