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)
Hence with respect to taste,
which depends on many elements, but partly on habit and partly on a
love of novelty, there seems no improbability in animals admiring for
a very long period the same general style of ornamentation or other
attractions, and yet appreciating slight changes in colors, form, or
sound.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE SEXES CREATED BY SEXUAL SELECTION.
[Page 563.]
There can be little doubt that the greater size and strength of man,
in comparison with woman, together with his broader shoulders, more
developed muscles, rugged outline of body, his greater courage and
pugnacity, are all due in chief part to inheritance from his half-human
male ancestors. These characters would, however, have been preserved or
even augmented during the long ages of man’s savagery, by the success
of the strongest and boldest men, both in the general struggle for life
and in their contest for wives; a success which would have insured
their leaving a more numerous progeny than their less favored brethren.
It is not probable that the greater strength of man was primarily
acquired through the inherited effects of his having worked harder than
woman for his own subsistence and that of his family; for the women in
all barbarous nations are compelled to work at least as hard as the
men. With civilized people the arbitrament of battle for the possession
of the women has long ceased; on the other hand, the men, as a general
rule, have to work harder than the women for their joint subsistence,
and thus their greater strength will have been kept up.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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