The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to SexDarwin, Charles
History
The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex
Darwin, Charles
Evolution (Biology); Human beings -- Origin; Sex differences; Sexual dimorphism (Animals); Sexual selection in animals
There is, however, no doubt that the various races, when carefully
compared and measured, differ much from each other,—as in the texture
of the hair, the relative proportions of all parts of the body (2. A
vast number of measurements of Whites, Blacks, and Indians, are given
in the ‘Investigations in the Military and Anthropolog. Statistics of
American Soldiers,’ by B.A. Gould, 1869, pp. 298-358; ‘On the capacity
of the lungs,’ p. 471. See also the numerous and valuable tables, by
Dr. Weisbach, from the observations of Dr. Scherzer and Dr. Schwarz, in
the ‘Reise der Novara: Anthropolog. Theil,’ 1867.), the capacity of the
lungs, the form and capacity of the skull, and even in the convolutions
of the brain. (3. See, for instance, Mr. Marshall’s account of the
brain of a Bushwoman, in ‘Philosophical Transactions,’ 1864, p. 519.)
But it would be an endless task to specify the numerous points of
difference. The races differ also in constitution, in acclimatisation
and in liability to certain diseases. Their mental characteristics are
likewise very distinct; chiefly as it would appear in their emotional,
but partly in their intellectual faculties. Every one who has had the
opportunity of comparison, must have been struck with the contrast
between the taciturn, even morose, aborigines of S. America and the
light-hearted, talkative negroes. There is a nearly similar contrast
between the Malays and the Papuans (4. Wallace, ‘The Malay
Archipelago,’ vol. ii. 1869, p. 178.), who live under the same physical
conditions, and are separated from each other only by a narrow space of
sea.
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