The Descent of Man

hened and enlarged through the inherited effects
of long-continued use without any particular
good being thus gained—I will not pretend
to say; but the former view, at least in the
case of the Hylobates agilis, seems the most
probable.
I may here mention two very curious sexual
peculiarities occurring in seals, because they
have been supposed by some writers to affect
the voice. The nose of the male sea-elephant
(Macrorhinus proboscideus) becomes greatly
elongated during the breeding-season, and can
then be erected. In this state it is sometimes a
foot in length. The female is not thus provided
at any period of life. The male makes a wild,
hoarse, gurgling noise, which is audible at a
great distance and is believed to be strengthened
by the proboscis; the voice of the female
being different. Lesson compares the erection of
the proboscis, with the swelling of the wattles
of male gallinaceous birds whilst courting the