The Descent of Man

arms, in various races; and nearly all these
measurements shew that the males differ much
more from one another than do the females.
This fact indicates that, as far as these characters
are concerned, it is the male which has
been chiefly modified, since the several races
diverged from their common stock.
The development of the beard and the hairiness
of the body differ remarkably in the men of
distinct races, and even in different tribes or
families of the same race. We Europeans see
this amongst ourselves. In the Island of St. Kilda,
according to Martin (13. 'Voyage to St. Kilda'
(3rd ed. 1753), p. 37.), the men do not acquire
beards until the age of thirty or upwards,
and even then the beards are very thin. On the
Europaeo-Asiatic continent, beards prevail until
we pass beyond India; though with the natives
of Ceylon they are often absent, as was noticed
in ancient times by Diodorus. (14. Sir J.E.
Tennent, 'Ceylon,' vol. ii. 1859, p. 107.) East-