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The Descent of Man

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slaves. <strong>The</strong>se four points must be considered in<br />

some detail.<br />

It is obvious that as long as the pairing <strong>of</strong> man,<br />

or <strong>of</strong> any other animal, is left to mere chance,<br />

with no choice exerted by either sex, there can<br />

be no sexual selection; and no effect will be<br />

produced on the <strong>of</strong>fspring by certain individuals<br />

having had an advantage over others in<br />

their courtship. Now it is asserted that there<br />

exist at the present day tribes which practise<br />

what Sir J. Lubbock by courtesy calls communal<br />

marriages; that is, all the men and women<br />

in the tribe are husbands and wives to one<br />

another. <strong>The</strong> licentiousness <strong>of</strong> many savages is<br />

no doubt astonishing, but it seems to me that<br />

more evidence is requisite, before we fully admit<br />

that their intercourse is in any case promiscuous.<br />

Nevertheless all those who have most<br />

closely studied the subject (5. Sir J. Lubbock,<br />

'<strong>The</strong> Origin <strong>of</strong> Civilisation,' 1870, chap. iii. especially<br />

pp. 60-67. Mr. M'Lennan, in his extremely

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