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The Descent of Man

The Descent of Man

The Descent of Man

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SUMMARY.<br />

We may conclude that the greater size,<br />

strength, courage, pugnacity, and energy <strong>of</strong><br />

man, in comparison with woman, were acquired<br />

during primeval times, and have subsequently<br />

been augmented, chiefly through the<br />

contests <strong>of</strong> rival males for the possession <strong>of</strong> the<br />

females. <strong>The</strong> greater intellectual vigour and<br />

power <strong>of</strong> invention in man is probably due to<br />

natural selection, combined with the inherited<br />

effects <strong>of</strong> habit, for the most able men will have<br />

succeeded best in defending and providing for<br />

themselves and for their wives and <strong>of</strong>fspring.<br />

As far as the extreme intricacy <strong>of</strong> the subject<br />

permits us to judge, it appears that our male<br />

ape-like progenitors acquired their beards as an<br />

ornament to charm or excite the opposite sex,<br />

and transmitted them only to their male <strong>of</strong>fspring.<br />

<strong>The</strong> females apparently first had their<br />

bodies denuded <strong>of</strong> hair, also as a sexual ornament;<br />

but they transmitted this character almost<br />

equally to both sexes. It is not improbable

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