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The Descent of Man

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ody. He justly considers the differentiation<br />

and specialisation <strong>of</strong> organs as the test <strong>of</strong> perfection.<br />

So with languages: the most symmetrical<br />

and complex ought not to be ranked above<br />

irregular, abbreviated, and bastardised languages,<br />

which have borrowed expressive<br />

words and useful forms <strong>of</strong> construction from<br />

various conquering, conquered, or immigrant<br />

races.<br />

From these few and imperfect remarks I conclude<br />

that the extremely complex and regular<br />

construction <strong>of</strong> many barbarous languages, is<br />

no pro<strong>of</strong> that they owe their origin to a special<br />

act <strong>of</strong> creation. (72. See some good remarks on<br />

the simplification <strong>of</strong> languages, by Sir J. Lubbock,<br />

'Origin <strong>of</strong> Civilisation,' 1870, p. 278.) Nor,<br />

as we have seen, does the faculty <strong>of</strong> articulate<br />

speech in itself <strong>of</strong>fer any insuperable objection<br />

to the belief that man has been developed from<br />

some lower form.

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