The Descent of Man

Although, as we have now seen, man has no
just right to form a separate Order for his own
reception, he may perhaps claim a distinct Suborder
or Family. Prof. Huxley, in his last work
(11. 'An Introduction to the Classification of
Animals,' 1869, p. 99.), divides the primates
into three Sub-orders; namely, the Anthropidae
with man alone, the Simiadae including monkeys
of all kinds, and the Lemuridae with the
diversified genera of lemurs. As far as differences
in certain important points of structure are
concerned, man may no doubt rightly claim the
rank of a Sub-order; and this rank is too low, if
we look chiefly to his mental faculties. Nevertheless,
from a genealogical point of view it appears
that this rank is too high, and that man
ought to form merely a Family, or possibly
even only a Sub- family. If we imagine three
lines of descent proceeding from a common
stock, it is quite conceivable that two of them
might after the lapse of ages be so slightly
changed as still to remain as species of the same