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The Descent of Man

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aborigines <strong>of</strong> islands have suffered in fertility<br />

and health from long continued inter-breeding;<br />

but in the above cases infertility has coincided<br />

too closely with the arrival <strong>of</strong> Europeans for us<br />

to admit this explanation. Nor have we at present<br />

any reason to believe that man is highly<br />

sensitive to the evil effects <strong>of</strong> inter-breeding,<br />

especially in areas so large as New Zealand,<br />

and the Sandwich archipelago with its diversified<br />

stations. On the contrary, it is known that<br />

the present inhabitants <strong>of</strong> Norfolk Island are<br />

nearly all cousins or near relations, as are the<br />

Todas in India, and the inhabitants <strong>of</strong> some <strong>of</strong><br />

the Western Islands <strong>of</strong> Scotland; and yet they<br />

seem not to have suffered in fertility. (45. On<br />

the close relationship <strong>of</strong> the Norfolk Islanders,<br />

Sir W. Denison, 'Varieties <strong>of</strong> Vice-Regal Life,'<br />

vol. i. 1870, p. 410. For the Todas, see Col.<br />

Marshall's work 1873, p. 110. For the Western<br />

Islands <strong>of</strong> Scotland, Dr. Mitchell, 'Edinburgh<br />

Medical Journal,' March to June, 1865.)

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