New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1871-04-30

cons ofaax6uto ~ q ~ ~ rs Niueic
1allliffed ~ eavaGo6 pla6o IN ~ 6el6w
birds IL this respect.
Next, ~ to language, various imperfect
forms oft arc found ID many animals. Arti-
,culate speech Il indeed peculiar 70 man; but
few car. read tho writings Of the eminent
Psychologists, Rev. +. Farrar and Mr. Hens
leigh Wed&wood, without receiving added
testimony that it originated in the intima-
ton Of the winds, wares, other natural
sounds, and the instructive, inarticulate
cries Of all animals, mans self among the
rest. Language once acquired, it would me-
cessarily become powerful agent in further
mental developments.
Finally, IS to religion, in 60 far az Of hu
man origin, it arose in mans ascribing OF
life to anything which manifested power or
movement. Out of this grew pOlytheism
as Q necessity; and finally, monotheism,
with it's accessories, was logical sequence.
Mr.. Darwin next treats of the processes
in which distinguishing characteristics of
the human race, both mental and physical,
have been developed. Most prominent Of
also discussed, and an inability to conjec-
ture an efficient cause for some minor modi-
fications is admitted. Natural selection, in
modifying man, has principally developed
his mind! The intellectual and moral
faculties are Ssriable, and the variations
tend to hte Inherited. In the struggle for
existence, $Ahe most sagacious, inventive
end fOreseeing hltl;Hduab would survive in
larger numbers and rear more offspring
than others would. Their children would
inherit their superiority, and thus, by the
accumulation of small differences, great
ones would be produced.
These remarks, however, apply mainly to
savage nations. Among them the weak in
body or mind soon perish, and only the
fittest survive. Among civilized men, on
the contrary, the imbecile, the deformed,
kindness and self sacrifice of others. "Thus,"
says Mr.. Darwin, "the weak members of
society propagate their kind. No one
who has attended to the breeding
of domestic animals will doubt that
this must be highly injurious to the
race of man. 1t is surprising how
soon q want of care, or care wrongly
directed, leads to the degeneration of a do
mestic race; but, excepting in the case Of
man himself, hardly any one is SO ignorant
as to allow his worst animals to- breed"
Mr.. Darwin does not, however, advise neg
lect of the weak and helpless. This, he
says, could only be for a contingent benefit,
with certain and great present evil,
namely, a deterioration in the noblest part
of our nature. Hence, he sees no remedy
for the undoubtedly bad effects of the weak
surviving anu prOpdSatluS Cnclr Bluu, cX-
cept one which is more to be hoped for than
expected, the advance Of opinion and moral
feeling sufficiently to keep the weak from
marrying.
Assuming now that the human species is
q cO-descendant with others OF some print
tive form, Mr.. Darwin next considers the
proper position of man in the natural sys-
tenn. Most naturalists place man in Il sepa-
rate order, called bimana, coordinate with
those Of the quadrumana, carniv6ra, etc.
Many, however, are returning to the CLASH
ficatiOn Of Linneus, in which man is in
cluded with the guadrumana in the order
primates. The differences between man
and the quadrumana result chiefly from his
erect position and progressive intellect; the
many points in which he agrees with them
far outweigh these variable characteristics.
Mr.. Darwin thinks that man is no more than
subfamily of the primates. The leading
characteristics which distinguish the
Old. World monkeys from those of
the New World are also found in
man, showing that the monkeys of the
Western continent separated from the orig
inal stock before man separated from the
remainder. Man also agrees with the an
thrOpomorphOus group of the Old World
monkeys in the characteristics which dis
tinguish them from the rest of their family.
Hence, it is probable. that ''some ancient
member of the anthropomOrphous sub
group gave birth to man."