The Opelousas courier., 1883-07-07
THE MAN OF THE FUTURE.
| II ma, ssllr DEDUCTIONS From Accomplished Facts
A FGibidding PrephNc1.

The man of tic futurc--that mys-
ferrous being who will look back
across the dim gulf of time upon i'm
perfect humanity of the nineteenth
century with just such kindly and
half-incredulous SCOTT as we now con
descend to bestow upon Il club
welding ape-like aneestors-WM be o
toothless, hairless, slow-limbed ami
nal, incapable of oxtendedlocomotlon.
His feet will have no division between
the toes. He will be averse to fight
ing, and will maintain his position IN
the foremost files of time to come,
solely upon the strength of one or two
convolutions of his brain. This may
seem to be poor prophecy, but it dit
fers from most prophecies III beng a
mere logical deduction from accom-
plished facts.
The different parts of the human
frame as it now exists have been
evolved or modified by the action OF
the two great great principles that
have always regulated the develop
ment of species. Every organ and
every ornament that man possesses has
been acquired by natural or sexual
: selection, and when either OF the forces
is weakened or removed, Or when
the necessity for such organs or or
naments is no longer sufficient to
counterbalance the loss of the power
employed in their production, then
they commence at once to disappear.
This is the case with human teeth.
The early ancestors of man were fur
nished, as the male gorilla is to-day,
with magnificent grinding teeth fol-
crushing hard fruit, and huge CANNES
for fighting other males for the pos
session of the females. A trace Of
this remains in the more powerful
dentition of the savage races, who
stand a short distance nearer to oul
common, ape-like ancestors. Civil
lied human beings on the other hand,
have absolutely no use for canine
teeth, they are eminently unsuited fol
the work they have to perform. This
is sufficiently plain from their decay.
and the artificial means which have
to be employed in order to retain
them even to maturity. The so-callec
wisdom teeth" are ven now being
lost. They are the last to appear ant
the first to go, and even while we have
them they are unemployed. The res.
will probably follow two at a time
and their places will be supplied NJ
doubt by q hardening of the gums
which can not fail to be incompatible,
more convenient and suitable for thu
viands of life. Long hair, beard, mus
taehe and whiskers are all sexual or
naments acquired by man to allure
and charm the opposite sex, just al
he canine teeth were acquired to igh
tor a similar purpose. But neither i
the sexual selection SO powerful now
nor are these hairy ornaments SO i'm
portant as they used to be. Marriage
is no longer settled by the strength o,
magnificent hairiness of the suitor
Wealth will cover the bald head, in
tellect is more valued than whiskers
and the length of the rent-roll coun'
ferbalances the shortness of a beard
A woman, too, who has but q scant,
supply of that ancient pride of a wo
man"-long hair-can exc it out b,
fraud and art, nor need she go I'm
welded on that account. Neither mel
nor women, therefore, who harper
to Ire ill-furnished with hair, are nov
as formerly, handicapped in the race
of life, and unlikely to leave children
to inherit their defects. On the othe:
hand they gain a distinct advantage
at the outset inasmuch as no vita
force in their case is wasted in tn
production of useless ornaments
There is, moreover a mysterious Law
of correlation Of growth between TIL
hair and teeth. Throughout the AMI
NAL world strong and luxuriant hal
is accompanied by regular and dura
BILE teeth; and a hairless breed of dog
exists which is equally as conspicu
GUS for the absence of its teeth
Hence it mighthave been expected tina
civilization would affect the hair al
well as the teeth, and infallibly tent
to suppress all hirsute adornments a.
not being sufficiently necessary to tn
welfare of the individual to repay tn
cost Of their production. Experience
confirms this view; for, as the teetl
are small, soon lost, and two of then
at least capricious in appearance
SO bald heads in the prime of Life
smooth cheeks and beardless chin
among men, and women conspicuou
for their absence of natural locks, ar,
common in civilized countries; Will,
savage tribes, who have more latel,
left, or still remain in that state O
society in which individual strength
and social ornament are demanded b,
the principles of natural and sexua
selection, have stronger teeth and re
tain more of their original wealth o
hair.
With respect to his locomotive
limbs, civilized man has lost SOM
faculties and is losing others. Th'
prehensile power of the great toe, in
herited from our ape-like ancestor
and still obvious in the human em