New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1889-03-20
THE EVOLUTION OF MIND.
rRoM GORILLA TO GENTLEMAN,

Faculty. By George Johh "a ~ Anu,eSoD
Il CO. d. :. K SS'' ~
Or. Romanes follows mp his : mental Ero,u1
a.,,.alss dth new volume in Mental
rvolution in Man. Both Of these are hnSs
~ a chain of reasoning which 1t is the purpose
- tbs author 20 complete with q third volume
rnor savage Man" The general aim OF TINS
si.ncvate careful and exhaustive inquiry is tne
Involvement of the evolutionary hypothesis IN
I,s beaying upon the descent Of man. Inc posiVioh
4.ken by Dr. Romanes is that mental eFoiu'ion
IN man and animals is identical In Kind, anu
d;yereut only in degree. To demonstrate bnlS no
examines and compares the potential deveiopmen'
AZ various animals with that OF human Infants
and children; employs the two-edged sworn VI
hiIo,oev in support of the theory OF the derivation
of language from the anthropoid apes anu 0On
struets forminable and closely woven argument
yhiebl some vital assumptions once admitted
presents almost q conclusive aspect III. ROMANS
4 an exceedingly candid reasoner. He does not
.vade. misrcpresent or garble the constructions
4, his opponents On the contrary, he habituaily
.tates an objections in the strongest possible
ranner This manifest fairness necessarily pro
Huces a favorable impression upon the reader
who Ia ant TO forget that the frankeSt ctaton
of an adyersary's arguments can In the nature OF
The case be only partial and imperfect presenta-
ton OF that side.
Mental Evolution of Man" is nevertheless a
strong essay, argued with admirable temper ana
sueh wealth Of erudition as must compel respect
fuI attention The considerations drawn from the
observations of infant psychology are in large
MEASURE grounded upon NJ Perezs interesting
book. The First Three Years of Childhood, late-
" reviewed in these columns. According to the
evolutionary theory, the child in its first years
passes through the mental stages beyond which
the more intelligent animals seldom, If ever, pass
There are some facts in animal int lhgence when
do not fit In well. however. While it may be
conceded that bright child, say, three years
old displays as much intellect as q clever animal
of the higher order, it is ncontestable that many
animals exhibit emotions deeper, stronger, more
mature and even more human, than any three
year-old child is capable of manifesting. Dogs
for example, disploy transports OF Joy ana grlet
such as adult men and women could not exceed;
while in what are called the higher emotions, such
as self-sscrfce faithfuness love and courage, the
dog is frequently far in advance, not only OF the
brightest child but of large proportion Of adult
humanity. Now DR.. Romanes does not seem to us
20 meet this phase of the question efectually. In
fact, It might almost be thought-though that is
incredible-tbat il had not occurred TO him. The
w." ~ tAO'~
the complete and universal applicability and con-
sistence of the evolutionary hypothesis finds it
necessary to circumvent certain facts which are
TOO awkwardIy opposed to the latter to afford any
hope of harmoniously adjusting them to it
One of these facts is the occasional moral SUI
periority of animal mentalities to the average
human mentality. 1t is not necessary to claim
for the phenomenon anything like generality 1t
may be admitted that the instances are infre-
ouent even But it is undepiable that they occur
often enough to have disseminated widely the
knowledge of their occurrence. 1t would be suf-
fcient to prove score Of such instances, how
ever TO Illustrate DR. Romanes's argument In one Of
its most important divisions; for what becomes OF
the theory of gradual development, from the simple
20 the concrete when it is shown that sometimes
the alleged development-the evolution of mind
from animal 20 man-is distinctly in the line Of
deterioration? There is indeed possible means
of escape but il involves the dangerous assumption
that the manifestation of emotional extremes APP
pertains to lower phase Of mentol development
In which case the savage should be expected to
exhibit mere humanity, devotion, altruism, affec-
ton etc. than the civilized man-and that is to
reduce the argument TO absurdity. But, in truth,
the objection which this animal potentiality con-
stitutes is 3 serious one. For how, supposing 1T
possible at ALL can the evolutionary processes be
regdfucQ as regular, COuOluuOuS uuu BcHcTuls anu
II they cannot be so regarded how is it possible
to accept the hypothesis explaining we will not
say organic, but at least mental, development?
Dr. Romanes, again, argues strongly from the
presumption that the evolution Of language in
man has been extremely slow, and no supports
this conclusion by reference to the evidences
of very gradual mental ELEVATION among savage
races The implication, of course, is that time
enough has elapsed between primitive sayagery
and civilization to render credible the develop
ment Of language from speeches. anthropoid
apes But surely the same argument may be
applied to other animals than man. and surely, if
Il be sound as applied to him, it is necessary to
project the vision forward, and admit the posi-
bility that other animals which already exhibit
marked capacity for progress may also in due
time evolve language. Even now DR.. Romanes
holds that many animals possess kind OF
language sufficient for primitive communication
There is evidence that some Of them understand
one another at least as well as do the snthropoid
apes; and between the germ-language OF these
latter and the click" language Of the Bushmen
and other backward human races he maintains
that the connection Is close enough to render II
eonceiyable that the second may have been
evolved from the first. No doubt the fact that
within the period OF human observation no ANNA
has developed language is trivial objection, 1ol
she observation period in TACT, the entlre perioe
OF human civilization, has been far too brief
Justify deAnitive conclusions II 1t takes hundreC
thousand years to evolve Bushman from al
anthropold ape--as DR.. Romanes thinks possible
it is clear that in a like period dogs and horse
might learn to talk; and whoever admits prac
sacally unlimited time as the main agent
evolution is sstopped from pursuing the theor!
,whs~A hmsts the evolutionary capacity Of tn
higher animals.
Nor is it possible upon any such hypothesis .
draw the psychological line at man. The acqu
sition Of language alone cannot demonstrate eN
elusive possession of SOUL for, as already pointe
out. those highest qualities which man refer
specially 20 psychic action, in contradistinctio