The Present Evolution of Man

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1896. Excerpt: ... PHYSICAL EVOLUTION CHAPTER I It is a common opinion that, in consequence of man's very extensive conquest over the forces of nature, he is no longer under the operation of that law which, in the vast majority of instances, bids species change in adaption to a changing environment, or perish, and that therefore his evolution has ceased. Dr. Moxon expressed this opinion when he said, in the passage quoted at the beginning of this work, that now the plan is so turned about by the arrival of man on the scene, and by his civilization, that you cannot watch Darwin and Huxley themselves without seeing that the struggle that they and other good men wage is no struggle for existence. It is true that civilized man no longer contends against wild beasts, and that, generally speaking, he is safe from cold and hunger and thirst; no longer does he necessarily perish if he be weak of limb or deficient in cunning, or because he cannot endure prolonged exposure or privation. Nevertheless, it is also true that the strong in mind and body are still the more successful in securing mates, and in providing suitable food and shelter for them, and for their offspring, who in the next generation likewise wage a successful strife. That the evolution of physical and mental powers in the ancestral direction has not entirely ceased seems to be proved by the apparently well-ascertained fact, that moderns have on the whole larger bodies and brains than had their ancestors of five hundred years or more ago. The ancient Greeks and Romans were certainly of extraordinary mental prowess, but it is more than probable that they surpassed our less remote ancestors only because the environment in which they lived was more favourable than the mediaeval to the acquirement of fit mental traits; ...