barbarous inhabitants of Tierra del Fuego, it struck me that the
possession of some property, a fixed abode, and the union of many
families under a chief, were the indispensable requisites for
civilisation. Such habits almost necessitate the cultivation of the
ground; and the first steps in cultivation would probably result, as I
have elsewhere shewn (8. The Variation of Animals and Plants under
Domestication, vol. i. p. 309.), from some such accident as the seeds
of a fruit-tree falling on a heap of refuse, and producing an unusually
fine variety. The problem, however, of the first advance of savages
towards civilisation is at present much too difficult to be solved.
NATURAL SELECTION AS AFFECTING CIVILISED NATIONS.
I have hitherto only considered the advancement of man from a
semi-human condition to that of the modern savage. But some remarks on
the action of natural selection on civilised nations may be worth
adding. This subject has been ably discussed by Mr. W.R. Greg (9.
Fraser s Magazine, Sept. 1868, p. 353. This article seems to have
struck many persons, and has given rise to two remarkable essays and a
rejoinder in the Spectator, Oct. 3rd and 17th, 1868. It has also been
discussed in the Quarterly Journal of Science, 1869, p. 152, and by
Mr. Lawson Tait in the Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science,
Feb. 1869, and by Mr. E. Ray Lankester in his Comparative Longevity,
1870, p. 128. Similar views appeared previously in the Australasian,
July 13, 1867. I have borrowed ideas from several of these writers.),
and previously by Mr. Wallace and Mr. Galton. (10. For Mr. Wallace, see
Anthropological Review, as before cited. Mr. Galton in Macmillan s
Magazine, Aug. 1865, p. 318; also his great work, Hereditary Genius,
1870.) Most of my remarks are taken from these three authors. With
savages, the weak in body or mind are soon eliminated; and those that
survive commonly exhibit a vigorous state of health. We civilised men,
on the other hand, do our utmost to check the process of elimination;
we build asylums for the imbecile, the maimed, and the sick; we
institute poor-laws; and our medical men exert their utmost skill to
save the life of every one to the last moment. There is reason to
believe that vaccination has preserved thousands, who from a weak
constitution would formerly have succumbed to small-pox. Thus the weak
members of civilised societies 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. It is surprising how soon a
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