PDF - Wallace Online
PDF - Wallace Online PDF - Wallace Online
190 NATURAL SELECTION ixthan 19 inches in circumference, or has less than 65 cubic inchesof brain, he is invariably idiotic. When we join with this theequally undisputed fact that great men, those who combineacute perceptionwith great reflective power, strong passions,and general energy of character, such as Napoleon, Cuvier, andO'Connell, have always heads far above the average size, wemust feel satisfied that volume of brain is one, and perhaps themost important, measure of intellect ;and this being the case,we cannot fail to be struck with the apparent anomaly thatmany of the lowest savages should have as much brains asaverage Europeans. The idea is suggested of a surplusage ofpower of an instrument beyond the needs of its possessor.Comparison of the Brains of Man and of Anthropoid Apes.In order to discover if there isany foundation for this notion,let us compare the brain of man with that of animals. Theadult male orang-utan is quite as bulky as a small sized man,while the gorillais considerably above the average size ofman, as estimated by bulk and weight ; yet the former has abrain of only 28 cubic inches, the latter, one of 30, or, in thelargest specimen yet known, of 34 J cubic inches. We haveseen that the average cranial capacity of the lowest savages isprobably not less than five-sixths of that of the highest civilisedraces, while the brain of the anthropoid apes scarcely amountsto one-third of that of man, in both cases taking the average ;or the proportions may be more clearly represented by thefollowing figures Anthropoid : apes, 1 ; savages, 26; civilisedman, 32. But do these figures at all approximately representthe relative intellect of the three groups ? Is the savage reallyno further removed from the philosopher, and so much removedfrom the ape, as these figures would indicate ? In consideringthis question, we must not forget that the heads of savages varyin size almost as much as those of civilised Europeans. Thus,while the largest Teutonic skull in Dr. Davis's collection is 1 1 2 -4cubic inches, there is an Araucanian of 1 1 5 an '5, Esquimaux of113-1, a Marquesan of HO'6, a Negro of 105 '8, and even anAustralian of 104 '5 cubic inches. We may, therefore, fairlycompare the savage with the highest European on the one side,and with the orang, chimpanzee, or gorilla, on the other,and see whether there isany relative proportion betweenbrain and intellect.
ix LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION IN MAN 191Range of Intellectual Power in Man. First, let us considerwhat this wonderful instrument, the brain, is capable of inits higher developments. In Mr. Galton's interesting workon Hereditary Genius, he remarks on the enormous differencebetween the intellectual power and grasp of the welltrainedmathematician or man of science, and the averageEnglishman. The number of marks obtained by highwranglers is often more than thirty times as great as thatof the men at the bottom of the honour list, who are stillof fair mathematical ability ;and it is the opinion of skilledexaminers that even this does not represent the full differenceof intellectual power. If, now, we descend to those savagetribes who only count to three or five, and who find it impossibleto comprehend the addition of two and three withouthaving the objects actually before them, we feel that thechasm between them and the good mathematician is so vastthat a thousand to one will probably not fully express it.'Yet we know that the mass of brain might be nearly thesame in both, or might not differ in a greater proportion thanas 5 to 6 ;whence we may fairly infer that the savage possessesa brain capable, if cultivated and developed, of performingwork of a kind and degree far beyond what he everrequires it to do.Again, let us consider the power of the higher or even theaverage civilised man, of forming abstract ideas, and carryingon more or less complex trains of reasoning. Our languagesare full of terms to express abstract conceptions. Our businessand our pleasuresinvolve the continual foresight of manycontingencies. Our law, our government, and our sciencecontinually require us to reason through a variety of complicatedphenomena to the expected result. Even our games,such as chess, compel us to exercise all these faculties in aremarkable degree. Compare this with the savage languages,which contain no words for abstract conceptions the utter;want of foresightof the savage man beyond his simplestnecessities; his inability to combine, or to compare, or toreason on any general subject that does not immediatelyappeal to his senses. So, in his moral and aesthetic faculties,the savage has none of those wide sympathieswith all nature,those conceptionsof the infinite, of the good, of the sublime
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ix LIMITS OF NATURAL SELECTION IN MAN 191Range of Intellectual Power in Man. First, let us considerwhat this wonderful instrument, the brain, is capable of inits higher developments. In Mr. Galton's interesting workon Hereditary Genius, he remarks on the enormous differencebetween the intellectual power and grasp of the welltrainedmathematician or man of science, and the averageEnglishman. The number of marks obtained by highwranglers is often more than thirty times as great as thatof the men at the bottom of the honour list, who are stillof fair mathematical ability ;and it is the opinion of skilledexaminers that even this does not represent the full differenceof intellectual power. If, now, we descend to those savagetribes who only count to three or five, and who find it impossibleto comprehend the addition of two and three withouthaving the objects actually before them, we feel that thechasm between them and the good mathematician is so vastthat a thousand to one will probably not fully express it.'Yet we know that the mass of brain might be nearly thesame in both, or might not differ in a greater proportion thanas 5 to 6 ;whence we may fairly infer that the savage possessesa brain capable, if cultivated and developed, of performingwork of a kind and degree far beyond what he everrequires it to do.Again, let us consider the power of the higher or even theaverage civilised man, of forming abstract ideas, and carryingon more or less complex trains of reasoning. Our languagesare full of terms to express abstract conceptions. Our businessand our pleasuresinvolve the continual foresight of manycontingencies. Our law, our government, and our sciencecontinually require us to reason through a variety of complicatedphenomena to the expected result. Even our games,such as chess, compel us to exercise all these faculties in aremarkable degree. Compare this with the savage languages,which contain no words for abstract conceptions the utter;want of foresightof the savage man beyond his simplestnecessities; his inability to combine, or to compare, or toreason on any general subject that does not immediatelyappeal to his senses. So, in his moral and aesthetic faculties,the savage has none of those wide sympathieswith all nature,those conceptionsof the infinite, of the good, of the sublime
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