The main conclusion arrived at in this work, namely that man is descended from some lowly-organised form, will, I regret to think, be highly distasteful to many persons. But there can hardly be a doubt that we are descended from barbarians. The astonishment which I felt on first seeing a party of Fuegians on a wild and broken sh.o.r.e will never be forgotten by me, for the reflection at once rushed into my mind-such were our ancestors. These men were absolutely naked and bedaubed with paint, their long hair was tangled, their mouths frothed with excitement, and their expression was wild, startled, and distrustful.
They possessed hardly any arts, and like wild animals lived on what they could catch; they had no government, and were merciless to every one not of their own small tribe. He who has seen a savage in his native land will not feel much shame, if forced to acknowledge that the blood of some more humble creature flows in his veins. For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his keeper; or from that old baboon, who, descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs-as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up b.l.o.o.d.y sacrifices, practises infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superst.i.tions.
Man may be excused for feeling some pride at having risen, though not through his own exertions, to the very summit of the organic scale; and the fact of his having thus risen, instead of having been aboriginally placed there, may give him hopes for a still higher destiny in the distant future. But we are not here concerned with hopes or fears, only with the truth as far as our reason allows us to discover it. I have given the evidence to the best of my ability; and we must acknowledge, as it seems to me, that man with all his n.o.ble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature, with his G.o.d-like intellect which has penetrated into the movements and const.i.tution of the solar system-with all these exalted powers-Man still bears in his bodily frame the indelible stamp of his lowly origin.
[1] Yarrell"s "Hist. of British Fishes," vol. ii. 1836, p. 417, 425, 436. Dr. Gunther informs me that the spines in _R.
clavata_ are peculiar to the female.
[2] See Mr. R. Warington"s interesting articles in "Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist." Oct. 1852 and Nov. 1855.
[3] Noel Humphreys, "River Gardens," 1857.
[4] Loudon"s "Mag. of Natural History," vol. iii. 1830, p. 331.
[5] "The Field," June 29th, 1867. For Mr. Shaw"s statement, see "Edinburgh Review," 1843. Another experienced observer (Scrope"s "Days of Salmon Fishing," p. 60) remarks that the male would, if he could, keep, like the stag, all other males away.
[6] Yarrell, "History of British Fishes," vol. ii. 1836, p. 10.
[7] "The Naturalist in Vancouver"s Island," vol. i. 1866, p.
54.
[8] "Scandinavian Adventures," vol. i. 1854, p. 100, 104.
[9] See Yarrell"s account of the Rays in his "Hist. of British Fishes," vol. ii. 1836, p. 416, with an excellent figure, and p. 422, 432.
[10] As quoted in "The Farmer," 1868, p. 369.
[11] I have drawn up this description from Yarrell"s "British Fishes," vol. i. 1836, p. 261 and 266.
[12] "Catalogue of Acanth. Fishes in the British Museum," by Dr. Gunther, 1861, p. 138-151.
[13] "Game Birds of Sweden," &c., 1867, p. 466.
[14] With respect to this and the following species I am indebted to Dr. Gunther for information: see also his paper on the Fishes of Central America, in "Transact. Zoolog. Soc." vol.
vi. 1868, p. 485.
[15] Dr. Gunther makes this remark; "Catalogue of Fishes in the British Museum," vol. iii. 1861, p. 141.
[16] See Dr. Gunther on this genus, in "Proc. Zoolog. Soc."
1868, p. 232.
[17] F. Buckland, in "Land and Water," July, 1868, p. 377, with a figure.
[18] Dr. Gunther, "Catalogue of Fishes," vol. iii. p. 221 and 240.
[19] See also "A Journey in Brazil," by Prof. and Mrs. Aga.s.siz, 1868, p. 220.
[20] Yarrell, "British Fishes," vol. ii. 1836, p. 10, 12, 35.
[21] W. Thompson, in "Annals and Mag. of Nat. History," vol.
vi. 1841, p. 440.
[22] "The American Agriculturist," 1868, p. 100.
[23] "Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist." Oct. 1852.
[24] Loudon"s "Mag. of Nat. Hist." vol. v. 1832, p. 681.
[25] Bory de Saint Vincent, in "Dict. Cla.s.s. d"Hist. Nat." tom.
ix. 1826, p. 151.
[26] Owing to some remarks on this subject, made in my work "On the Variation of Animals under Domestication," Mr. W. F. Mayers ("Chinese Notes and Queries," Aug. 1868, p. 123) has searched the ancient Chinese encyclopedias. He finds that goldfish were first reared in confinement during the Sung Dynasty, which commenced A.D. 960. In the year 1129 these fishes abounded. In another place it is said that since the year 1548 there has been "produced at Hang-chow a variety called the fire-fish, from its intensely red colour. It is universally admired, and there is not a household where it is not cultivated, _in rivalry as to its colour_, and as a source of profit."
[27] "Westminster Review," July, 1867, p. 7.
[28] "Indian Cyprinidae," by Mr. J. M"Clelland, "Asiatic Researches," vol. xix. part ii. 1839, p. 230.
[29] "Proc. Zoolog. Soc." 1865, p. 327, pl. xiv. and xv.
[30] Yarrell, "British Fishes," vol. ii. p. 11.
[31] According to the observations of M. Gerbe; see Gunther"s "Record of Zoolog. Literature," 1865, p. 194.
[32] Cuvier, "Regne Animal," vol. ii. 1829, p. 242.
[33] See Mr. Warington"s most interesting description of the habits of the _Gasterosteus leiurus_, in "Annals and Mag. of Nat. Hist." November, 1855.
[34] Prof. Wyman, in "Proc. Boston Soc. of Nat. Hist." Sept.
15, 1857. Also W. Turner, in "Journal of Anatomy and Phys."
Nov. 1, 1866, p. 78. Dr. Gunther has likewise described other cases.
[35] Yarrell, "Hist. of British Fishes," vol. ii. 1836, p. 329, 338.
[36] Dr. Gunther, since publishing an account of this species in "The Fishes of Zanzibar," by Col. Playfair, 1866, p. 137, has re-examined the specimens, and has given me the above information.
[37] The Rev. C. Kingsley, in "Nature," May, 1870, p. 40.
[38] Bell, "History of British Reptiles," 2nd edit. 1849, p.
156-159.
[39] Bell, ibid. p. 146, 151.
[40] "Zoology of the Voyage of the "Beagle,"" 1843. "Reptiles,"
by Mr. Bell, p. 49.
[41] "The Reptiles of India," by Dr. A. Gunther, Ray Soc. 1864, p. 413.
[42] Bell, "History of British Reptiles," 1849, p. 93.