RECORD: Anon. 1868. A new work by Mr. Darwin [Descent of man]. The Academy 1 (9 October): 15-16.

REVISION HISTORY: Transcribed by Kees Rookmaaker, edited by John van Wyhe 1.2011. RN1

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[page] 15

A New Work by Mr. Darwin. — We have just learned that Mr. Darwin is preparing a new work, in which the main conclusions arrived at in his Origin of Species, and accepted by most of the younger naturalists throughout Europe, will be applied to Man. The work, to be published next year, will consist of three parts: I. The Descent of Man; II. On Sexual Selection; and III. On Expression of the Emotions. In the first of these the evidence will be mainly drawn from a comparison of the structure of man with that of the lower animals, and from the facts of embryology; the more general arguments from the laws of geographical distribution and of geographical succession being here inapplicable.

The difficult question of the gradual development of the characteristic moral and intellectual attributes of man from lower types will also be briefly considered.

With respect to the races or so-called species of Man, Mr. Darwin has been led to the conclusion that sexual selection has played an important part. This principle depends, on the one hand, on the rivalry between males of the same species for the possession of the female; and, on the other, on the choice by the females of the more

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attractive males — combined in each case with the transmission to the offspring of the characters of the more successful individuals of either sex. This part of the work will be illustrated by copious details.

In the supplementary discussion on the expression of emotions by man through muscular movements of the face and limbs, three questions will come under notice. (a.) How far is man endowed with muscles solely for the purpose of expressing emotion; (b.) how far the same expressions prevail among the different races of man; and (c.) in what manner the various animals exhibit their emotions.


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Citation: John van Wyhe, ed. 2002-. The Complete Work of Charles Darwin Online. (http://darwin-online.org.uk/)

File last updated 30 November, 2022