[2] See Masterpieces of Science, Vol. I, "Earth and Sky," Sir Charles
Lyell on Uniformity in geological change.

[3] The essay appears in "Natural Selection," London, 1870.

THE DESCENT OF MAN

CHARLES DARWIN

[Concluding chapter of "The Descent of Man," New York, D.
Appleton & Co.]

A brief summary will be sufficient to recall to the reader's mind the
more salient points in this work. Many of the views which have been
advanced are highly speculative, and some, no doubt, will prove
erroneous; but I have in every case given the reasons which have led me
to one view rather than to another. It seemed worth while to try how far
the principle of evolution would throw light on some of the more complex
problems in the natural history of man. False facts are highly injurious
to the progress of science, for they often endure long; but false views,
if supported by some evidence, do little harm, for every one takes a
salutary pleasure in proving their falseness; and, when this is done,
one path toward error is closed and the road to truth is often at the
same time opened.

The main conclusion arrived at in this work, and now held by many
naturalists who are well competent to form a sound judgment, is that man
is descended from some less highly organized form. The grounds upon
which this conclusion rests will never be shaken, for the close
similarity between man and the lower animals in embryonic development,
as well as in innumerable points of structure and constitution, both of
high and of the most trifling importance--the rudiments which he
retains, and the abnormal reversions to which he is occasionally
liable--are facts which cannot be disputed. They have long been known,
but, until recently, they told us nothing with respect to the origin of
man. Now, when viewed by the light of our knowledge of the whole organic
world, their meaning is unmistakable. The great principle of evolution
stands up clear and firm when these groups of facts are considered in
connection with others, such as the mutual affinities of the members of
the same group, their geographical distribution in past and present
times, and their geological succession. It is incredible that all these
facts should speak falsely. He who is not content to look, like a
savage, at the phenomena of Nature as disconnected, cannot any longer
believe that man is the work of a separate act of creation. He will be
forced to admit that the close resembla