xpresses himself: 'The
relative weight of the head, of the thoracic and abdominal viscera,
tends therefore to throw it in front of the line, according to which
all the parts of the body bear down on the ground sustaining it; a
line which should be exactly perpendicular to this ground in order
that the standing position may be perfect. The following fact
supports this assertion: I have observed that infants with a large
head, the stomach protruding and the viscera loaded with fat,
accustom themselves with difficulty to stand up straight, and it is
not until the end of their second year that they dare to surrender
themselves to their proper forces; they stand subject to frequent
falls and have a natural tendency to revert to the quadrupedal
state.' (_Physiologie_, vol. ii., p. 268.)

"This disposition of the parts which cause the erect position of
man, being a state of activity, and consequently fatiguing, instead
of being a state of rest, would then betray in him an origin
analogous to that of the mammals, if his organization alone should
be taken into consideration.

"Now in order to follow, in all its particulars, the hypothesis
presented in the beginning of these observations, it is fitting to
add the following considerations:

"The individuals of the dominant race previously mentioned, having
taken possession of all the inhabitable places which were suitable
for them, and having to a very considerable extent multiplied their
necessities in proportion as the societies which they formed became
more numerous, were able equally to increase their ideas, and
consequently to feel the need of communicating them to their
fellows. We conceive that there would arise the necessity of
increasing and of varying in the same proportion the _signs_ adopted
for the communication of these ideas. It is then evident that the
members of this race would have to make continual efforts, and to
employ every possible means in these efforts, to create, multiply,
and render sufficiently varied the _signs_ which their ideas and
their numerous wants would render necessary.

"It is not so with any other animals; because, although the most
perfect among them, such as the _Quadrumana_, live mostly in troops,
since the eminent supremacy of the race mentioned they have remained
stationary as regards the improvement of their faculties, having
been driven out from everywhere