The Descent of Man: Human Sexuality
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PART I. THE DESCENT OR ORIGIN OF MAN.
CHAPTER I.
THE EVIDENCE OF THE DESCENT OF MAN FROM SOME LOWER FORM.
THE BODILY STRUCTURE OF MAN.
EMBRYONIC DEVELOPMENT.
RUDIMENTS.
CHAPTER II.
ON THE MANNER OF DEVELOPMENT OF MAN FROM SOME LOWER FORM.
THE DIRECT AND DEFINITE ACTION OF CHANGED CONDITIONS.
EFFECTS OF THE INCREASED USE AND DISUSE OF PARTS.
ARRESTS OF DEVELOPMENT.
REVERSION.
CORRELATED VARIATION.
RATE OF INCREASE.
NATURAL SELECTION.
CONCLUSION.
CHAPTER III.
COMPARISON OF THE MENTAL POWERS OF MAN AND THE LOWER ANIMALS.
ABSTRACTION, GENERAL CONCEPTIONS, SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS, MENTAL INDIVIDUALITY.
LANGUAGE.
SENSE OF BEAUTY.
BELIEF IN GOD—RELIGION.
CHAPTER IV.
MAN A SOCIAL ANIMAL.
THE MORE ENDURING SOCIAL INSTINCTS CONQUER THE LESS PERSISTENT INSTINCTS.
THE STRICTLY SOCIAL VIRTUES AT FIRST ALONE REGARDED.
CONCLUDING REMARKS.
SUMMARY OF THE LAST TWO CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER V.
ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTELLECTUAL AND MORAL FACULTIES DURING PRIMEVAL AND CIVILISED TIMES.
NATURAL SELECTION AS AFFECTING CIVILISED NATIONS.
ON THE EVIDENCE THAT ALL CIVILISED NATIONS WERE ONCE BARBAROUS.
CHAPTER VI.
ON THE AFFINITIES AND GENEALOGY OF MAN.
ON THE BIRTHPLACE AND ANTIQUITY OF MAN.
LOWER STAGES IN THE GENEALOGY OF MAN.
CONCLUSION.
CHAPTER VII.
ON THE RACES OF MAN.
ON THE EXTINCTION OF THE RACES OF MAN.
ON THE FORMATION OF THE RACES OF MAN.
NOTE ON THE RESEMBLANCES AND DIFFERENCES IN THE STRUCTURE AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BRAIN IN MAN AND APES BY PROFESSOR HUXLEY, F.R.S.
PART II. SEXUAL SELECTION.
CHAPTER VIII.
PRINCIPLES OF SEXUAL SELECTION.
NUMERICAL PROPORTION OF THE TWO SEXES.
POLYGAMY.
THE MALE GENERALLY MORE MODIFIED THAN THE FEMALE.
LAWS OF INHERITANCE.
INHERITANCE AT CORRESPONDING PERIODS OF LIFE.
INHERITANCE AT CORRESPONDING SEASONS OF THE YEAR.
INHERITANCE AS LIMITED BY SEX.
ON THE RELATION BETWEEN THE PERIOD OF DEVELOPMENT OF A CHARACTER AND ITS TRANSMISSION TO ONE SEX OR TO BOTH SEXES.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING REMARKS.
SUPPLEMENT ON THE PROPORTIONAL NUMBERS OF THE TWO SEXES IN ANIMALS BELONGING TO VARIOUS CLASSES.
MAN.
HORSES.
DOGS.
SHEEP.
FISH.
INSECTS.
CHAPTER IX.
SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS IN THE LOWER CLASSES OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM.
THE SUB-KINGDOM OF THE MOLLUSCA.
SUB-KINGDOM OF THE VERMES: CLASS, ANNELIDA (OR SEA-WORMS).
SUB-KINGDOM OF THE ARTHROPODA: CLASS, CRUSTACEA.
CLASS, ARACHNIDA (SPIDERS).
CLASS, MYRIAPODA.
CHAPTER X.
SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF INSECTS.
DIFFERENCE IN SIZE BETWEEN THE SEXES.
ORDER, THYSANURA.
ORDER, DIPTERA (FLIES).
ORDER, HEMIPTERA (FIELD-BUGS).
ORDER: HOMOPTERA.
ORDER, ORTHOPTERA (CRICKETS AND GRASSHOPPERS).
ORDER, NEUROPTERA.
ORDER, HYMENOPTERA.
ORDER, COLEOPTERA (BEETLES).
LAW OF BATTLE.
STRIDULATING ORGANS.
CHAPTER XI.
ORDER LEPIDOPTERA. (BUTTERFLIES AND MOTHS.)
DISPLAY.
MIMICRY.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUDING REMARKS ON INSECTS.
CHAPTER XII.
SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF FISHES, AMPHIBIANS, AND REPTILES.
AMPHIBIANS.
URODELA.
ANURA OR BATRACHIA.
REPTILES.
CHELONIA.
CROCODILIA.
OPHIDIA.
LACERTILIA.
CHAPTER XIII.
SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF BIRDS.
LAW OF BATTLE.
VOCAL AND INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC.
LOVE ANTICS AND DANCES.
DECORATION.
DISPLAY BY MALE BIRDS OF THEIR PLUMAGE.
CHAPTER XIV.
LENGTH OF COURTSHIP.
UNPAIRED BIRDS.
MENTAL QUALITIES OF BIRDS, AND THEIR TASTE FOR THE BEAUTIFUL.
PREFERENCE FOR PARTICULAR MALES BY THE FEMALES.
VARIABILITY OF BIRDS, AND ESPECIALLY OF THEIR SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS.
FORMATION AND VARIABILITY OF THE OCELLI OR EYE-LIKE SPOTS ON THE PLUMAGE OF BIRDS.
GRADATION OF SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS.
ARGUS PHEASANT.
CHAPTER XV.
CHAPTER XVI.
RULES OR CLASSES OF CASES.
CLASS I.
CLASS II.
WHEN THE ADULT FEMALE IS MORE CONSPICUOUS THAN THE ADULT MALE, THE YOUNG OF BOTH SEXES IN THEIR FIRST PLUMAGE RESEMBLE THE ADULT MALE.
CLASS III.
WHEN THE ADULT MALE RESEMBLES THE ADULT FEMALE, THE YOUNG OF BOTH SEXES HAVE A PECULIAR FIRST PLUMAGE OF THEIR OWN.
CLASS IV.
WHEN THE ADULT MALE RESEMBLES THE ADULT FEMALE, THE YOUNG OF BOTH SEXES IN THEIR FIRST PLUMAGE RESEMBLE THE ADULTS.
CLASS V.
WHEN THE ADULTS OF BOTH SEXES HAVE A DISTINCT WINTER AND SUMMER PLUMAGE, WHETHER OR NOT THE MALE DIFFERS FROM THE FEMALE, THE YOUNG RESEMBLE THE ADULTS OF BOTH SEXES IN THEIR WINTER DRESS, OR MUCH MORE RARELY IN THEIR SUMMER DRESS, OR THEY RESEMBLE THE FEMALES ALONE. OR THE YOUNG MAY HAVE AN INTERMEDIATE CHARACTER; OR, AGAIN, THEY MAY DIFFER GREATLY FROM THE ADULTS IN BOTH THEIR SEASONAL PLUMAGES.
CLASS VI.
THE YOUNG IN THEIR FIRST PLUMAGE DIFFER FROM EACH OTHER ACCORDING TO SEX; THE YOUNG MALES RESEMBLING MORE OR LESS CLOSELY THE ADULT MALES, AND THE YOUNG FEMALES MORE OR LESS CLOSELY THE ADULT FEMALES.
ON THE COLOUR OF THE PLUMAGE IN RELATION TO PROTECTION.
SUMMARY OF THE FOUR CHAPTERS ON BIRDS.
CHAPTER XVII.
SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF MAMMALS.
CHOICE IN PAIRING BY EITHER SEX OF QUADRUPEDS.
CHAPTER XVIII.
ODOUR.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE HAIR.
COLOUR OF THE HAIR AND OF THE NAKED SKIN.
EQUAL TRANSMISSION OF ORNAMENTAL CHARACTERS TO BOTH SEXES.
QUADRUMANA.
SUMMARY.
PART III.
SEXUAL SELECTION IN RELATION TO MAN, AND CONCLUSION.
CHAPTER XIX.
SECONDARY SEXUAL CHARACTERS OF MAN.
LAW OF BATTLE.
DIFFERENCE IN THE MENTAL POWERS OF THE TWO SEXES.
VOICE AND MUSICAL POWERS.
THE INFLUENCE OF BEAUTY IN DETERMINING THE MARRIAGES OF MANKIND.
CHAPTER XX.
THE CAUSES WHICH PREVENT OR CHECK THE ACTION OF SEXUAL SELECTION WITH SAVAGES.
INFANTICIDE.
EARLY BETROTHALS AND SLAVERY OF WOMEN.
THE MANNER OF ACTION OF SEXUAL SELECTION WITH MANKIND.
ABSENCE OF HAIR ON THE BODY, AND ITS DEVELOPMENT ON THE FACE AND HEAD.
COLOUR OF THE SKIN.
SUMMARY.
CHAPTER XXI.
GENERAL SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION.
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE.
ON SEXUAL SELECTION IN RELATION TO MONKEYS.
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About the author
Charles Robert Darwin, FRS ( 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist and geologist, best known for his contributions to evolutionary theory. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestors, and in a joint publication with Alfred Russel Wallace introduced his scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection, in which the struggle for existence has a similar effect to the artificial selection involved in selective breeding.
Darwin published his theory of evolution with compelling evidence in his 1859 book On the Origin of Species, overcoming scientific rejection of earlier concepts of transmutation of species. By the 1870s, the scientific community and much of the general public had accepted evolution as a fact. However, many favoured competing explanations and it was not until the emergence of the modern evolutionary synthesis from the 1930s to the 1950s that a broad consensus developed in which natural selection was the basic mechanism of evolution. In modified form, Darwin's scientific discovery is the unifying theory of the life sciences, explaining the diversity of life.
Darwin's early interest in nature led him to neglect his medical education at the University of Edinburgh; instead, he helped to investigate marine invertebrates. Studies at the University of Cambridge (Christ's College) encouraged his passion for natural science. His five-year voyage on HMS Beagle established him as an eminent geologist whose observations and theories supported Charles Lyell's uniformitarian ideas, and publication of his journal of the voyage made him famous as a popular author.
Puzzled by the geographical distribution of wildlife and fossils he collected on the voyage, Darwin began detailed investigations and in 1838 conceived his theory of natural selection. Although he discussed his ideas with several naturalists, he needed time for extensive research and his geological work had priority. He was writing up his theory in 1858 when Alfred Russel Wallace sent him an essay that described the same idea, prompting immediate joint publication of both of their theories. Darwin's work established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature. In 1871 he examined human evolution and sexual selection in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex, followed by The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals. His research on plants was published in a series of books, and in his final book, he examined earthworms and their effect on soil.
Darwin became internationally famous, has been described as one of the most influential figures in human history, and his pre-eminence as a scientist was honoured by burial in Westminster Abbey.
