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1、1871THEDESCENTOFMANbyCharlesDarwinINTRODUCTION.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------THENATUREofthefollowingworkwillbebestunderstoodbyabriefaccountofhowitcametobewritten.DuringmanyyearsIcollectednotesontheoriginordescentofman
2、,withoutanyintentionofpublishingonthesubject,butratherwiththedeterminationnottopublish,asIthoughtthatIshouldthusonlyaddtotheprejudicesagainstmyviews.Itseemedtomesufficienttoindicate,inthefirsteditionofmyOriginofSpecies,thatbythiswork"lightwouldbethrownontheoriginofma
3、nandhishistory";andthisimpliesthatmanmustbeincludedwithotherorganicbeingsinanygeneralconclusionrespectinghismannerofappearanceonthisearth.Nowthecasewearsawhollydifferentaspect.WhenanaturalistlikeCarlVogtventurestosayinhisaddressasPresidentoftheNationalInstitutionofGe
4、neva(1869),"personne,enEuropeaumoins,n'oseplussoutenirlacreationindependanteetdetoutespieces,desespeces,"itismanifestthatatleastalargenumberofnaturalistsmustadmitthatspeciesarethemodifieddescendantsofotherspecies;andthisespeciallyholdsgoodwiththeyoungerandrisingnatur
5、alists.Thegreaternumberaccepttheagencyofnaturalselection;thoughsomeurge,whetherwithjusticethefuturemustdecide,thatIhavegreatlyoverrateditsimportance.Oftheolderandhonouredchiefsinnaturalscience,manyunfortunatelyarestillopposedtoevolutionineveryform.Inconsequenceofthev
6、iewsnowadoptedbymostnaturalists,andwhichwillultimately,asineveryothercase,befollowedbyotherswhoarenotscientific,Ihavebeenledtoputtogethermynotes,soastoseehowfarthegeneralconclusionsarrivedatinmyformerworkswereapplicabletoman.Thisseemedallthemoredesirable,asIhadneverd
7、eliberatelyappliedtheseviewstoaspeciestakensingly.Whenweconfineourattentiontoanyoneform,wearedeprivedoftheweightyargumentsderivedfromthenatureoftheaffinitieswhichconnecttogetherwholegroupsoforganisms-theirgeographicaldistributioninpastandpresenttimes,andtheirgeologic
8、alsuccession.Thehomologicalstructure,embryologicaldevelopment,andrudimentaryorgansofaspeciesremaintobeconsidered,whetheritbemanoran
