This is the case with man. In almost every respect,
except in brain and hand, he is surpassed by the carnivora, the cat,
for example. But muscle may be marked, in making up the aggregate,
on a scale of 500, and brain on a scale of 5,000, or perhaps of
50,000. A very slight difference in brain capacity outweighs a great
superiority in muscle in the struggle between man and the carnivora,
or between man and man.
The scale on which an organ is marked will be proportional to its
usefulness under the conditions given at a given time. During the
period of development of worms and lower vertebrates much muscle
with a little brain was more useful than more brain with less
muscle. Hence, as a rule, the more muscular survived; the brain
increasing slowly, at first apparently largely because of its
correlation with muscle and sense-organs. At a later date muscle,
tooth, and claw were more useful on the ground; brain and hand in
the trees. Hence carnivora ruled the ground, and certain arboreal
apes became continually more anthropoid. At a later date brain
became more useful even on the ground, and was marked on a higher
scale, because it could invent traps and weapons against which
muscle was of little avail. Just at present brain is of use to, and
valued by, a large portion of society in proportion to its
efficiency in making and selfishly spending money.
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