File:The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex (1874) (20680765739).jpg

Title: The descent of man, and selection in relation to sex
Identifier: descentofmansele1874darw (find matches)
Year: 1874 (1870s)
Authors: Darwin, Charles, 1809-1882
Subjects: Evolution; Natural selection; Heredity; Human beings; Sexual selection in animals; Sexual dimorphism (Animals); Sex differences
Publisher: New York : A. L. Burt
Contributing Library: Harold B. Lee Library
Digitizing Sponsor: Brigham Young University

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J 590 THE DESCENT OF MAN. experience, male dogs go on growing in stature till they are from twelve to eighteen months old, and in weight till from eighteen to twenty-four months old; while the females cease increasing in stature at the age of from nine to four- teen or fifteen months, and in weight at the age of from twelve to fifteen months. From these various statements it is clear that the full difference in size between the male and female Scotch deer-hound is not acquired until rather late in life. The males almost exclusively are used for coursing, for, as Mr. Mc- Neill informs me, the fe« males have not suflBcient strength and weight to pull down a full-grown deer. From the names used in old legends it appears, as I hear from Mr. Cupples, that at a very ancient period the males were the most celebrated, the females being mentioned only as .,, , . the mothers of famous Fi^. 65, Head of common wud boar^ in j^^„ tt^«^^ ^„^: prime of life (from Brehm). dogS. HenCC, durmg many generations it is the male which has been chiefly tested for strength, size, speed and courage, and the best will have been bred from. As, however, the males do not attain their full dimensions until rather late in life they will have tended, in accordance with the law often indicated, to transmit their characters to their male offspring alone; and thus the great inequality in size between the sexes of the Scotch deer-hound may probably be accounted for. The males of some few quadrupeds possess organs or parts developed solely as a means of defense against the attacks of other males. Some kinds of deer use, as we have seen, the upper branches of their horns chiefly or exclusively for defending themselves; and the Oryx ante- lope, as I am informed by Mr. Bartlett, fences most skill- fully with his long, gently curved horns; but these are likewise used as organs of offense. The same observer remarks that rhinoceroses in fighting parry each other^s sidelong blows with their horns^ which clatter loudly
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