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Of what his condition was when removed to a distance 200,000 or

300,000 years, when the majority of mankind were lower and nearer

the animals than any tribe now existing upon the earth, we cannot

even entertain conjecture. Plato (Laws) and Aristotle (Metaph.)

may have been more right than we imagine in supposing that some

forms of civilisation were discovered and lost several times

over. If we cannot argue that all barbarism is a degraded

civilization, neither can we set any limits to the depth of

degradation to which the human race may sink through war,

disease, or isolation. And if we are to draw inferences about the

origin of marriage from the practice of barbarous nations, we

should also consider the remoter analogy of the animals. Many

birds and animals, especially the carnivorous, have only one

mate, and the love and care of offspring which seems to be

natural is inconsistent with the primitive theory of marriage.