Beginning of 1st chapter
-proposing the idea that there are variants of man
"He who wishes to decide whether man is the modified descendant of some pre-existing form, would probably first enquire whether man varies, however slightly, in bodily structure and in mental faculties; and if so, whether the variations are transmitted to his offspring in accordance with the laws which prevail with the lower animals."
Origin of Man, final paragraph of the Instinct chapter
-stating that the strongest in a species live, and the weakest die
"Finally, it may not be a logical deduction, but to my imagination it is far more satisfactory to look at such instincts as the young cuckoo ejecting its foster-brothers, ants making slaves, the larvae of ichneumonidae feeding within the live bodies of caterpillars, not as specially endowed or created instincts, but as small consequences of one general law leading to the advancement of all organic beings--namely, multiply, vary, let the strongest live and the weakest die."
First page, 1st chapter
-states that the variants could possibly be complete sub-species, not just variants
"It might also naturally be enquired whether man, like so many other animals, has given rise to varieties and sub-races, differing but slightly from each other, or to races differing so much that they must be classed as doubtful species?"
First page, 1st chapter
-wonders if a "race war" would be beneficial to mankind
"The enquirer would next come to the important point, whether man tends to increase at so rapid a rate, as to lead to occasional severe struggles for existence; and consequently to beneficial variations, whether in body or mind, being preserved, and injurious ones eliminated. Do the races or species of men, whichever term may be applied, encroach on and replace one another, so that some finally become extinct?"
1st page, 1st chapter
-answers YES to the previous question
"We shall see that all these questions, as indeed is obvious in respect to most of them, must be answered in the affirmative, in the same manner as with the lower animals."
Descent of Man, Chapter Six: On the Affinities and Genealogy of Man, On the Birthplace and Antiquity of Man
-dreams of a future for mankind when the black races of man, as well as the mountain gorilla of Africa, will hopefully become extinct, thus enhancing the chances for the evolutionary advancement of the more "civilized" races of man
-also states that both blacks and Aborigines occupy a sub-species between white Caucasians and Baboons
-he did not observe that they were "endangered species", he encouraged extinction
"At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes, as Professor Schaaffhausen has remarked, will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilized state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the Negro or Australian and the gorilla."
Chapter 7
-states that he will describe the differences between the sub-species (races) of man
"It is not my intention here to describe the several so-called races of men; but I am about to inquire what is the value of the differences between them under a classificatory point of view, and how they have originated."
-then gives opinions from both sides of the debate
Descent, Chapter 7, p.347, Benton Edition
