Here Rousseau appends a long note in which he speculates about evolution among humans. He wonders whether primates encountered by travelers "were not in fact real savage men, whose race, dispersed since antiquity in the forests, with no opportunity to develop any of its potential faculties, had not acquired any measure of perfection, and was still found in the primitive state of nature" (155).

Rousseau goes on to tell several stories about apes and one about a feral child. Reading this note (pages 154-161) is interesting; as you read, find where it supports Rousseau's arguments about the nature of savage man.