The History of Creation Volume II Part 18

The numerous and interesting discoveries presented to us by these extensive investigations of late years on the primaeval history of the human race, place the important fact (long since probable for many other reasons) beyond a doubt, that the human race, as such, has existed for more than twenty thousand years. But it is also probable that more than a hundred thousand years, perhaps many hundred thousands of years, have elapsed since its first appearance; and, in contrast to this, it must seem very absurd that our calendars still represent the "Creation of the World, according to Calvisius," to have taken place 5821 years ago.

Now, whether we reckon the period during which the human race, as such, has existed and diffused itself over the earth, as twenty thousand, a hundred thousand, or many hundred thousands of years, the lapse of time is in any case immensely small in comparison with the inconceivable length of time which was requisite for the gradual development of the long chain of human ancestors. This is evident even from the small thickness of all Diluvial deposits in comparison with the Tertiary, and of these again in comparison with the preceding deposits. (Compare p.

22.) But the infinitely long series of slowly and gradually developing animal forms from the simplest Moneron to the Amphioxus, from this to the Primaeval Fish, from the Primaeval Fish to the first Mammal, and again, from the latter to Man, also require for their historical development a succession of periods probably comprising many thousands of millions of years. (Compare vol. i. p. 129.)

Those processes of development which led to the origin of the most Ape-like Men out of the most Man-like Apes must be looked for in the two adaptational changes which, above all others, are distinctive of Man, namely, _upright walk_ and _articulate speech_. These two _physiological_ functions necessarily originated together with two corresponding _morphological_ trans.m.u.tations, with which they stand in the closest correlation, namely, the _differentiation of the two pairs of limbs and the differentiation of the larynx_. The important perfecting of these organs and their functions must have necessarily and powerfully reacted upon the differentiation of the brain and the mental activities dependent upon it, and thus have paved the way for the endless career in which Man has since progressively developed, and in which he has far outstripped his animal ancestors. (Gen. Morph. ii. p.

430.)

The first and earliest of these three great processes in the development of the human organism probably was the _higher differentiation and the perfecting of the extremities_ which was effected by the _habit of an upright walk_. By the fore feet more and more exclusively adopting and retaining the function of grasping and handling, and the hinder feet more and more exclusively the function of standing and walking, there was developed that contrast between the hand and foot which is indeed not exclusively characteristic of man, but which is much more strongly developed in him than in the apes most like men. This differentiation of the fore and hinder extremities was, however, not merely most advantageous for their own development and perfecting, but it was followed at the same time by a whole series of very important changes in other parts of the body. The whole vertebral column, and more especially the girdle of the pelvis and shoulders, as also the muscles belonging to them, thereby experienced those changes which distinguish the human body from that of the most man-like apes. These trans.m.u.tations were probably accomplished long before the origin of articulate speech; and the human race thus existed for long, with an upright walk and the characteristic human form of body connected with it, before the actual development of human language, which would have completed the second and the more important part of human development. We may therefore distinguish a special (21st) stage in the series of our human ancestors, namely, Speechless Man (Alalus), or Ape-man (Pithecanthropus), whose body was indeed formed exactly like that of Man in all essential characteristics, but who did not as yet possess articulate speech.

The origin of _articulate language_, and the _higher differentiation and perfecting of the larynx_ connected with it, must be looked upon as only a later, and the most important stage in the process of the development of Man. It was, doubtless, this process which above all others helped to create the deep chasm between man and animal, and which also first caused the most important progress in the mental activity and the perfecting of the brain connected with it. There indeed exists in very many animals a language for communicating sensations, desires, and thoughts, partly a language of gestures, partly a language of feeling or touch, partly a language of cries or sounds, but a real language of words or ideas, a so-called "articulate" language, which by abstraction changes sounds into words, and words into sentences, belongs, as far as we know, exclusively to Man.

The origin of human language must, more than anything else, have had an enn.o.bling and transforming influence upon the mental life of Man, and consequently upon his brain. The higher differentiation and perfecting of the brain and mental life as its highest function developed in direct correlation with its expression by means of speech. Hence, the highest authorities in comparative philology justly see in the development of human speech the most important process which distinguishes Man from his animal ancestors. This has been especially set forth by August Schleicher, in his treatise "On the Importance of Speech for the Natural History of Man."(34) In this relation we see one of the closest connections between comparative zoology and comparative philology; and here the theory of development a.s.signs to the latter the task of following the origin of language step by step. This task, as interesting as it is important, has of late years been successfully undertaken by many inquirers, but more especially by Wilhelm Bleek, who has been occupied for seventeen years in South Africa with the study of the languages of the lowest races of men, and hence has been enabled to solve the question. August Schleicher more especially discusses, in accordance with the theory of selection, how the various forms of speech, like all other organic forms and functions, have developed by the process of natural selection, and have divided into many species and dialects.

I have no s.p.a.ce here to follow the process of the formation of language, and must refer in regard to this to the above-mentioned important work of Wilhelm Bleek, "On the Origin of Language."(35) But we have still to mention one of the most important results of comparative philology, which is of the highest importance to the genealogy of the human species, that is, that _human language was probably of a multiple, or polyphyletic origin_. Human speech, as such, did not develop probably until the genus of Speechless or Primaeval Man, or Ape Man, had separated into several kinds or species. In each of these human species, and perhaps even in the different sub-species and varieties of this species, language developed freely and independently of the others. At least Schleicher, one of the first authorities on the subject, maintains that "even the beginnings of language-in sounds as well as in regard to ideas and views which were reflected in sounds, and further, in regard to their capability of development-must have been different. For it is positively impossible to trace all languages to one and the same primaeval language. An impartial investigation rather shows that there are as many primaeval languages as there are races."(34) In like manner, Friederich Muller(41) and other eminent linguists a.s.sume a free and independent origin of the families of languages and their primaeval stocks. It is well known, however, that the boundaries of these tribes of languages and their ramifications are by no means always the boundaries of the different human species, or the so-called "races,"

distinguished by us on account of their bodily characteristics. This, as well as the complicated relations of the mixture of races, and the various forms of hybrids, is the great difficulty lying in the way of tracing the human pedigree in its individual branches, species, races, varieties, etc.

In spite of these great and serious difficulties, we cannot here refrain from taking one more cursory glance at the ramification of the human pedigree, and at the same time considering, from the point of view of the theory of descent, the much discussed question of the monophyletic or polyphyletic origin of the human race, and its species or races. As is well known, two great parties have for a long time been at war with each other upon this question; the _monophylists_ (or monogenists) maintain the unity of origin and the blood relations.h.i.+p of all races of men. The _polyphylists_ (or polygenists), on the other hand, are of opinion that the different races of men are of independent origin.

According to our previous genealogical investigations we cannot doubt that, at least in a _wide sense_, the monophyletic opinion is the right one. For even supposing that the trans.m.u.tation of Man-like Apes into Men had taken place several times, yet those Apes themselves would again be allied by the one pedigree common to the whole order of Apes. The question therefore would always be merely about a nearer or remoter degree of blood relations.h.i.+p. In a _narrower sense_, on the other hand, the polyphylist's opinion would probably be right, inasmuch as the different primaeval languages have developed quite independently of one another. Hence, if the origin of an articulate language is considered as the real and princ.i.p.al act of humanification, and the species of the human race are distinguished according to the roots of their language, it might be said that the different races of men had originated, independently of one another, by different branches of primaeval, speechless men directly springing from apes, and forming their own primaeval language. Still they would of course be connected further up or lower down at their root, and thus all would finally be derived from a common primaeval stock.

While we hold the latter of these convictions, and while we for many reasons believe that the different species of speechless primaeval men were all derived from a common ape-like human form, we do not of course mean to say that _all men are descended from one pair_. This latter supposition, which our modern Indo-Germanic culture has taken from the Semitic myth of the Mosaic history of creation, is by no means tenable.

The whole of the celebrated dispute, as to whether the human race is descended from a single pair or not, rests upon a completely false way of putting the question. It is just as senseless as the dispute as to whether all sporting dogs or all race-horses are descended from a single pair. We might with equal justice ask whether all Germans or all Englishmen are "descended from a single pair," etc. A "first human pair," or "a first man," has in fact never existed, any more than there ever existed a first pair or a first individual of Englishmen, Germans, race-horses, or sporting dogs. The origin of a new species, of course, always results from an existing species, by a long chain of many different individuals sharing the slow process of transformation.

Supposing that we had all the different pairs of Human Apes and Ape-like Men before us-which belong to the true ancestors of the human race-it would even then be quite impossible (without doing so most arbitrarily) to call any one of these pairs of ape-like men "the first pair." As little can we derive each of the twelve races or species of men, which we shall consider directly, from a "first pair."

The difficulties met with in cla.s.sifying the different races or species of men are quite the same as those which we discover in cla.s.sifying animal and vegetable species. In both cases forms apparently quite different are connected with one another by a chain of intermediate forms of transition. In both cases the dispute as to what is a kind or a species, what a race or a variety, can never be determined. Since Blumenbach's time, as is well known, it has been thought that mankind may be divided into five races or varieties, namely: (1) the Ethiopian, or black race (African negro); (2) the Malayan, or brown race (Malays, Polynesians, and Australians); (3) the Mongolian, or yellow race (the princ.i.p.al inhabitants of Asia and the Esquimaux of North America); (4) the Americans, or red race (the aborigines of America); and (5) the Caucasian, or white race (Europeans, north Africans, and south-western Asiatics). All of these five races of men, according to the Jewish legend of creation, are said to have been descended from "a single pair"-Adam and Eve,-and in accordance with this are said to be varieties of one kind or species. If, however, we compare them without prejudice, there can be no doubt that the differences of these five races are as great and even greater than the "specific differences" by which zoologists and botanists distinguish recognised "good" animal and vegetable species ("bonae species"). The excellent palaeontologist Quenstedt is right in maintaining that, "if Negroes and Caucasians were snails, zoologists would universally agree that they represented two very excellent species, which could never have originated from one pair by gradual divergence."

The characteristics by which the races of men are gradually distinguished are partly taken from the formation of the hair, partly from the colour of the skin, and partly from the formation of the skull.

In regard to the last character, two extremes are distinguished, namely, long heads and short heads. In _long-headed men_ (Dolichocephali), whose strongest development is found in Negroes and Australians, the skull is extended, narrow, and compressed on the right and left. In _short-headed men_ (Brachycephali), on the other hand, the skull is compressed in an exactly opposite manner, from the front to the back, is short and broad, which is especially striking in the case of the Mongolians.

_Medium-headed men_ (Mesocephali), standing between the two extremes, predominate especially among Americans. In every one of these three groups we find men with _slanting teeth_ (Prognathi), whose jaws, like those of the animal snout, strongly project, and whose front teeth therefore slope in front, and men with _straight teeth_ (Orthognathi), whose jaws project but little, and whose front teeth stand perpendicularly. During the last ten years a great deal of time and trouble have been devoted to the careful examination and measurement of the forms of skulls, which have, however, not been rewarded by corresponding results. For within a single species, as for example within the Mediterranean species, the form of the skull may vary so much that both extremes are met with in the same species. Much better starting-points for the cla.s.sification of the human species are furnished by the nature of the hair and speech, because they are much more strictly hereditary than the form of the skull.

Comparative philology seems especially to be becoming an authority in this matter. In the latest great work on the races of men, which Friederich Muller has published in his excellent "Ethnography,"(42) he justly places language in the fore-ground. Next to it the nature of the hair of the head is of great importance; for although it is in itself of course only a subordinate morphological character, yet it seems to be strictly transmitted within the race. Of the twelve species of men distinguished on the following table (p. 308), the four lower species are characterised by the woolly nature of the hair of their heads; every hair is flattened like a tape, and thus its section is oval. These four species of _woolly-haired men_ (Ulotrichi) we may reduce into two groups-tuft-haired and fleecy-haired. The hair on the head of _tuft-haired men_ (Lophocomi), Papuans and Hottentots, grows in unequally divided small tufts. The woolly hair of _fleecy-haired men_ (Eriocomi), on the other hand, in Caffres and Negroes, grows equally all over the skin of the head. All Ulotrichi, or woolly-haired men, have slanting teeth and long heads, and the colour of their skin, hair, and eyes is always very dark. All are inhabitants of the Southern Hemisphere; it is only in Africa that they come north of the equator.

They are on the whole at a much lower stage of development, and more like apes, than most of the Lissotrichi, or straight-haired men. The Ulotrichi are incapable of a true inner culture and of a higher mental development, even under the favourable conditions of adaptation now offered to them in the United States of North America. No woolly-haired nation has ever had an important "history."

SYSTEMATIC SURVEY

_Of the 12 Species of Men and their 36 Races._

(Compare Plate XV.)

-------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------+------------- _Species._ | _Races._ | _Home._ | _Immigrated_ | | | _from the_ -------------------+--------------------------+----------------------------+------------- { 1. =Papuan= { 1. Nigritos Malacca, Philippine West { +h.o.m.o Papua+ { Islands { { 2. New Guinea men New Guinea West { 2. =Hottentot= { 3. Melanesians Melanesia North-west { +h.o.m.o+ { 4. Tasmanians Van Diemen's Land North-east { +Hottentottus+ { { 5. Hottentots The Cape North-east { { 6. Bushmen The Cape North-east

{ 3. =Kaffre= { 7. Zulu Kaffres Eastern South Africa North { +h.o.m.o Cafer+ { 8. Beschuanas Central South Africa North-east { { 9. Congo Kaffres Western South Africa East { { 4. =Negro= { 10. Tibu negroes Tibu district South-east { +h.o.m.o Niger+ { 11. Soudan negroes Soudan East { { 12. Senegambians Senegambia East { { 13. Nigritians Nigritia East .......................................................................................

{ 5. =Australian= { 14. North Australians North Australia North { +H. Australis+ { 15. South Australians South Australia North { { 6. =Malay= { 16. Sundanesians Sunda Archipelago West { +h.o.m.o Malayus+ { 17. Polynesians Pacific Archipelago West { { 18. Natives of Madagascar Madagascar East { { 7. =Mongolian= { 19. Indo-Chinese Tibet, China South { +h.o.m.o+ { 20. Coreo-j.a.panese Corea, j.a.pan South-west { +Mongolus+ { 21. Altaians } Central Asia, North Asia South { { 22. Uralians} North-western Asia, South-east { { Northern Europe, { { Hungary { { 8. =Arctic Men= { 23. Hyperboreans Extreme N.E. of Asia South-west { +h.o.m.o Arcticus+ { 24. Esquimaux The extreme north of West { { America { { 9. =American= { 25. North Americans North America North-west { +h.o.m.o+ { 26. Central Americans Central America North { +America.n.u.s+ { 27. South Americans South America North { { 28. Patagonians The extreme south of North { { South America

{ 10. =Dravidas= { 29. Deccans Hindostan East?

{ +h.o.m.o Dravida+ { 30. Singalese Ceylon North?

{ { 11. =Nubian= { 31. Dongolese Nubia East { +h.o.m.o Nuba+ { 32. Fulatians Fulu-land (Central East { { Africa) { { 12. { 33. Caucasians Caucasus South-east { =Mediterranese= { 34. Basque Extreme north of Spain South?

{ +h.o.m.o+ { 35. Semites Arabia, North Africa, etc. East { +Mediterraneus+ { 36. Indo-germanic South-western Asia, South-east { { tribes Europe, etc.

Indo-Germanians 9. =Americans= Semites | | Magyars | | Caucasians | Esquimaux | | Basques | | | | Fins | | | | | | | ---v---/ ----v----/ | Hyperboreans | | | | 8. =Arctic Men= | Samoides | | | | Tartars | | | | | | | | | -------v-------/ ---v----/ | | | 12. =Mediterranese= | Calmucks | | | Singalese | | Tungusians | | | | | | Fulatians | | | | | | Deccans | | --------v---------/ ---v---/ 10. =Dravidas= | Dongolese =Altaians= =Uralians= | | 11. =Nubians= | | | | | | | | | | j.a.panese --------v---------/ -------v--------/ | =Ural-Altaians= +Euplocomi+ | Chinese | | Coreans | Siamese | Madagascars | | | Tibet | | Polynesians | | | | | | | | | | 4. =Negroes= | | | | | | | | 3. =Kaffres= | =Coreo-j.a.panese= ---v----/ | -----v-----/ | | | | =Indo-Chinese= | Sundanesians | | | | | | | | ---v-----/ | | | | | +Eriocomi+ | | | | | | -----------v-------------/ 6. =Malays= | | 7. =Mongols= | | | | | | | | | | | -------v-------------------------------------/ | =Promalays= 2. =Hottentots= | | 1. =Papuans= | | | 5. =Australians= | | | | | | | | | | ----v---/ | -----v-----/ +Lophocomi+ | +Euthycomi+ | | | ---------v---------/ | =Woolly-haired= =Straight-haired= +Ulotrichi+ +Lissotrichi+ | | | | | --------------v-----------------/ +Primaeval Men+

In the eight higher races of men, which we comprise as _straight-haired_ (Lissotrichi), the hair of the head is never actually woolly, although it is very much frizzled in some individuals. Every separate hair is cylindrical (not like a tape), and hence its section is circular (not oval).

The eight races of Lissotrichi may likewise be divided into two groups-stiff-haired and curly-haired. _Stiff-haired men_ (Euthycomi), the hair of whose heads is quite smooth and straight, and not frizzled, include Australians, Malays, Mongolians, Arctic tribes, and Americans.

Curly-haired men, on the other hand, the hair of whose heads is more or less curly, and in whom the beard is more developed than in all other species, include the Dravidas, Nubians, and Mediterranean races.

(Compare Plate XV.)

Now, before we venture upon the attempt hypothetically to explain the phyletic divergence of mankind, and the genealogical connection of its different species, we will premise a short description of the twelve named species and of their distribution. In order clearly to survey their geographical distribution, we must go back some three or four centuries, to the time when the Indian Islands and America were first discovered, and when the present great mingling of species, and more especially the influx of the Indo-Germanic race, had as yet not made great progress. We begin with the lowest stages, with the woolly-haired men (Ulotrichi), all of whom are prognathic Dolichocephali.

The _Papuan_ (h.o.m.o Papua), of all the still living human species, is perhaps most closely related to the original primary form of woolly-haired men. This species now inhabits only the large island of New Guinea and the Archipelago of Melanesia lying to the east of it (Solomon's Islands, New Caledonia, the New Hebrides, etc.). But scattered remnants of it are also still found in the interior of the peninsula of Malacca, and likewise in many other islands of the large Pacific Archipelago; mostly in the inaccessible mountainous parts of the interior, and especially in the Philippine Islands. The but lately extinct Tasmanians, or the natives of Van Diemen's Land, belonged to this group. From these and other circ.u.mstances it is clear that the Papuans in former times possessed a much larger area of distribution in south-eastern Asia. They were driven out by the Malays and forced eastwards. The skin of all Papuans is of a black colour, sometimes more inclining to brown, sometimes more to blue. Their woolly hair grows in tufts, is spirally twisted in screws, and often more than a foot in length, so that it forms a strong woolly wig, which stands far out from the head. Their face, below the narrow depressed forehead, has a large turned-up nose and thick protruding lips. The peculiar form of their hair and speech so essentially distinguishes the Papuans from their straight-haired neighbours, from the Malays as well as from the Australians, that they must be regarded as an entirely distinct species.

Closely related to the Papuans by the tufted growth of hair, but geographically widely separated from them, are the _Hottentots_ (h.o.m.o Hottentottus). They inhabit exclusively the southernmost part of Africa, the Cape and the adjacent parts, and have immigrated there from the north-east. The Hottentots, like their original kinsmen the Papuans, occupied in former times a much larger area (probably the whole of Eastern Africa), and are now approaching their extinction. Besides the genuine Hottentots-of whom there now exist only the two tribes of the Coraca (in the eastern Cape districts) and the Namaca (in the western portion of the Cape)-this species also includes the Bushmen (in the mountainous interior of the Cape). The woolly hair of all Hottentots grows in tufts, like brushes, as in the case of Papuans. Both species also agree in the posterior part of the body, in the female s.e.x being specially inclined to form a great acc.u.mulation of fat (Steatopygia).

But the skin of Hottentots is much lighter, of a yellowish brown colour.

Their very flat face is remarkable for its small forehead and nose, and large nostrils. The mouth is very broad with big lips, the chin small and pointed. Their speech is characterised by several quite peculiar guttural sounds.

The next neighbours and kinsmen of Hottentots are _Kaffres_ (h.o.m.o Cafer). This woolly-haired human species is, however, distinguished, like the following one (the genuine Negro), from Hottentots and Papuans by the woolly hair not being divided into tufts, but covering the head as a thick fleece. The colour of their skin varies through all shades, from the yellowish black of the Hottentot to the brown black or pure black of the genuine Negro. While in former times the race of Kaffres was a.s.signed to a very small area of distribution, and was generally looked upon only as a variety of the genuine Negro, this species is now considered to include almost the whole of the inhabitants of equatorial Africa, from the 20th degree south lat.i.tude to the 4th degree north; consequently, all South Africans, with the exception of the Hottentots.

They include especially the inhabitants of the Zulu, Zambesi, and Mozambique districts on the east coast, the large human families of the Beschuans or Setschuans in the interior, and the Herrero and Congo tribes of the west coast. They too, like the Hottentots, have immigrated from the north-east. Kaffres, who were usually cla.s.sed with Negroes, differ very essentially from them by the formation of their skull and by their speech. Their face is long and narrow, their forehead high, and their nose prominent and frequently curved, their lips not so protruding, and their chin pointed. The many languages of the different tribes of Kaffres can all be derived from an extinct primaeval language, namely, from the Bantu language.

The genuine _Negro_ (h.o.m.o Niger)-when Kaffres, Hottentots, and Nubians are separated from him-at present forms a much less comprehensive human species than was formerly supposed. They now only include the Tibus, in the eastern parts of the Sahara; the Sudan people, or Sudians, who inhabit the south of that large desert; also the inhabitants of the Western Coast of Africa, from the mouth of the Senegal in the north, to beyond the estuary of the Niger in the south (Senegambians and Nigritians). Genuine Negroes are accordingly confined between the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn, and only a small portion of the Tibu tribe in the east have gone beyond this boundary. The Negro species has spread within this zone, coming from the east. The colour of the skin of genuine negroes is always more or less of a pure black. Their skin is velvety to the touch, and characterised by a peculiar offensive exhalation. Although Negroes agree with Kaffres in the formation of the woolly hair of the head, yet they differ essentially in the formation of their face. Their forehead is flatter and lower, their nose broad and thick, not prominent, their lips large and protruding, and their chin very short. Genuine Negroes are moreover distinguished by very thin calves and very long arms. This species of men must have branched into many separate tribes at a very early period, for their numerous and entirely distinct languages can in no way be traced to one primaeval language.

To the four woolly-haired species of men just discussed, straight-haired men (Homines Lissotrichi) stand in strong contrast, as another main branch of the genus. Five of the eight species of the latter, as we have seen, can be comprised as stiff-haired (Euthycomi) and three as curly-haired (Euplocomi). We shall in the first place consider the former, which includes the primaeval inhabitants of the greater part of Asia and the whole of America.

The lowest stage of all straight-haired men, and on the whole perhaps of all the still living human species, is occupied by the _Australian_, or _Austral-negro_ (h.o.m.o Australis). This species seems to be exclusively confined to the large island of Australia; it resembles the genuine African Negro by its black or brownish black hair, and the offensive smell of the skin, by its very slanting teeth and long-headed form of skull, the receding forehead, broad nose, protruding lips, and also by the entire absence of calves. On the other hand Australians differ from genuine Negroes as well as from their nearest neighbours the Papuans, by the much weaker and more delicate structure of their bones, and more especially by the formation of the hair of their heads, which is not woolly and frizzled, but either quite lank or only slightly curled. The very low stage of bodily and mental development of the Australian is perhaps not altogether original, but has arisen by degeneration, that is, by adaptation to the very unfavourable conditions of existence in Australia. They probably immigrated to their present home from the north or north-west, as a very early offshoot of the Euthycomi. They are probably more closely related to the Dravidas, and hence to the Euplocomi, than the other Euthycomi. The very peculiar language of the Australians is broken up into numerous small branches, which are grouped into a northern and a southern cla.s.s.

The _Malay_ (h.o.m.o Malayus), the brown race of ethnographers, although not a large species, is important in regard to its genealogy. An extinct south Asiatic human species, very closely related to the Malays of the present day, must probably be looked upon as the common primary form of this and the following higher human species. We will call this hypothetical primary species, Primaeval Malays, or Promalays. The Malays of the present day are divided into two widely dispersed races, the _Sundanesians_, who inhabit Malacca, the Sunda Islands (Sumatra, Java, Borneo, etc.) and the Philippine Islands, and the _Polynesians_, who are dispersed over the greater portion of the Pacific Archipelago. The northern boundary of their wide tract of distribution is formed on the east by the Sandwich Islands (Hawai), and on the west by the Marian Islands (Ladrones); the southern boundary on the east is formed by the Mangareva Archipelago, and on the west by New Zealand. The inhabitants of Madagascar are an especial branch of Sundanesians who have been driven to the far west. This wide pelagic distribution of the Malays is explained by their partiality for nautical life. Their primaeval home is the south-eastern portion of the Asiatic continent, from whence they spread to the east and south, and drove the Papuans before them. The Malays, in the formation of body, are nearest akin to the Mongols, but are also nearly allied to the curly-haired Mediterranese. They are generally short-headed, more rarely medium-headed, and very rarely long-headed. Their hair is black and stiff, but frequently somewhat curled. The colour of their skin is brown, sometimes yellowish, or of a cinnamon colour, sometimes reddish or copper brown, more rarely dark brown. In regard to the formation of face, Malays in a great measure form an intermediate stage between the Mongols and the Mediterranese; they can frequently not be distinguished from the latter. Their face is generally broad, with prominent nose and thick lips, the opening for their eyes not so narrowly cut and slanting as in Mongols. The near relations.h.i.+p between all Malays and Polynesians is proved by their language, which indeed broke up at an early period into many small branches, but still can always be traced to a common and quite peculiar primaeval language.

The _Mongol_ (h.o.m.o Mongolus) is, next to the Mediterranese, the richest in individuals. Among them are all the inhabitants of the Asiatic Continent, excepting the Hyperboreans in the north, the few Malays in the south-east (Malacca), the Dravidas in Western India, and the Mediterranese in the south-west. In Europe this species of men is represented by the Fins and Lapps in the north, by the Osmanlis in Turkey, and the Magyars in Hungary. The colour of the Mongol is always distinguished by a yellow tone, sometimes a light pea green, or even white, sometimes a darker brownish yellow. Their hair is always stiff and black. The form of their skull is, in the great majority of cases, decidedly short (especially in Kalmucks, Baschkirs, etc.) but frequently of medium length (Tartars, Chinese, etc.) But among them we never meet with genuine long-headed men. The narrow openings of their eyes, which are generally slanting, their prominent cheek bones, broad noses, and thick lips are very striking, as well as the round form of their faces.

The language of the Mongols is probably traceable to a common primaeval language; but the monosyllabic languages of the Indo-Chinese races, and the polysyllabic languages of the other Mongol races, stand in contrast as two main branches which separated at an early time. The monosyllabic tribes of the Indo-Chinese include the Tibetans, Birmans, Siamese, and Chinese. The other polysyllabic Mongols are divided into three races, namely: (1) the Coreo-j.a.panese (Coreans and j.a.panese); (2) the Altaians (Tartars, Kirgises, Kalmucks, Buriats, Tungusians); and (3) the Uralians (Samoiedes, Fins). The Magyars of Hungary are descended from the Fins.

The _Polar men_ (h.o.m.o Arcticus) must be looked upon as a branch of the Mongolian human species. We comprise under this name the inhabitants of the Arctic Polar lands of both hemispheres, the Esquimaux (and Greenlanders) in North America, and the Hyperboreans in north-eastern Asia (Jukagirs, Tschuksches, Kuriaks, and Kamtschads). By adaptation to the Polar climate, this human race has become so peculiarly transformed that it may be considered as a distinct species. Their stature is low and of a square build; the formation of their skull of medium size or even long; their eyes narrow and slanting like the Mongols; their cheek-bones prominent, and their mouth wide. Their hair is stiff and black; the colour of their skin is of a light or dark brown tinge, sometimes more inclined to white or to yellow, like that of the Mongols, sometimes more to red, like that of the Americans. The languages of Polar men are as yet little known, but they differ both from the Mongolian and from the American. Polar men must probably be regarded as a remnant and a peculiarly adapted branch of that tribe of Mongols which emigrated from north-eastern Asia to North America, and populated that part of the earth.

At the time of the discovery of America, that part of the earth was peopled (setting aside the Esquimaux) only by a single human species, namely, by the _Redskins_, or _Americans_ (h.o.m.o America.n.u.s). Of all other human species they are most closely related to the two preceding.

The form of their skull is generally a medium one, rarely short or long-headed. Their forehead broad and very low; their nose large, prominent, and frequently aquiline; their cheek-bones prominent; their lips rather thin than thick. The colour of their skin is characterised by a red fundamental tint, which is, however, sometimes pure copper-red, or light red, sometimes a deeper reddish brown, yellow brown or olive brown. The numerous languages of the various American races and tribes are extremely different, yet they agree in their original foundation.

Probably America was first peopled from north-eastern Asia by the same tribe of Mongols from whom the Polar men (Hyperboreans and Esquimaux) have also branched. This tribe first spread in North America, and from thence migrated over the isthmus of Central America down to South America, at the extreme south of which the species degenerated very much by adaptation to the very unfavourable conditions of existence. But it is also possible that Mongols and Polynesians immigrated from the west and mixed with the former tribe. In any case the aborigines of America came over from the Old World, and did not, as some suppose, in any way originate out of American apes. Catarrhini, or Narrow-nosed Apes, never at any period existed in America.

The three human species still to be considered-the Dravidas, Nubians, and Mediterranese-agree in several characteristics which seem to establish a close relations.h.i.+p between them, and distinguish them from the preceding species. The chief of these characteristics is the strong development of the beard, which in all other species is either entirely wanting or but very scanty. The hair of their heads is generally not so lank and smooth as in the five preceding species, but in most cases more or less curly. Other characteristics also seem to favour our cla.s.sing them in one main group of curly-haired men (Euplocomi).

The _Dravida man_ (h.o.m.o Dravida) seems to stand very near the common primary form of the Euplocomi, and perhaps of Lissotrichi. At present this primaeval species is only represented by the Deccan tribes in the southern part of Hindostan, and by the neighbouring inhabitants of the mountains on the north-east of Ceylon. But in earlier times this race seems to have occupied the whole of Hindostan, and to have spread even further. It shows, on the one hand, traits of relations.h.i.+p to the Australians and Malays; on the other, to the Mongols and Mediterranese.

Their skin is either of a light or dark brown colour; in some tribes, of a yellowish brown, in others, almost black brown. The hair of their heads, as in Mediterranese, is more or less curled, neither quite smooth, like that of the Euthycomi, nor actually woolly, like that of the Ulotrichi. The strong development of the beard is also like that of the Mediterranese. The oval form of face seems partly to be akin to that of the Malays, partly to that of the Mediterranese. Their forehead is generally high, their nose prominent and narrow, their lips slightly protruding. Their language is now very much mixed with Indo-Germanic elements, but seems to have been originally derived from a very peculiar primaeval language.

The _Nubian_ (h.o.m.o Nuba) has caused ethnographers no fewer difficulties than the Dravida species. By this name we understand not merely the real Nubians (Schangallas, or Dongolese), but also their near kinsmen, the Fulas, or Fellatas. The real Nubians inhabit the countries of the Upper Nile (Dongola, Schangalla, Barabra, Cordofan); the Fulas, or Fellatas, on the other hand, have thence migrated far westward, and now inhabit a broad tract in the south of the western Sahara, hemmed in between the Soudanians in the north and the Nigritos in the south. The Nubian and Fula races are generally either cla.s.sed with negroes or with the Hamitic races (thus with Mediterranese), but are so essentially different from both that they must be regarded as a distinct species. In former times they very probably occupied a large part of north-eastern Africa. The skin of the Nubian and Fula races is of a yellowish or reddish brown colour, more rarely dark brown or approaching to black. Their hair is not woolly but curled, frequently even quite smooth; its colour is dark brown or black. Their beard is much more strongly developed than in negroes. The oval formation of their faces approaches more to the Mediterranean than to the Negro type. Their forehead is high and broad, their nose prominent and not flat, their lips not so protruding as in the negro. The language of the Nubian races seems to possess no relations.h.i.+p to those of genuine negroes.

The _Caucasian_, or _Mediterranean man_ (h.o.m.o Mediterraneus), has from time immemorial been placed at the head of all races of men, as the most highly developed and perfect. It is generally called the Caucasian race, but as among all the varieties of the species, the Caucasian branch is the least important, we prefer the much more suitable appellation proposed by Friedrich Muller, namely, that of Mediterranean, or Midland men. For the most important varieties of this species, which are moreover the most eminent actors in what is called "Universal History,"